Starting from the next season, the Europa League will undergo a completely new format. However, this season will be the final edition following the traditional format of “group stage, round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, finals,” thus drawing extra attention to the quarter-final draw.
Europa League is here!
The final draw results are as follows:
Upper half:
Liverpool vs. Atalanta
Benfica vs. Marseille
Liverpool vs Atalanta
Lower half:
AC Milan vs. AS Roma
Bayer Leverkusen vs. West Ham United
Leverkusen will depart to London
Looking at the draw results above, AC Milan and AS Roma will engage in an internal clash. The draw result isn’t too bad as both sides are very familiar with each other. However, Atalanta from Serie A is not particularly fortunate as they will face the top contender, Liverpool, making it a less favorable draw for them.
Liverpool is considered one of the top contenders for the Europa League title this season
The Europa League quarter-finalists include:
Premier League: Liverpool, West Ham United Serie A: AS Roma, AC Milan, Atalanta Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen Ligue 1: Marseille Primeira Liga: Benfica
2023-24 Europa League
Looking at the teams that have advanced, the top five leagues have almost completely dominated the quarter-finals, occupying 7 out of 8 spots. The only team not from the top five leagues is Benfica from the Primeira Liga.
In contrast, while there are no Serie A teams in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, there are three in the Europa League quarter-finals.
3 Italy’s club in Europa League quarter-finals
The draw rules are as follows:
No seeded teams and no avoidance of teams from the same league or previous group stage encounters.
The draw determines the match-ups for the semi-finals and also designates the home team for the final.
Road to semi finals
The first two teams drawn form one pair of match-ups. The team drawn first plays the first leg at home. The process is then repeated for the remaining teams.
There is no away goals rule. If the two-legged tie ends in a draw, extra time and penalty shootout will be used to determine the winner.
Who will win the trophy?
The remaining schedule for the Europa League knockout stage is as follows:
Quarter-finals: April 11th, April 18th Semi-finals: May 2nd, May 9th Final: May 22nd (Location: Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland)
