The draw for the quarter-finals of the Champions League has been made, and there are some delightful matches drawn. Arsenal will play Barcelona – two of the most attractive to watch teams in the world. Manchester United will play Bayern Munich – as a repeat of that great 1999 Champions League Final. Lyon will play Bordeaux, which ensures that a French team will make it to the semi-final, and last but not least, Inter Milan will play CSKA Moscow.

In the semi-final, the winner of Arsenal versus Barcelona will play the winner of Inter Milan against CKSA Moscow. And the winner of Manchester United versus Bayern Munich will play the winner of Lyon against Bordeaux.

This means that if Manchester United wins both matches, Sir Alex Ferguson could face either Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan or a repeat of last year’s final with Barcelona. Or, of course, Arsenal or CSKA Moscow could make it to the final too if they can win both of their matches.

The quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League will be played over two legs on March 30-31 and April 6-7. The semi-finals of the Champions League will be played over two legs on April 20-21 and April 27-28.

What’s your reaction to the draw? Are you pleased with the opposition your team will be facing? If you’re a neutral, do you think the quarter-final draw will be exciting to watch? What storylines will you be interested in? Click the comments link below to share your opinion.

Group A

Bayern Munchen
Juventus
Bordeaux
Maccabi Haifa

Group B

Manchester United
CSKA Moskow
Besiktas
Wolfsburg

Group C

AC Milan
Real Madrid
Marseille
FC Zurich

Group D

Chelsea
Porto
Atletico Madrid
APOEL

Group E

Liverpool
Lyon
Fiorentina
Debrecen

Group F

Barcelona
Internazionale
Dynamo Kiev
Rubin Kazan

Group G

Sevilla
Rangers
Stuttgart
Unirea Urziceni

Group H

Arsenal
AZ Alkmaar
Olympiakos
Standard Liege

Reaction

Manchester United along with Arsenal have fairly straightforward groups and both should be looking to come out on top.

Chelsea have a couple of tough away trips to Porto and Madrid, while APOEL will prove to be Group D’s whipping boys.

Liverpool have a very tricky draw, Lyon spent big in the summer and thrashed Anderlecht in the qualifiers, plus Fiorentina are always a tough team, though I would expect Liverpool to progress as winners.

Other highlights include Zlatan Ibrahimovic returning to Inter and Kaka facing his beloved Milan. While Scottish representatives Rangers will be looking to progress and have a real chance of doing so.

Your thoughts on the draw please.

The group stage of the Champions League begins today with several intriguing matches as well as the return of Chelsea and Liverpool to continental football.

Be sure to set your DVRs for the following matches on TV today in the United States (all times eastern).

• Bordeaux vs. Chelsea: 2:30pm ESPN2/ESPN360.com
• Sporting Lisbon vs. Barcelona: 2:30pm- ESPN Deportes and 5pm ESPN Classic
• Marseille vs. Liverpool: 2:30pm Setanta (replayed at 7:15pm Setanta).
• PSV Eindhoven vs. Atletico Madrid: 5pm ESPN Deportes
• Panathanaikos vs. Inter Milan: 5:35pm Setanta, and 7:30pm ESPN Deportes

If you’ll be watching – or have watched – today’s matches, please share your thoughts, insight, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

In the meantime, be sure to visit our sister site Champions League Talk for previews of Group C, Group B and Group A, as well as how Sporting Lisbon could cause an upset today against Barcelona.

While you’re enjoying EPL Talk, don’t forget to check out the sister sites in our network for a taste of German, Italian, Spanish, European and American soccer.

Bundesliga Talk has the statistics comparing Schalke to Atletico Madrid for the most enticing Champions League third round qualifying match. Another new article written by Bundeliga Talk correspondent Mark Moll is a piece on the new manager at Hamburger SV, Martin Jol, who lost 2-1 yesterday against Real Madrid in the 2008 Emirates Cup in London.

Prolific writer Lonnie Smetana at Champions League Talk has been busy previewing the most exciting matches in the Champions League third qualifying round stage, the latest transfer market activity in Europe and a roundup of the results from the third round of the Intertoto Cup.

If you’re a fan of Major League Soccer, Kartik Krishnaiyer writes on a near daily basis at Major League Soccer Talk about topics such as Cory Gibbs who may be heading to LA Galaxy, the list of MLS players playing in the Olympics, how the Mexican players are notorious sore losers when they get defeated by US club sides and/or the national team, and a very interesting article entitled, Does SuperLiga Have A Future?

Over at Serie A Talk, Kevin Walker has an interesting article about the Italian connection at Bordeaux, as well as rumors about Tiago leaving Juventus.

Yours truly has written an article about the Spanish influence at Swansea City under the website Championship Talk. Shakira Graham meanwhile writes about one of the best supported clubs in England, Derby County.

If you’re a fan of the world’s game, be sure to check out the sister sites on a regular basis.