Champions League and Europa League quarterfinals draw - Who's facing who and when?

Find out how the top European teams are matched up in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League and how the semifinals and finals could shape up.

Published : Mar 15, 2019 16:13 IST

The Champions League quarterfinals draw which will also decide possible semifinal and final match-ups takes place in Nyon.

Welcome to Sportstar's live blog of the Champions League and Europa League quarterfinals and semifinals draw.

 

Here is the Champions League quarterfinal draw in full

Ajax vs Juventus - QF 1

Liverpool vs FC Porto - QF 2

Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City - QF 3

Manchester United vs Barcelona - QF 4

Semifinal 1 - Winner of QF 3 vs Winner of QF 1

Semifinal 2 - Winner of QF 2 vs Winner of QF 4

Now here's when these matches are happening:

The quarterfinal first legs will be played on April 9-10. The second leg will be played on April 16-17.

Semifinals: April 30, May 1 and May7-8

Final: June 1, Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, Madrid.

 

Here's the Europa League quarterfinal draw in full

Napoli vs Arsenal

Villareal vs Valencia

Benfica vs Eintracht Frankfurt

Slavia Prague vs Chelsea

The matches will be played on April 11 and April 18.

Semifinal 1 - Winner of QF1 vs Winner of QF2

Semifinal 2 - Winner of QF 3 vs Winner of QF4

The semifinals will be played on May 2 and May 9.

Final: May 29, Baku Olympic Stadium, Azerbaijan

 

Let's look at head-to-head records between the drawn teams in UEFA competitions.

Ajax vs Juventus (W2, D4, L6; GF9, GA15)

Ajax has won two, drawn four and lost six against Juventus.

Liverpool vs FC Porto (W3, D3, L0; GS12, GA2)

Liverpool has never lost against Porto, winning three and drawing three.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City N/A

Tottenham and Man City will face off in a UEFA competition for the first time.

Manchester United vs Barcelona (W3 D4 L4; GF15 GA20)

Manchester United and Barcelona have met quite often in the Champions League, including two finals - 2008/09 and 2010/11 (Barca won both). Barcelona has an edge, winning four out 11 times. Man United has won three times and there have been four draws.

Champions League and Europa League draw: As it happened

5:45pm Semifinal 2 will be played between winner of QF 3 (Benfica vs Eintracht Frankfurt) and winner of QF 4 (Slavia Prague vs Chelsea).

5:44pm Now for deciding the semifinal paths. Winner of QF 1 (Napoli vs Arsenal) will play winner of QF 2 (Villareal vs Valencia) in Semifinal 1.

5:44pm The next one out is Slavia Prague, which will face Chelsea in quarterfinal 4.

5:43pm Out next in Benfica. Benfica vs Eintracht Frankfurt is going to be quarterfinal 3.

5:42pm Villareal is the next team picked out. It will face Valencia in an all-Spanish quarterfinal 2 tie.

5:40pm The first one out of the bowl is Napoli.  Napoli will face Arsenal! So, first quarterfinal Napoli vs Arsenal.

5:28pm Maurizio Sarri wants to face his former club in the final. The Chelsea manager said: "I'd rather face [my old club] Napoli in the final. Firstly, because that means we are in the final, and secondly because that means Napoli are in it too. My relationship with the city and with the people there is well known. It would be very difficult for me to play against them in Naples."

Here's what some of the coaches and players had to say ahead of the draw:

Ibrahim Traoré, Slavia midfielder: "Now we can only be drawn against another very strong team: Arsenal, Chelsea and others. I cannot wait to see who we get. We will be ready, whoever it is. Can we reach the final? Why not?"

Carlo Ancelotti, Napoli coach: "We have to look forward now. We know where we need to improve. We'll see who we get in the quarter-finals."

Unai Emery: "Inter Milan is out, Sevilla is out. A big surprise. The last eight teams are very important teams and it is going to be very difficult."

Petr Čech, Arsenal goalkeeper: "My dream goes on - my dream is to retire [at the end of this season] with a trophy in my hands... There's a long way to go but with performances like [Thursday's 3-0 win against Rennes], we can compete."

Javi Calleja, Villarreal coach: "We're very confident when we play in this competition. We're really excited by it... You have to try and win every game in every competition to get as far as you can. [Having so many games] keeps all the squad focused, because it means there is game time for everyone."

Tomáš Souček, Slavia midfielder: "Who we want in the draw? One word: England!"

Olivier Giroud, Chelsea forward (speaking to UEFA.com): "We don't have any preferences for the quarter-final draw. We have a good team and need to focus on"

João Filipe, Benfica midfielder: "We are ready for all eventualities, for any team. Just bring them on; we'll be ready."

Jindřich Trpišovský, Slavia Praha coach: "My dream is to take Slavia to England. Our fans really deserve it for all their faithful support. So it's clear for me: Arsenal or Chelsea. We have always dreamed about playing in England, so I hope our dream will come true."

 

Ahead of the draw, here are some interesting Europa League facts :

- Benfica has set a UEFA Europa League-era record by making it to the quarterfinals for the fifth time.

- By reaching this stage, Valencia has equalled the record of nine UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League quarterfinal appearances held by Juventus and Internazionale Milano.

- Arsenal boss Unai Emery won the UEFA Europa League three times at Sevilla. He could become the first manager to win a major UEFA trophy four times if he takes Arsenal all the way this season.

It's time for the Europa League draws now. Here are the eight teams in the quarters .

Arsenal

Chelsea

Napoli

Valencia

Benfica

Villareal

SK Slavia Prague

Eintracht Frankfurt

 

Europa League draw coming up

4:49pm And for the final, the winner of semifinal 1 will play in home colours.

4:47pm Winner of quarterfinal 3 (Tottenham vs Man City) will face the winner of quarterfinal 1 (Ajax vs Juventus) in semifinal 1.  And the other semifinal will be between the winners of Man United vs Barcelona and Liverpool vs Porto.

4:46pm Now they're drawing the semifinal paths.

4:44pm Tottenham Hotspur is next! And it faces English mates Manchester City.  So we know the other one's going to be Manchester United vs Barcelona.

4:43pm Liverpool is next out of the bowl.  Is it going to be United? No, it's FC Porto. Lots of happy Liverpool fans now. Liverpool vs FC Porto

4:42pm Ajax is drawn out first.  And Ajax is facing Juventus!

4:41pm Talking still going on. But this one's about the draw. So, the actual thing is closer. Hold on, restless souls.

4:36pm The talking's almost over. Julio Cesar's on stage.

4:32pm Just to refresh your memory, here are the eight teams in the quarters. Here's a fun game: pick your fixtures and see how many of them come true.

4:30pm It's begun! Four teams from England, one each from Spain, Portugal, Italy and Netherlands. Fingers crossed for exciting match-ups.

4:28pm Confusing times, isn't it? There are no seedings, so anybody can face anybody. And so would you rather see a Juventus-Barcelona or a Man United-Liverpool clash in the quarterfinals or in the summit fixture?

Jose Mourinho doesn't want a Messi-Ronaldo quarterfinal. ( READ MORE )

The draw, which will take place at UEFA's Swiss headquarters in Nyon, will begin at 12pm CET (4:30pm IST).

Ajax, Barcelona, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Porto, Tottenham Hotspur - this list of eight teams has thrown up too many mouth-watering possibilities for quarterfinal clashes.

Since there is no fresh draws after the quarterfinals, draws will be picked for the semifinals as well today, chalking out possible semifinal and final match-ups too.

Here's all you need to know about the possible match-ups and how the teams stack up against each other.

Unlike the previous rounds, there will be no seedings or country protection in this draw. The only restriction for this round is that both Manchester City and Manchester United will not play at home on the same night, nor on consecutive nights, "following a decision made by the relevant local authorities" said UEFA in a release.

So unless the Manchester clubs face each other in the quarters, the team that finished lower in the domestic league the previous season – in this case Manchester United – will have its fixture reversed if it is drawn at home in the same week as City.

Here's Luis Figo again

The big talking point from the last round of European matches, apart from the elimination of three-time defending champion Real Madrid, was the progression of four English teams to the last eight. The last time this happened was in the 2008-09 edition, when Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal were the four English teams. Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United are the other three Premier League sides this season.