Europa League draw in full as Liverpool and West Ham learn quarter-final opponents

That’s all for this blog. What a Europa League quarter-final round we have to look forward to.

Let us know who you think will make it to the semi-finals, and the final, in the comments below.

Thanks for joining us.

Now that is a very exciting draw.

The final everyone has already talked about – Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool vs Xabi Alonso and Bayer Leverkusen is on.

But West Ham will have something to say about that. The Hammers will be desperate to cause an upset in the quarter-finals.

The first legs of the last-eight matches will be played Thursday 11 April.

The return fixtures take place the following week, Thursday 18 April.

So it is the team from semi-final one who will be the home team in Dublin.

That means one of Benfica, Marseille, Liverpool or Atalanta will be the ‘home’ team in Ireland.

They will face one of AC Milan, Roma, Bayer Leverkusen or West Ham in the final.

And this is how the semis will look.

Benfica or Marseille vs Liverpool or Atalanta

AC Milan or Roma vs Bayer Leverkusen or West Ham

AC Milan vs Roma

Liverpool vs Atalanta

Bayer Leverkusen vs West Ham

Benfica vs Marseille

And the final tie pits Benfica, three-time runners-up, against Marseille.

Some very tasty matches there.

The third quarter-final sees Bayer Leverkusen drawn out.

The Bundesliga leaders are paired with West Ham – wow. What a tie that is!

A huge test for the Europa Conference League holders.

Liverpool are the next team out. They’ll play the first leg at Anfield.

And they’ll take on… Atalanta, the third Italian team in the tournament.

And we’re underway!

The first team out of the pot are… AC Milan.

And the Italian giants are paired with fellow Serie A side Roma, the runners-up in this competition last season.

We’ve had our montage of the teams in the draw.

We’ve had Giorgi Marchetti’s introduction.

Now it’s over to Mr Marchetti to bring on the special guest to help conduct the draw, it’s… ex-Tottenham striker Fernando Llorente.

A 2016 winner of the Europa League, he talks a bit about his experience of the competition and then says he’s impressed by Liverpool, calling them the “big favourites”.

We’re about to get underway in Nyon, Switzerland.

Just as with the draw just done, we’ll get about 10 to 15 minutes of preamble before we find out the quarter-final ties.

We’ll then learn the routes to the final too, including who will be the ‘home’ team in Dublin at the end of May.

Similarly to the Champions League draw just conducted, this will be the final proper Europa League draw ever.

UEFA’s draws will change to a tennis-style procedure next year and the new league table format of their competitions means it would take three to four hours to conduct a draw as they do now.

Instead, computers will conduct the draw next season and it will not be televised.

Liverpool are unsurprisingly the favourites to win this competition as Jurgen Klopp looks to lift the only trophy he’s never won before he leaves.

OLBG are offering the following odds on teams to win the tournament…

Liverpool – 11/10

Bayer Leverkusen – 10/3

AC Milan – 6/1

West Ham – 12/1

Roma – 14/1

Atalanta – 14/1

Marseille – 20/1

Benfica – 20/1

We’re at the simple stage of the draw procedure now which means it is completely open – there is no seeding.

There are also no country restrictions meaning all-English and all-Italian ties are possible.

The first team drawn will play its first match at home against the second team drawn.

The full bracket will be determined today, meaning we’ll know a bit more clearly who could face each other in the semi-finals and the final.

Back to the Europa League, though.

Here’s how the second legs of the round of 16 panned out…

Brighton 1-0 Roma (1-4 on agg)

Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 Qarabag (5-4 on agg)

Atalanta 2-1 Sporting (3-2 on agg)

Liverpool 6-1 Sparta Prague (11-2 on agg)

Villarreal 3-1 Marseille (3-5 on agg)

West Ham 5-0 Freiburg (5-1 on agg)

Slavia Prague 1-3 AC Milan (3-7 on agg)

Rangers 0-1 Benfica (2-3 on agg)

If you didn’t know, we’ve just had the Champions League quarter-final draw – and it’s a thriller.

We’ve got Arsenal taking on ex-Tottenham striker Harry Kane and his Bayern Munich side.

Holders Manchester City have been paired with 14-time champions Real Madrid who were hammered by the treble-winners last season.

See the full draw here.

Who are the eight teams in today’s draw? Well…

Liverpool

West Ham

AC Milan

Atalanta

Roma

Marseille

Bayer Leverkusen

Benfica

Good morning! It’s Friday, and it’s draw day.

The Europa League quarter-final draw begins at 12pm (midday).

We’ll have the standard 10 to 15 minutes of UEFA build-up before the balls are pulled out of the pot.