Europa League draw in full: Arsenal and Chelsea learn quarter-final and semi-final fixtures confirmed
The quarter-final draw was concluded in Nyon
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Your support makes all the difference.Arsenal will play Napoli in the Europa League quarter-finals, bringing coach Carlo Ancelotti back to London where he won a Premier League title with Chelsea.
The Blues will meet Slavia Prague, who shocked five-time winners Sevilla with a comeback late in extra time in the round of 16 on Thursday.
An all-Spanish pairing sees Villarreal play Valencia, and three-time runners-up Benfica will face Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the Champions League quarter-final draw.
Liverpool became the fourth Premier League side to make it into the hat for the quarter-finals after seeing off Bayern Munich on Wednesday evening.
They join Manchester City, who routed Schalke, Tottenham, who proved too strong for Borussia Dortmund, and of course Manchester United, who famously stunned Paris Saint-Germain a week ago.
They will all find out who they will play next with Lionel Messi's Fc Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus still looming large.
We will have all the latest updates from Nyon so stick with us throughout the morning.
How does it all work then?
Well the key point is that there is no seeding or country protection in either the quarter-final or semi-final draws.
So that means a fairly good chance that two (or more) Premier League sides will face each other in the last eight.
The semi-final draw takes place immediately after the quarter-final one, meaning teams will immediately know their potential paths to the final.
Excited? Yep. So am I.
With the live draw for the Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals just over two hours away, let'stake you through the teams who will be involved in Nyon come 11am today.
It's quite a lineup!
Ajax
First up is the side with the lowest UEFA ranking but also the team who caused the biggest upset of the last 16 by knocking out holders Real Madrid.
They did not let the disappointment of losing the first leg at home 2-1 to Madrid prevent them from coming back and winning the tie in emphatic fashion, producing a scintillating display to stun the 13-time winners 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Compared to last season, when Ajax were knocked out in the third qualifying round of the Europa League, this season has seen the confidence return to Erik ten Hag's side, and the 49-year-old has overseen the emergence of another talented bunch in the Dutch capital who also held Bayern Munich twice this season in the competition.
And the four-time European champions can also call on experience with former Southampton man and current top scorer Dusan Tadic on target on six occasions already in this competition.
They may prove to be everyone's favoured draw, but that would do a disservice to the job ten Hag and the Ajax players have done in the Champions League this season.
Reminder to Manchester City and Manchester United fans:
The two sides will not be able to play at home on the same night, nor on consecutive nights, following a decision made by the relevant local authorities.
Therefore, if the draw results in both Pep Guardiola and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's teams being drawn at home in the same week, the team having finished lower in the Premier League last season – in this case Manchester United – will be reversed in accordance with the UEFA Club Competitions Committee principles.
Any potential reversal for the semi-finals, for the same reason, would be confirmed after the quarter-finals.
Barcelona
Rather surprisingly the only Spanish side left in the Champions League after Real Madrid's shock exit, Barcelona will be looking for their first European title since 2015.
However, since that year they have not made it past the quarter-final stage and have endured some rocky patches this season which were exacerbated by an injury to top scorer Lionel Messi.
However, there were no worries about the Argentine’s fitness or form on Wednesday night when they dispatched of Lyon 5-1 at the Camp Nou, which came after a 0-0 draw at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in the first leg.
Barcelona were knocked out in incredible fashion by THAT Kostas Manolas header at the Stadio Olimpico last year in the last eight, but as they look odds-on to retain their La Liga title, they will be hoping for an improved showing in European competition this season.
As if the race for the Champions League places wasn't enticing enough already.......
Juventus
Max Allegri’s side kept alive the dream of a first Champions League title since 1996 with a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired comeback against Atletico Madrid.
Juve, who look on course for an eighth straight Scudetto after going 18 points clear at the weekend, had left themselves in a perilous situation after the first leg, with Atletico holding a 2-0 advantage after goals from centre-backs Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin at the Wanda Metropolitano.
However as they say, cometh the hour cometh the man, and Ronaldo underlined his worth in Europe's elite competition once again, being on hand to score his eighth Champions League hat-trick as Allegri’s side ran out 3-0 winners to overturn the first-leg deficit.
Paulo Dybala remains the top scorer for Juventus in the competition despite the Portuguese’s hat-trick, and together the Serie A champions will hop they can bring European glory back top Turin again.
Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp’s men have added defensive steel to their potent attacking threat this season and those elements were on display during their round-of-16 tie with Bayern Munich.
After a 0-0 draw with the German champions at Anfield, they asserted themselves at both ends of the field to take the return leg 3-1, which involved a beautifully executed chip from Sadio Mane for the opener.
The Senegalese is alongside Mohamed Salah the top scorer for Liverpool in the Champions League this season with three, and while they may not have been quite as explosive as they were last season, they have faced high-quality opposition at all stages this season.
Finishing second behind Paris Saint-Germain but crucially above Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli in the group stages, the Reds will feel confident against any side after toppling the Bundesliga champions in the last round.
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