The question dominating football in Europe at the moment is: Who can stop the English?

The Premier League will cast a huge shadow over the Champions League draw today.

If Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Porto or Villarreal draw any of England’s gang-of-four it will be like the European Cup Grim Reaper has come to town.

Barcelona remain joint favourites with Manchester United as the competition reaches the quarter-final stage.

But even they sound like they are running scared of the English teams.

Just listen to what their inspirational skipper Carles Puyol, who hopes to be back from injury for the quarter-finals, had to say about the prospect of coming up against either Manchester United or Liverpool.

Puyol remembers only too well what it was like to lose 1-0 to United at Old Trafford in last season’s semi-final, following a goalless draw at the Nou Camp.

The Spanish legend said: “I want to be the champion and for that reason it will be excellent to avoid Manchester United in the draw.

“We still remember last year. United were lucky to win the game and it was very painful to be eliminated, but they are still the European champions and English champions so we do not want to face them now.

“It would be wrong to say that we fear any side in Europe, but at the same time it is logical to respect the power and quality of our rivals and particularly a team like United.

“Equally we do not really want to face Liverpool because with the manager they have and their Spanish players they know all about teams from La Liga. Their win over Real Madrid was magnificent and unexpected.’’

It is understandable that any team still left in the draw would want to avoid both United and Liverpool for the way they dismissed Inter Milan and Madrid.

But the team most capable of stopping the Premier League charge is Barcelona.

They are in terrifying form at the moment and one reason for that is Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.

The French ace has finally settled into life in Spain after stuttering last season, when Barca fans could not understand why they had not got the player who had been so mesmerising for the Gunners.

This season he has come alive again, as injury and personal problems have been put behind him.

In scoring twice against Lyon in the last round, Henry passed the 20-goal mark for the Spanish league leaders.

Bearing in mind that both Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi passed the milestone weeks ago, you can see why they have perhaps the most feared front line in Europe.

Sir Alex Ferguson has his own quartet of goal machines to call on, including World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo.

But Barca have already scored 28 goals in 10 Champions League games this season, so to say that they are on fire is an understatement.

While United are aiming for a historic Quintuple, Barca have their own treble of League, Champions League and Spanish Cup to battle for.

Puyol added: “We do not feel the pressure of being favourites for the European Cup. We are prepared for whatever challenge comes along.

‘’We know that United can still win a lot of trophies, but so can we. We have our own treble on the agenda and we are convinced we can do it.’’

Chelsea are desperate to make amends for the pain of losing last year’s final on penalties.

As well as that heartbreak in Moscow, their history includes some memorable clashes with Liverpool and their 2004 quarter-final defeat of Arsenal.

But it is still Barcelona that Frank Lampard wants to avoid most – because he would love to play them in the final.

The Chelsea midfielder said: “If we managed to get to the final again I would rather not face an English team. We’ve done that. I would love to play Barca.

“At the moment they are the glamour team. To play them on the biggest stage with the quality they have and beat them would be special.”

Lampard admitted the agony of last year, when John Terry missed the crucial penalty, still burns bright in the Chelsea team.

He said: “It has to motivate you. It was an awful journey home after the final last time. I can remember that the plane journey was awful.

“We all went our separate ways after that and I know John probably suffered more than most and we all felt for him.

“He deserved to lift the trophy and he will lift it one day. Let’s hope it can be this year.”

Not if Barcelona have anything to say about it.

- Dailystar