The pair were already scheduled to face off at Emirates Stadium in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday, April 5, and so will now play three times in a week, with Anfield hosting the second leg of the European tie.

And the manner of Arsenal's victory over holders AC Milan in the last round has left Wenger confident of making further progress towards the final in Moscow.

Wenger said: "We showed against Milan that when we are at our best we can beat anyone. We just knocked Milan out, who were the holders.

"Liverpool have a fantastic stadium, very loud on cup occasions that can raise the atmosphere and certainly raise the level of their game.

"We will know each other well after the three games. It's challenging and interesting as well.

"I said ideally you would like to play a foreign team because it's the European Cup - but I prepared myself to play anyone."

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was philosophical about the draw but insisted he is not looking ahead to a third semi-final against Chelsea in four years - which will happen if both win their quarter-finals - just yet.

"It was a possibility and now we will see how we can afford these three games," he said.

"The first thing is to think about Arsenal and I think it's important to go one step at a time. Nobody wanted to play an English team - in this case, we could play two English teams.

"But it's not the worst moment for us. We have confidence, we are playing well, we are scoring goals."

Manchester United will play Serie A side Roma for the fifth and sixth times in less than a year - and cannot face another English side before the final.

But assistant boss Carlos Queiroz has warned his players Luciano Spalleti's side are a much better team than the one thrashed 7-1 at Old Trafford last season.

He told Sky Sports News: "We should know them very well. But what is our strength is also our weakness.

"Roma know us very well after they played against us so many times, especially after the way we beat them last season.

"I think we have a good chance. We know we can beat them but this Roma team is much, much better compared with the team we played some months ago."

Queiroz insisted there will be no excuse for a repeat of the trouble that marred last year's quarter-final against the same opponents.

He added: "I hope this time after the game, it is only time to celebrate a football game and nothing more.

"It will be sad if, after the third visit of our club to Rome, that some of these incidents happen again. There's no excuse for that if that happens again."

Chelsea boss Avram Grant refused to take victory against Fenerbahce for granted after his side were paired with the Turkish side.

The last round saw Zico's side knock out Sevilla, who themselves turned over Arsenal in the group stages.

Grant said: "Every game in the Champions League quarter-final is not an easy game. They played very well against Sevilla. We know Arsenal lost in Seville.

"It's not an easy draw but our targets stay the same. We are a club that hasn't been in the final. We want to be in the final.

"This is our main target for the next years but we want to do it as soon as possible."