England has become the first country to have four teams in the last eight of the Champions League after Liverpool defeated Inter Milan in Italy to join Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea in Friday's draw.

Ferguson told MUTV: "The Premier League is the strongest in Europe.

"For a spell it was the Spanish league - I remember about seven or eight years ago they had three teams in the semi-finals.

"Spanish football was really strong but I think the English game has now reached that level.

"We now have a 40% chance of being drawn against an English team, which is a measure of the quality of this division."

United have never experienced an all-English tie in the Champions League but the manager is relaxed about that possible scenario.

He said: "Once the format changed and three or four teams from each country were allowed into the competition, it was inevitable that they would face each other at some point.

"So I am always geared to playing against an English team. It doesn't matter who we get in the quarter-finals.

"Knowing who you'll get in the semi-finals as well is an incentive, but we'll take what we get."