Ex-Liverpool Manager Hails 'Tie of the Round' as Former Side Face Premier League Rivals

Brendan Rodgers lauded the Champions League quarter final between Liverpool and Manchester City as the 'tie of the round' following Friday's draw for the last eight.

Liverpool and City were rewarded for their last 16 wins over Porto and Basel respectively with the first all-English Champions League tie since Manchester United played Chelsea in the 2010-11 edition of the competition.

“It's brilliant,” said Rodgers, as quoted by the Express. “Two fantastic teams, it's going to be a special occasion. Obviously the first game is at Anfield so Liverpool will look to make a good start in the tie there. It's a fascinating game, it should be brilliant."

Liverpool and City have already faced each other twice in the Premier League this season. City won 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium against the ten-man Reds back in September, before Liverpool inflicted City's first (and so far only) Premier League defeat, winning 4-3 at Anfield in January.

Although Rodgers was excited by the prospect of another thriller between the two sides, he did admit to being disappointed that only one could progress to the semi finals.

"It's just a shame that both got drawn together at this stage; it would have been nice for them to have been split up, to be honest, because they're both two very, very good sides. I think it's probably the tie of the round."

Rodgers, who is currently manager of Scottish champions Celtic, was in charge of Liverpool last time they played in the Champions League in 2014/15. On that occasion, the Reds failed to progress beyond the group stage, winning only one of their six matches.

The last time Liverpool reached the quarter finals was in 2008/09, when they also met English opponents, and lost 7-5 on aggregate to Chelsea.

City have progressed this far only once before, in 2015/16. On that occasion they went on to reach the last four, before losing to eventual winners Real Madrid.