ITV ease fears over Digital showing of CL Semi

Liverpool's????
By Craig McWalter
April 7 2002

ITV have indicated they will show both legs of a Manchester United v Liverpool Champions League semi-final on terrestrial TV.

Fans have been worried the network could switch a possible all-English showdown to the struggling ITV Sport channel to boost ratings.

But an ITV spokesman said: "Once the quarter-finals have been decided next week a decision will be made on ITV's coverage plans and I am sure that the interests of the millions of fans who watch the Champions League on the ITV network will be taken into consideration."

The final decision on where an all-English semi-final could be screened will not be taken until after the quarter-final second legs this week.

But ITV are likely to show both legs on terrestrial TV as viewing figures approaching 10million have tuned in to individual games involving United, Liverpool and Arsenal already this season.

Liverpool visit Bayer Leverkusen in Germany on Tuesday with a 1-0 lead from the first leg and United entertain Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday following a 2-0 win in Spain last week.