Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen on course for Europa League final meeting
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool side are on the hunt for another trophy before the manager leaves at the end of the season, and could be on course to face Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen in the final. Alonso, a former Liverpool midfielder, is one of the men tipped to replace Klopp at Anfield.
Liverpool previously faced Atalanta in the group stage of the 2020/21 Champions League, losing 2-0 at home but enjoying a 5-0 victory in Italy.
"Tricky, Atalanta, we played them, it's not like I watched them 500 times since then, but still the same manager, similar structure, so it means uncomfortable to play against, very well organised," Klopp told a press conference on Friday.
"But it's quarter-finals, I didn't expect, with all the teams involved, any easy opponent."
AC Milan are looking to win the trophy for the first time and they will face last season's beaten finalists AS Roma in an all-Italian clash.
Milan are second in Serie A, 16 points behind Inter Milan, while Roma are down in fifth, but they are a rejuvenated side since Daniele De Rossi replaced Jose Mourinho, with six wins in eight league games.
Benfica were drawn against French side Olympique de Marseille, and both clubs have reached the final of the competition three times. The winners of that quarter-final will face either Liverpool or Atalanta in the semis.
The other semi-final will see an Italian side, Milan or Roma, come up against Bayer Leverkusen or West Ham.
West Ham won last season's Conference League and reached the semi-final of the Europa League in 2022, but they face a tough task against Leverkusen. The German side are unbeaten across 37 games in all competitions this season.
Leverkusen, 10 points clear in the Bundesliga, kept their unbeaten run going and scraped through to the quarter-finals on Thursday when they came from 2-0 down to beat Qarabag 3-2, ensuring a 5-4 aggregate win.
The Europa League final will be held on May 22nd at Dublin's Aviva Stadium.
Europa League quarter-finals:
QF1: AC Milan vs Roma
QF3: Bayer Leverkusen vs West Ham
QF4: Benfica vs Marseille
Semi-finals:
SF1: Winners of QF4 vs winners of QF2 (winner to be nominal home side in final)
SF2: Winners of QF1 vs winners of QF3
Dates:
Quarter-finals
First legs: April 11th
Second legs: April 18th
Semi-finals
First legs: May 2nd
Second legs: May 9th
The Final
Wednesday, May 22nd, Dublin Arena
Draw procedure:
At this stage of the competition, no teams were seeded and there were no country restrictions - anyone could draw anyone.
The balls containing the names of the quarter-finalists were placed in a bowl and shuffled. The first and second balls drawn determined the first quarter-final pairing, with the first ball drawn representing the home team for the first leg. That procedure was repeated with the remaining balls to complete the quarter-final pairings.
For the semi-final draw, four balls containing slips of paper marked 'winners of quarter-final one' to 'winners of quarter-final four' were placed in a large central bowl and shuffled. The first and second balls drawn determined the first semi-final pairing, with the first ball drawn representing the home team for the first leg. That procedure was repeated with the remaining balls in the bowl to complete the semi-final pairings.
The same procedure was done for the final with the first ball designating the nominal home side.
