NYON: Liverpool will play Serie A side Atalanta in the Europa League quarter-finals while Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen take on West Ham United after the draw was held at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon on Friday.

Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool 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.”

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.

“Of course we know West Ham, a Premier League team,” Alonso said on Friday. “Last year they had a huge success in the Conference League. (They have) top players. It’s exciting to be in the quarter finals against a very good opponent.”

The winners of that tie will advance to a semi-final against either AC Milan or last season’s beaten finalists AS Roma, who will face off in an all-Italian last-eight tie.

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 Europa League final will be held on May 22 at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

In the Europa Conference League, Aston Villa will face Lille, currently fourth in Ligue 1, in the quarter-finals. The winner of that tie will meet the victor between Olympiacos and Fenerbahce in the semi-final.

Last year’s finalists Fiorentina take on Czech side Viktoria Plzen while Club Brugge play PAOK of Greece in the other quarter-final.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2024