The Blues could end up being paired with another English side, though only Liverpool are through so far with Manchester United and Chelsea both facing tricky second legs.
The Merseyside Reds, however, are full of confidence and former Anfield legend Steven Gerrard thinks a Manchester derby would be interesting to say the least.
PEP: Basel reaction
The Express report: “Steven Gerrard has joked he would relish seeing Manchester United drawn with Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals.
“Manchester City booked their place in the last eight of the competition despite losing 2-1 at home to Basel in their second leg.
“Manchester United meanwhile, will have to overcome Sevilla at home with the tie hanging in the balance after a goalless draw in Spain in the first leg.
“English teams won’t be kept apart when the Champions League draw is made a week on Friday.
“And Gerrard wouldn’t mind United being pitted against City.
“Asked for his thoughts on a dream all-English tie, Gerrard told BT Sport: ‘I was thinking more Man United versus Man City. That would be dead exciting.’
No doubt.
And continuing the theme, Liverpool’s Robert Firmino would prefer and English club in the last eight – despite his team suffering a 5-0 thrashing at the Etihad earlier in the campaign.
The Mirror report: “Roberto Firmino has sent out a confident and defiant Champions League message saying: ‘Bring on the English clubs!’
“Liverpool have no reason to fear any team in Europe in next Friday’s quarter-final draw, but the Brazilian wants a Premier League opponent because, under - Jurgen Klopp, they have shown they have the beating of ALL their - big-name rivals.
“Striker Firmino said: ‘Yes, we’d like a draw against an English club.
‘We have shown in the past few seasons we can beat all the English clubs. Our record is good against them.’
If this season’s Premier League results were repeated, the Blues would edge through 8-4 so no doubt if City do pull out Jurgen Klopp’s men, entertainment wouldn’t be an issue!
We feel we have played well against the top English clubs and shown we can beat them. But we are not afraid of anyone in the draw.”
Finally, we won’t try and airbrush last night’s loss into the history books, but we’ll keep it brief!
This Irish Independent snippet sums up the game succinctly as they write: “This was a weakened City side and, thanks to an emphatic first-leg win, one never in danger of not reaching the Champions League quarter-finals, but such a defeat should still not have been allowed to pass, especially after Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring early on.
“Yet after being overran on their own turf three weeks previous, Basel’s pride was hurt and Raphael Wicky’s side would not leave this competition quietly.
“If Mohamed Elyounoussi’s equaliser came as a surprise to the Etihad, Michael Lang’s winner sent shock-waves through the stadium.”
Indeed it did. More tomorrow…
