The draw for the quarter-finals of the 2010-11 Champions League will take place Friday at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker will be conducting the draw and will be helping pick the names out of the hat. They will include Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Schalke, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk and Tottenham Hotspur.

In addition to finding out who will play whom in the quarter-finals, UEFA will also tell us the path to the final. So, we’ll be able to see which teams drawn together in the Round of 8 will play each other in the semi-final.

7:11am: Gary Lineker is on stage and they’re going through the rules of how the draw will work. Eight balls will be placed in the ball. The first team pulled will play at home. The first ball picked will be coming up very soon.

7:12am: The first team drawn is Real Madrid. They’ll be playing Tottenham Hotspur. The first game will be played at the Bernabeau!

7:14am: Chelsea will play home in their first game against Manchester United!

7:15am: Barcelona will play Shakhtar Donetsk.

7:16am: Inter Milan will play Schalke.

7:16am: And there you have it. Surprisingly, UEFA are going through this quickly this morning. No delays. They’re now going on to the semi-final draw. The winner of Chelsea or Manchester United will play Schalke or Inter Milan. The winner of Real Madrid or Tottenham Hotspur will play Barcelona or Shakhtar Donetsk!

7:17am: The final, of course, will be played at Wembley. The winner of Real/Madrid versus Barcelona/Shakhtar Donetsk will be the “home” team at Wembley.

The draw for the quarter-finals, to repeat, is:

  • Real Madrid vs Tottenham Hotspur
  • Chelsea vs Manchester United
  • Barcelona vs Shakhtar Donetsk, and
  • Inter Milan vs Schalke

The games will be played April 5-6 and April 12-13.

What does the draw mean?

No games will be easier, of course. But Chelsea against Manchester United guarantees that there’ll be at least one English team in the semi-final. Tottenham Hotspur will savor playing against Real Madrid, and will give Jose Mourinho’s side a run for its money. Barcelona and Inter Milan should progress, although I wouldn’t count Shakhtar Donetsk out from scoring an upset.

In the semi-final, we will see an easier route for the Premier League winner of Chelsea against Manchester United, where they’ll play Inter Milan or Schalke and will avoid Barcelona or Real Madrid. But we could see Barcelona against Real Madrid in the semi-final if both of the Spanish teams win in the quarter-final.

What’s your reaction to the draw? Post your comments below! Which for you are the dream-come-true matches?