Champions League & Europa League draws: All you need to know

Published on: 15 March 2019

England have four teams in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in 10 years

Four English teams will find out their potential route to the final of the Champions League when the quarter-final and semi-final draw takes place on Friday at 11:00 GMT.

Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham could face each other in the knockout stages.

Arsenal and Chelsea are in the Europa League quarter-final draw at 12:00 GMT.

It is the first time in 48 years that England has had six quarter-finalists in major European competitions.

The other four teams in the Champions League draw are Spanish champions Barcelona, Dutch four-time winners Ajax, Italian champions Juventus and Portuguese champions Porto.

It is the first time since 2009 that four English sides are in the last eight of the Champions League.

In Friday's draw, Uefa will also pick the 'home' and 'away' sides for the final at Atletico Madrid's Wanda Metropolitano stadium.

The last English side to win the competition was Chelsea in 2012, although Liverpool made the final last season.

Manchester City and Manchester United cannot play at home on the same day or consecutive nights and therefore the team which finished lower in the Premier League last season - in this case United - will be forced to reverse the tie if they both draw home legs first.

The last meeting between two English sides took place last season when Liverpool knocked out Manchester City in the last eight.

The quarter-final first legs take place on 9 April and 10 April. The semi-finals start on 30 April and 1 May before the final on Saturday, 1 June.

'I don't want any of the others' - what they say

Liverpool midfielder James Milner started the Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid last season

Liverpool midfielder James Milner: "To have four teams in the last eight is great for England. I don't want to play any of the others, to be honest. We want as many teams as possible going forward.

"In previous years, we have always had the belief that the Premier League is the best in the world. But it has been a top league and there haven't been that many teams [in the latter stages].

"Every team left in the competition is a good side. We know that. People will look at Porto and Ajax, but they are young teams and they are flying. They deserve to be there and we know they will be tough teams."

Wales manager Ryan Giggs on why former club Manchester United can win the competition: "I don't see why not when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's gone to Pari St-Germain with the team he's got and won.

"There are worse teams that have done well and got to finals. They have undoubtedly got the quality and the confidence at the moment. But there are still some big teams in there. It will be difficult, but not impossible.

"They are playing brilliantly and the results have been amazing."

The best stats before the draw

    There are as many English teams in the quarter-finals of this season's Champions League as there were in the previous four campaigns combined (four). This is the first time that Spain will have just one representative in the Champions League quarter-finals since 2009-10. There will be no German side in the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2005-06. Ajax are the first Dutch side to reach the Champions League quarter-finals since PSV Eindhoven in 2006-07. Ajax have had a younger starting XI on average (24 years, 202 days) in the Champions League this season than any other side left in the competition. Porto have had more different goalscorers (excluding own goals) than any other team in this season's Champions League (10). Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has now qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals in nine of his 10 campaigns as manager, with 2016-17 the only season he failed to do so. Barcelona have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the 12th successive season, last failing to do so in the 2006-07 campaign. Tottenham have qualified for the quarter-finals of the European Cup/Champions League for the third time in the club's history, last doing so back in 2010-11.

English teams dominating the Champions League

For the first time in 10 seasons, four teams from one country will compete in the last eight of the Champions League.

England are the only country to have had four in the draw.

It evokes memories of the 2000s and the two successive seasons that England provided four quarter-finalists (along with six finalists in five years and two winners - Liverpool in 2005 and Manchester United in 2008).

Teams from each country in last eight of Champions League this century

Spain England Germany Italy France Other

2018-19 1 4 0 1 0 2

2017-18 3 2 1 2 0 0

2016-17 3 1 2 1 1 0

2015-16 3 1 2 0 1 1

2014-15 3 0 1 1 2 1

2013-14 3 2 2 0 1 0

2012-13 3 0 2* 1 1 1

2011-12 2 1 1 1 1 2

2010-11 2 3 1 1 0 1

2009-10 1 2 1 1 2 1

2008-09 2 4 1 0 0 1

2007-08 1 4 1 1 0 1

2006-07 1 3 1 2 0 1

2005-06 2 1 0 3 1 1

2004-05 0* 2 1 3 1 1

2003-04 2 2 0 1 2 1

2002-03 3 1* 0 3 0 1

2001-02 3 2 2 0 0 1

2000-01 3 3 1 0 0 1

1999-00 3 2 1 1* 0 1

*Year country started providing four teams for Champions League

How are English sides expected to get on?

Liverpool are the fifth-highest ranked team of this year's Champions League quarter-finalists

Premier League champions Manchester City are the bookmakers' favourites to win the Champions League this season. This is the third time in four seasons they have been to the last eight, and in Pep Guardiola they have a manager who has won it twice with Barcelona.

Liverpool are hoping to go one better than last season when they lost to Real Madrid in the final. They have won the competition five times, more than any other English side.

Manchester United are a team reborn under Solskjaer, picking up a famous 3-1 win at PSG in the last 16 with an injury-ravaged team to go through on away goals.

The 1968, 1999 and 2008 champions became the first team in European Cup history to overcome a 2-0 or greater home first-leg deficit.

Tottenham have shown good progression year on year in Europe, going out in the group stages in 2016-17 and the last 16 last year. But this time around they beat then Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund 4-0 on aggregate to reach the quarter-finals.

They are expected to finally be in their new stadium when the quarter-finals take place in April.

Who do they want to avoid?

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi in the Champions League this season

Barcelona, who were inspired by Lionel Messi in their last 16 victory over Lyon, are chasing the treble this season and are unbeaten in their past 30 Champions League home games (W27, D3) - the longest ever run in the competition.

Messi is the joint top scorer in this season's tournament with eight, and the second top scorer in Champions League history's with 108.

The only man who has ever scored more - Cristiano Ronaldo - is aiming to lead Juventus to their first Champions League title since 1996.

With his Juventus side 2-0 down to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their last 16 tie, he scored a hat-trick on Tuesday to send them through. The Portuguese is trying to win the tournament for a fourth consecutive year, having won the past three with Real Madrid, and a sixth time overall - which would be a joint record.

Champions League quarter-finalists

Ajax (Netherlands) Barcelona (Spain)

Juventus (Italy) Liverpool (England)

Manchester City (England) Manchester United (England)

Porto (Portugal) Tottenham (England)

'No team wants to play Liverpool or City' - analysis

European football expert James Horncastle

I know on the continent, they want the English sides to draw themselves and knock each other out. Liverpool and Manchester City, no team wants to play them. Spurs have progressed every year and learnt more.

You then have lower-profile sides like Ajax. What can they do while they still have this team together? To go to the Bernabeu and do what they did, they are fearless. There was some great coaching in the last 16.

What are the chances of an all-English quarter-final?

Simon Gleave, head of sports analysis, Gracenote

There are 105 possible scenarios for the Champions League draw, which will also determine the semi-final line-ups.

Nine out of those 105 scenarios involve the four English clubs all being drawn against each other - an 8.6% chance.

Out of the total possible draws, 72 scenarios have exactly one all-English tie - that's 68.6%.

Therefore, the chance of all four English clubs avoiding each other in the quarter final draw is 22.9%.

And what about the Europa League?

Arsenal and Chelsea's two most recent meetings in the Premier League have seen seven goals scored between them

Arsenal and Chelsea could be each other's biggest competition for a place in the final, which takes place on Wednesday, 29 May at the Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan's capital Baku.

Gunners' boss Unai Emery won three Europa League titles in a row with former club Sevilla - the Spanish side are a record five-time champions but were knocked out in the last 16 by Slavia Prague.

Italian side Napoli, who dropped down from the Champions League, could be a threat after they picked up a 1-0 win over Liverpool in Naples in October.

They could be drawn against their former manager Maurizio Sarri, who is now in charge at Chelsea. The Blues were the last English team to win the competition, under Rafael Benitez in 2013. Arsenal made it through to last season's semi-finals before losing 2-1 on aggregate to Atletico Madrid.

The last time the two English teams met was in the Premier League in January and Arsenal won 2-0. Chelsea won the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge 3-2 in August.

Europa League quarter-finalists

Chelsea (Eng) Inter Milan (Ita)

Benfica (Por) Eintracht Frankfurt (Ger)

Valencia (Spa) Slavia Prague (Cze)

Arsenal (Eng) Villarreal (Spa)

Source: bbc.com

Comments