Vidic salutes dominance of Premier League

NEMANJA VIDIC feels the Premier League can give itself a hefty pat on the back as four of its teams wait to discover their Champions League fate in Nyon, Switzerland this morning.

Once again the English quartet has made it through to the quarter-finals, with the odds on at least one of them making it to the final in Rome on May 27.

It would be the fifth time on the trot there has been Premier League representation in Europe’s biggest club competition. And Vidic is in no doubt the Premier League has earned the right to call itself number one.

“The English league is the best,” said the Manchester United defender. “The Premier League is stronger than anyone else in Europe now. Once again there are four teams in the quarter-finals. That has to be good for English football.’’

Given the widely publicised unhappiness UEFA president Michel Platini has at the dominance of English teams, conspiracy theorists wonder whether this morning’s last-eight draw might consign all four teams to the same section, ensuring there is no repeat of the all-English showdown in Moscow last season, when United beat Chelsea on penalties.

Alex Ferguson has already revealed his gut feeling that United will draw English opposition in the knock-out stages for the first time.

And Vidic realises he may not be adding to his air miles this time around.

“There is a chance we could play another English team,” he said. “It is three from seven, so the odds are quite good. Whoever we play will be difficult because they are all top teams now. We know that any team we play, we will need to give our best.”

Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Porto and Villarreal are the other teams in the draw, which will also decide the line-ups for the semi-finals.

United winger Cristiano Ronaldo is wary of being paired against the Germans, who beat Sporting Lisbon 12-1 on aggregate in the last 16 round.

“Bayern Munich are very strong,” said Ronaldo. “I watched them play against my old team, Sporting Lisbon, and I was very sad because I didn’t expect Sporting to lose so heavily. They have mature players, strong players and quick players. Franck Ribery and Miroslav Klose are very impressive. Bayern play like a team and they look very difficult to beat.”

Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, who guided Barcelona to European Cup success in 1992, believes that Liverpool, who won the competition in 2005, are the team to be avoided.

But Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola says he would have no qualms about challenging the domination of the English contingent.

“If you want to win the Champions League you have to play with the best in Europe. So we’ll take the challenge,” said Guardiola, who was part of Barcelona’s 1992 European Cup-winning side.

“It would be nice to taste success against one of the English clubs. If we have to play one of them, it will definitely be a good match.”

Bayern Munich chief Uli Hoeness has declared that he doesn’t want to face either Manchester United or Liverpool in the quarter-finals.

“I would prefer it if we didn’t get Liverpool, because at the moment they are very, very strong,” he said. “I would also like it if we play our first match away and then come back to Munich for the second-leg. To play a return leg at Manchester United’s Old Trafford would not be very agreeable.”

Bayern defender Philipp Lahm admitted that he would like to avoid Rafa Benitez’s men in the draw. “Against a team like Liverpool for example, we are still missing something,” he explained.

But manager Jurgen Klinsmann was in a more confident and defiant mood. “We sent a clear signal to the competition that it will be necessary to take us into account. We are very hungry and we still want more,” he insisted.

Villarreal’s Joseba Llorente has declared he wants the Spaniards to draw either Liverpool or Chelsea. “All the teams are very strong, but I would like to draw Chelsea, for a change, or Liverpool, seeing as Steven Gerrard said that he wanted to face us,” he explained.

“Whoever we draw in the next round, they will have to work very hard to beat us.”

*The first legs will be on April 7th-8th and the return legs on April 14-15.