Not any more. Moscow stages the Champions League final on May 21 and the bitter foes from north-west England, along with those equally rancorous rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, will this week strive for the initiative in a four-way scrap among English clubs for the right to foist up to 100,000 potential buyers of cheap vodka and Soviet Army-surplus fur hats on the Russian Capital.

Arsenal and Liverpool meet in the first leg of their quarter-final at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, with Chelsea at Fenerbahce the same night and United visiting Roma 24 hours earlier. If familiarity breeds contempt, Arsene Wenger will be tugging Rafael Benitez's Peter Kay-lookalike goatee by April 8. With a Premier League date in London sandwiched between the European games, their teams will then be tangling for the third time in a week.

There again, Liverpool's defeat at Old Trafford, and the dismissal of one of Benitez's players, proved that individuals can lose the plot, or at least misplace it, without over-exposure to the same opposition. The incident sparked a moral panic, with pundits clambering over each other in pursuit of the moral high ground, administrators taking up the periodic mantra about "disrespect" to referees and fans asking each other "Have you seen the Mascherano red?" as if seeking out a robust Rioja in Tesco.

Amid the righteous indignation, Liverpool's good disciplinary record tended to be overlooked. Javier Mascherano was their first player to be sent off all season and seemed an unlikely embodiment of a game out of control, especially when TV replays revealed he said nothing more hostile to the referee than "What's happening?" Days earlier, Ashley Cole launched into Alan Hutton with raised studs and turned his back on the referee, but still received a lesser punishment than the Argentinian.

Mascherano is suspended for today's Merseyside derby against Everton at Anfield, depriving Steven Gerrard of the man who covers his marauding runs. For Benitez, who will doubtless rotate his squad with the Emirates in mind, despite the match's importance both locally and nationally, it means a valuable option lost.

Liverpool go into the game two points clear of Everton in the tussle for fourth place in the Premier League. Neither Benitez nor David Moyes needs to caution his players against becoming this week's Mascherano, though the history of hostility suggests cards will still be flourished like confetti. In the past 16 years of derbies at Anfield and Goodison, 16 reds have been shown.

Why, even David Weir managed it. In his first start in the fixture, the gentlemanly Weir also achieved something Everton urgently require today (when the Rangers defender plans to be present): victory on enemy territory. Yet that 1-0 win, a 1999 contest of three dismissals, was their last on the other side of Stanley Park. Moyes' side will have to be bolder than of late – or luckier – to repeat the feat. There is also the pressing matter of making Benitez choke on his peevish bracketing of Everton among the "smaller clubs" after last year's 0-0 draw; not to mention avenging October's home defeat, in which Liverpool scored two penalties, Everton were denied two and finished with nine men.

Arsenal, having contrived to make themselves contenders for fourth place rather than champions-elect in the space of five games, will trust that a little local difficulty saps Liverpool's energy. When the Champions League draw was made, Wenger claimed he was "indifferent" to the competition, his priority being the domestic title. Four points out of 15 have forced a re-think, the ironic twist being that he is faced by "English" foes in Europe. Between them, Wenger and Benitez have made it to the last three finals, the Spaniard's Champions League pedigree outstripping his performance at home. Two wins over Inter Milan made it five wins in a row, with 19 goals for and one against. Add his record with Valencia and it becomes clear he is never more at ease, in tactical terms, than in continental competition.

Arsenal cling to the hope that an all-Premier League tie will negate this ability, but after playing so well last Sunday the Gunners looked psychologically crushed to lose at Chelsea. "Rafa", moreover, got the better of Jose Mourinho and Chelsea in the semi-finals three years ago.

Over-familiarity may also be a problem for Roma and United, on and off the park, crowd trouble having scarred the last two meetings in the Eternal City. They met at the same stage last season, United triumphing 7-1 at home, and before Christmas during the group phase. To use the vernacular, Sir Alex Ferguson has Luciano Spalleti in his pocket, and after the victories by Arsenal and Liverpool over Milan's finest, the honour of world champions Italy is at stake.

Avram Grant's stock as Chelsea manager, which plummeted after their Carling Cup and FA Cup defeats, rose again when they came from behind to beat Arsenal. The Israeli had found himself mocked by the media, which questioned his ability to make telling changes during matches and even his suitability to be a manager at all. Suddenly, the swings and roundabouts of outrageous fortune being what they are, his substitutions came off and he was hailed a tactical genius. Grant's record since replacing the Special One was good enough to permit him two cup failures.

Winning the European Cup remains Chelsea's greatest ambition, and the pairing with Fenerbahce offers a gilt-edged opportunity to reach a fourth semi-final in five years. Coached by Zico, the Turks were the only team to beat Inter before Liverpool, also knocking out Sevilla. In Mateja Kezman they have a Stamford Bridge cast-off with something to prove, putting Grant's men on alert as they aim for a semi-final with Arsenal or Liverpool – and that mass jolly to Moscow.