Optimism on all sides – the verdicts from the English clubs on today's Champions League draw were, perhaps not too surprisingly, uniformly upbeat.

Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager

"This is a good draw for us, we've met Porto before and obviously we respect any Portuguese team. We have had a huge Portuguese influence in the club firstly with Carlos Queiroz but now with Cristiano [Ronaldo] and Nani so we understand Portuguese football.

"You sometimes wonder if being at home first is a good or a bad thing but I think in this modern-day competition there is no indication of what is better, the only thing you hope is that you don't lose a goal in the home tie. We are happy with the draw and we are looking forward to the next round."

Rafael Benítez, Liverpool manager

"Manchester United must now be favourites – they have an easier draw than us. Our half of the draw is the more difficult now after this draw.

"Obviously we did not want to [play on the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster] and with the second leg of our quarter-final now scheduled for London on the 14th [of April], our wishes have been agreed with. Hopefully it won't make a difference to us that the second leg is away. We have to think about the first game at Anfield with our fans behind us and look to get a positive result to take to Stamford Bridge.

"We need to make sure we don't make a mistake in the first leg like we did in last year's semi-final. They will be two tough games but we are playing well and clearly we are confident we can win.

"At this stage of the competition, you know you'll play against a good team. Chelsea are a very good team. We know each other very well and this is an exciting draw. We knew it would be difficult to avoid an English team but we need to approach the two games with confidence."

Rick Parry, Liverpool chief executive

"I don't think [playing the first leg at home] bothers us. I don't think it's a significant difference. Obviously [not playing on the Hillsborough disaster anniversary] is massively important. There's no more important issue for Liverpool than this."

Guus Hiddink, Chelsea manager

"It's getting more and more exciting at the end of the Champions League season. If you have great desire to get to the end in May, you have to play them – Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona. I'm OK with the draw.

"I was told that there have been a lot of clashes between the two teams in several competitions. They're never boring games between these two big powerhouses of football. The draw happened during practice and one of the officials came and told us. The players stopped their exercises and said: 'Who, who, who?' That's nice. They were very keen to know who their opponent would be, which shows their enthusiasm. "Both teams like to play football and have players in their teams to play in an attacking way. That's a guarantee for big clashes."

Arsène Wenger, Arsenal manager

"It is a difficult 50-50 draw. We know Villarreal and we have the experience, having played them before. It is maybe a good opportunity to play the first game away from home but at that level it is very difficult to be creative in your statement. It will depend on the quality of your performance and the players available as well. Now many players go away on international duty and I hope we don't lose players through injuries because many of our players are coming back now from injuries. It looks like we are in a good situation. I don't know [about Arsenal being favourites] and in fairness it's not really important. In this game there is no real favourites and if I show you what has been said in the newspapers over the last six months you cannot put us as a favourite. Cesc [Fábregas] should be fit in two weeks. He is back in full training now and during the international break he has two weeks to sharpen up. Normally, he should be available again against Manchester City."