Europa League quarter-final draw: Liverpool to play Atalanta; West Ham to play Leverkusen

Good draw for Liverpool fans you would have to say. They’ve avoided Bayer Leverkusen, the outstanding other team left in the competition and AC Milan and AS Roma. Atalanta will give them a good test, but it would appear that is the easier side of the draw. The same can’t be said for West Ham, against Xabi Alonso’s high-flyers, although they were nearly beaten by Qarabag but for late heroics, so David Moyes will look to follow their example.

It all sets up for a potential Leverkusen-Liverpool final in Dublin. If Liverpool lose in the FA Cup in the meantime, that could be Jurgen Klopp’s last game. Against his potential successor Alonso. In Ireland. What a spectacle and narrative that would be.

That’s all from me today, goodbye!

Quarter-final draw:

AC Milan v AS Roma

Liverpool v Atalanta

Bayer Leverkusen v West Ham

Benfica v Olympique Marseille

Semi-final draw:

Benfica v Olympique Marseille v Liverpool/Atalanta

AC Milan/AS Roma v Bayer Leverkusen/West Ham

The first team drawn is AC Milan.

They will play at home first leg against AS Roma! All Italian matchup there.

Liverpool are drawn next.

They will play at home first leg against Atalanta!

Bayer Leverkusen are drawn next.

They will play at home first leg against West Ham United!

Benfica are drawn next.

They will play at home first leg against Olympique Marseille!

To draw the lots for the Europa League draw is Fernando Llorente, formerly of Tottenham. He played two finals with Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao.

Next up is the Europa League draw at 12pm, which features Liverpool and West Ham. The final is, of course, in Dublin this year on Wednesday, May 22nd, which adds extra interest. The teams are as follows:

Atalanta (Italy)

Benfica (Portugal)

Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)

Liverpool (England)

Olympique Marseille (France)

AC Milan (Italy)

AS Roma (Italy)

West Ham (England)

One of the best groups of quarter-final teams that competition has seen since the glory days of the Uefa Cup in the 1990s I reckon. Will be interesting.

Quarter-final draw procedure

• At this stage of the competition, no teams are seeded and there is no country protection.

• Eight balls containing the names of the quarter-finalists are placed in the large central bowl and shuffled.

• The first and second balls drawn determine the first quarter-final pairing, with the first ball drawn representing the home team for the first leg.

• The procedure is repeated with the remaining balls to complete the quarter-final pairings.

Quarter-finals

First legs: April 11th. Second legs: April 18th.

Semi-finals

First legs: May 2nd. Second legs: May 9th.

Final

Wednesday May 22nd, Aviva Stadium.

What a great draw that is then!

Real Madrid and Manchester City the standout draw, the two dominant teams of the past few years. Real Madrid came from two behind to beat Manchester City in the semi-final in stunning fashion two years ago, in one of the best ties in Champions League history. Last year, Manchester City got revenge, battering Real Madrid 4-0 in the second leg of the semi-final as they went on to win the trophy and the treble.

The winners of that game will play the winners of Arsenal and Bayern Munich. Bayern have been quite the bogey team for Arsenal in the competition in recent memory, losing on multiple occasions to Munich in the last 16, most notably when they thrashed Arsenal 10-1 on aggregate in 2017. Nobody expects that to happen again as Arsenal are in great form chasing the Premier League title, while Bayern are trailing Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. But it should be an intriguing tie, with Spurs legend Harry Kane returning to play his old rivals in London.

The other two games see opportunities for PSG, Barcelona, Atletico and Dortmund, in what is no doubt the weaker side of the draw. Opportunity knocks for Kylian Mbappé before his proposed move to Real Madrid this summer, to reach a Champions League final before he leaves PSG. Barcelona won’t be easy but it is a beatable and transitional side, with Xavi leaving in the summer.

The quarter-final draw:

Arsenal v Bayern Munich

Atletico Madrid v Borussia Dortmund

Real Madrid v Manchester City

PSG v Barcelona

The semi-final draw is as follows:

Atletico Madrid/Borussia Dortmund v PSG/Barcelona

Arsenal/Bayern Munich v Real Madrid/Manchester City

That leaves some of the big hitters left in it. Man City, Barca, PSG and Real Madrid.

Real Madrid drawn out.

Real Madrid will play at home first leg against Manchester City! What a tie.

Paris Saint-Germain round off the draw with a home first leg against FC Barcelona.

Arsenal, the first team drawn out.

Arsenal will play at home the first leg against Bayern Munich!

Atletico Madrid drawn out.

Atletico Madrid will play at home the first leg against Borussia Dortmund!

Nigeria’s Jon Obi Mikel, formerly of Chelsea, is there to draw the lots.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Champions League draw, taking place in Nyon in Switzerland. Manchester City and Arsenal are among the Premier League teams awaiting their fate.

Here’s a reminder of the teams who are in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

• Arsenal (England)
• Atletico Madrid (Spain)
• Barcelona (Spain)
• Bayern Munich (Germany)
• Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
• Manchester City (England)
• Paris St-Germain (France)
• Real Madrid (Spain)

The quarter-final first legs will be played over April 9-10, with the second legs over April 16-17. The first legs of the semi-finals will be held on April 30 and May 1, with the second legs a week later on May 7-8.

At this stage of the competition, no teams are seeded and there is no country protection.

• Eight balls containing the names of the quarter-finalists are placed in a large central bowl and shuffled.

• The first and second balls drawn determine the first quarter-final pairing, with the first ball drawn representing the home team for the first leg.

• The procedure is repeated with the remaining balls in the bowl to complete the quarter-final pairings.

The Europa League draw is at 12pm, featuring Liverpool, and the Europa Conference League draw is at 1pm, featuring Aston Villa of the English teams.

The Champions League final is on at Wembley on Saturday, June 1st.