Chelsea angered by FA Cup semi-final schedule

Roberto di Matteo today complained of a failure of common sense after it was announced Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham will kick off 6pm on Sunday April 15 - 48 hours later than the club had pleaded for.

The FA announced the kick-off times for the two semi-finals at Wembley, and there will be an early start for 70,000 Merseysiders with the Liverpool v Everton match kicking off at 12.30pm on the Saturday.
Interim Chelsea manager Di Matteo had wanted their semi-final to be on the Friday night to give Chelsea more time to recover ahead of a possible Champions League semi-final first leg against Barcelona or AC Milan on Wednesday, April 18.
Those hopes have been dashed however and with ITV pushing to show the match at prime time on Sunday rather than lunchtime, the FA have decided it will start at 6pm.
That kick-off time will also avoid a clash with Manchester United's Premier League match against Aston Villa which is being screened live on Sky at 4pm.
Di Matteo said today: "We've tried to communicate with the FA and co-operate with the FA.
"It's probably disappointing, I'd say that common sense hasn't prevailed.
"We've tried to cooperate with the authorities and given them our point of view. It seems that it's not been really taken into consideration.
"I'd be happy with a Friday night kick-off, yes. That's what I'd be happy with."
The all-London semi-final could not be on the Saturday either because Liverpool had asked not to play on the Sunday as it coincides with the 23rd anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.
FA sources say the timing of the Liverpool v Everton match was partly to do with engineering works on the railways later that day - if it had kicked off any later fans would have been unable to return to Merseyside by rail.

UEFA hits Wenger with three-game ban Three-game ban for Wenger

Arsene Wenger has been banned for three European games and fined 40,000 euros (£33,000) by UEFA as a result of comments he made following the club's Champions League exit to AC MILAN

Wenger was unhappy with the performance of Damir Skomina and accused the Slovenian official of awarding too many free kicks to Milan, who lost 3-0 at Emirates Stadium in the second leg of the last-16 tie on March 6 but progressed 4-3 on aggregate.
"I was not happy with the referee because I felt he gave many free kicks in the middle of the park," Wenger said after the match.
"Every time (a Milan player) went down a free kick was given for them, and they sensed that very quickly and they used it very well."
Wenger is also alleged to have abused Skomina in the tunnel after his side were eliminated from Europe and will now be forced to watch from the stands for Arsenal's first three European fixtures next season, should they play that many.
A statement from the governing body read: "Arsenal FC manager Arsene Wenger has been suspended from carrying out his function for three UEFA competition matches by the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body.
"Wenger has also been fined 40,000 euros. He was facing a charge of improper conduct in relation to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg against AC Milan in London on 6 March.
"The suspension applies to the next three UEFA club competition matches for which Wenger will be eligible. An appeal may be lodged against the verdict within three days of the dispatch of the reasoned decision."
Speaking just before the news of the sanction was made official as he prepared for the Premier League trip to QPR, Wenger confirmed his intention to appeal if punished.
He said: "If I am [suspended] then it is not justified and I will appeal straight away. I believe that they have transformed UEFA competition referees to be untouchable icons, where you cannot even have a word.
"The only thing they understand after the game is the report. I believe that when you have 25 years consecutively in Europe you can still ask the referee that you can have some discussion with him. It is very difficult to understand."
Wenger was also banned for one match following his outburst at referee Massimo Busacca in the wake of Arsenal's Champions League exit to Barcelona last season.
He was then hit with a further two-game ban for contravening the initial suspension during the first leg of the club's Champions League qualifier against Udinese at Emirates Stadium at the start of this season

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Barcelona Draws AC Milan in Champions League Quarterfinals

Champions League holders Barcelona will play Italian side AC Milan in the quarterfinals of the competition. The two teams already met in the group stages with Barca coming out tops after winning the second leg 3-2 having drawn 2-2 at the San Siro in the first leg encounter.

Nine-time winners Real Madrid will have a fairly easy game against surprise Cypriot side APOEL Nicosia. Madrid will play away first before welcoming the cat among the pigeons, APOEL, to Santiago Bernabeu for the second leg.

The only English side remaining in any European club football competition this year, Chelsea, will first travel to Portugal for an encounter with two-time winners Benfica while Bayern Munich will hope to get a good result at Marseille in the first leg before welcoming the French outfit to Allianz Arena in the second leg. It is the first time Marseille will be competing at the quarterfinals stage since 1991.

Besides the AC Milan versus Barca game, none of the other sides drawn against each other have ever met. The quarterfinals first-leg matches will be played on March 27-28, and return matches are on April 3-4.

The semifinals draw avoided the potential meeting of Barcelona and Real Madrid, meaning that the final could be an El Classico encounter.

Marseille or Bayern will play debutants APOEL or Madrid while Benfica or Chelsea will host Milan or Barcelona, meaning that the only way Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid can meet Barcelona or face his former club Chelsea is at the May 19 finals at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.

Should holders Barcelona win the competition this year, they will become the first team in UEFA Champions League era to win the trophy back-to-back. 

Europa League Quarterfinals Draw 

Meanwhile the pick of the quarterfinals draw will see Athletic Bilbao lock horns with German side Schalke 04. Bilbao qualified for the last 8 with a convincing 5-3 aggregate win over Premier League side Manchester United in the last 16 while Schalke overturned a 1-0 loss to Twente in the first leg to beat the Dutch side 4-1 and 4-2 aggregate.

Other matches will see Valencia first travel to the Netherlands to AZ Alkmaar while Manchester City's conquerers Sporting Lisbon will welcome Ukraine side Metalist Kharkiv for the first leg.

Athletico Madrid, who had the biggest aggregate win in the Round of 16 with a 6-1 demolition of Besiktas will face off with German side Hannover 96.

The first legs of the quarterfinal matches will be played on 29 March, and the second legs will be played on 5 April 2012.