Barcelona against Arsenal – what a mouth-watering match-up in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. When I heard the draw announced yesterday I said to myself that I would love to go over to London and watch that first-leg match. Both teams play probably the most beautiful football in the world. They are very similar although I would say that Barcelona have the edge. And that edge is Messi.

Anyone who watched him score a hat-trick last Sunday against Valencia and then deliver two more stunning goals against Stuttgart this week in the Champions League will know that they are living in the presence of one of the greatest players ever to walk the earth.

He is like Pele or Maradona. God only gives us a player of his talent once every decade or two. There are no words to describe the little Argentine. His first goal against Stuttgart was superb in that he was surrounded by four players but managed to score in the top left corner. But I really loved the second goal – just the way he took it and his quick thinking.

Arsenal will probably be looking for some revenge after Barca beat them in the 2006 Champions League final and the Gunners have never won the Champions League. But they also looked fantastic the other week when they destroyed Porto 5-0.

And don't forget Thierry Henry who will be returning to the home where he played for eight seasons and was such a dominant force.

Henry is getting on now in years and although his football brain is still there his pace is not. But he has had a good couple of games for Barca recently and obviously it will be an emotional night for him back in England.

Revenge may also be on the minds of Bayern Munich who were drawn to face Manchester United in a repeat of the 1999 final that United somehow, someway, managed to win in the final seconds. That will be a tasty match-up and United are away on the first leg which is something I like. If they go to Germany and get an away goal or two and will be more relaxed at home in the second leg.

While Italy have only one team left – Inter Milan – and Spain likewise have only one team still in the competition – France have two in Lyon and Bordeaux which says something about the quality of the French league.

Those two are drawn together and so France will definitely have a team in the semis.

Inter Milan, who played so well to knock out Chelsea this week, have drawn Russian side CSKA Moscow and I have to give the Italians the edge here.

Jose Mourinho showed why he is called the Special One when he returned to Stamford Bridge. He said he watched the first leg seven times on DVD and he also knows the Chelsea players as well which gave him a bit of an edge. But the way he set up his team was very impressive and I loved the way defender Lucio played. He made Drogba look ordinary.

But for any team to get to the semis in the Champions League they will need a bit of the rub of the green because like all cup competitions you do need a little luck on the day.

One person I was so happy for this week was Fulham manager Roy Hodgson – a great football manager if there ever was one.

It was not long ago that Hodgson saved Fulham from relegation and then he managed to get them into the Europa League competition this season.

Now he has gone one better and seen off Italian giants Juventus and got the little London club into the quarter-finals. That is remarkable but Hodgson has been doing the business for decades all over Europe – from Inter Milan to the Swiss national team.

He is a nice fella as well and I wish the game had more people like him.

Going into the second leg after being beaten 3-1 in Turin most people would not have given Fulham much of a chance of advancing. But they stunned the former European champions with a 4-1 victory and will now face Germany's Wolfsburg. Good luck to them.

Liverpool face Benfica in the quarters and that could be a tricky match.

But they will be thinking about this Sunday when they travel to Old Trafford in a league match. In all fairness to Liverpool, they have had United's number over the past couple of seasons but I imagine United will be up for this match – especially the way they have been playing as of late.