Wijnaldum keen to dodge Manchester City

Georginio Wijnaldum is keen to avoid Premier League rivals Manchester City when Liverpool are drawn in the Champions League quarter-finals on Friday.

Liverpool booked their place in the last-eight with a 5-0 aggregate victory over Porto, all the goals coming in the first leg in Portugal.

The Reds and City are the only English representatives in the draw – which takes place in Nyon – after Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham were all eliminated.

Joining Liverpool in the draw are Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Roma and Sevilla, but it is City – who the Reds beat in the Premier League in January – that Wijnaldum is keen to avoid.

“No, not now, I don’t want to play an English team now,” he told ESPN FC.

“To be fair, we played Manchester City two times and I think the first game we had a red card, so that was a difficult game.

“But the second game at home, it was a good game for us. I also think the supporters enjoyed it, so even if we play Man City, I think we have two good games.”

The quarter-final line-up is complete!

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— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 14, 2018

He added: “To be fair, they are all good teams. They have already shown that in the Champions League group stages that they are a good team so it doesn’t matter who we get, it’s going to be a difficult game.

“It doesn’t matter basically, if you reach the final, who you’re playing.

“I think every team now just wants to make the final and they don’t think about who they are going to play against.”