Champions and Europa League draw, fixtures: quarterfinals and semifinals | Madrid - City and Barça - PSG

EUROPA LEAGUE

Europa League 2024 quarter-finals and semi-finals draw: Teams, fixtures, dates and pairings

So, Liverpool have been drawn to face Atalanta the last eight, while AC Milan will take on compatriots Roma.

Leverkusen will travel to London to take on West Ham while Marseille will look to get over their recent scare by beating Benfica.

What an amazing set of Europa League fixtures we have!

Here are the dates for the Europa League:

Quarter-finals: 11 & 18 April

Semi-finals: 2 & 9 May

Final: 22 May

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE FULL DRAW:

AC Milan - Roma

Liverpool - Atalanta

Bayer Leverkusen - West Ham United

Benfica - Marseille

Final draw:

Semi final 1 - semi-final 2

A great job from Fernando. Clear experience with the Kinder Eggs.

Semi-final draw:

Benfica/Marseille - Liverpool/Atalanta

AC Milan/Roma - Bayer Leverkusen/West Ham

And they will play the final team:

SL BENFICA - MARSEILLE 

And the final tie...

SL BENFICA

What a game!

BAYER LEVERKUSEN - WEST HAM UNITED

Game three is up now...

BAYER LEVERKUSEN

And they will play

LIVERPOOL - ATALANTA

Game two:

LIVERPOOL 

An Italian derby. Thanks for that, Fernando.

And they will play:

AC MILAN - AS ROMA

First up...

AC MILAN

Marchetti is explaining the rules again. Llorente is getting warmed up: let's see if he struggles as much as Mikel did with the Kinder Eggs.

More from Llorente:

"I think Liverpool are playing well and are the big favourite"

"Bayer are playing well as well, they're top of the league and they have gone 37 games unbeaten. I'm happy for Xabi, he's an amazing guy and I hope he wins the competition"

Llorente is excited for the draw:

"I enjoyed this competition a lot in 2012, we felt good and surprised Europe when we beat Manchester United at Old Trafford"

Fernando Llorente talking about the Bielsa days. Bliss.

And here comes Fernando Llorente!

I wasn't expecting that but if we can't have Zoltan Gera then I'll take Llorente. He's not taller than Pinto, the giant.

Where will the Europa League final be played?

While Giorgio Marchetti gives us the rules again, let me take a second to tell you that the UEFA Europa League final will take place in Dublin, Ireland.

It will be at the Aviva Stadium on Wed, May 22, 2024.

Video montage number two...

Goals, goals, goals. 

If you love goals, this is the one to get on VHS.

Pedro Pinto is back!

And our Champions League decorations have magically turned orange and look very Europa League-y. 

He's just talking about how Bayer Leverkusen did indeed manage to fight their way out of a Qarabag.

Here we go! Europa League draw coming up!

The lights are flashing and we've got our first video montage...

Want more Opta goodies?

While we wait on the Europa League draw to kick off, here's one for the Arsenal fans. Records are there to be broken, right?

Opta bringing the goods

Feel like you've seen this movie before? Well, you might from a PSG perspective, who are facing their most common opponent in the continental competition.

Not long to go!

We've got less than ten minutes until the Europa League draw begins, and Xabi Alonso has had his say.

Apologies for taking the quote from the transfer monster himself, but it's where I found it first.

Is the Europa League draw the same as the Champions League draw?

Thanks for asking. You really have got all the good questions today.

Basically, the answer is yes.

The Kinder Egg capsules will be whirled around in the pot before being drawn, with the first team drawn out of the pot the home side in the first of the two legs, and so on.

The procedure is repeated with the remaining balls in the bowl to complete the quarter-final pairings.

EUROPA LEAGUE DRAW COMING UP

We've got the Europa League draw coming up in fifteen minutes!

Here is a reminder of the teams:

Marseille

Roma

Benfica

West Ham

Atalanta

AC Milan

Bayer Leverkusen

Liverpool

City excitement building for the tie

Manchester City have gone with a doll theme for their fixture announcement graphic, which is, to be fair, is unique and definitely something that won't be copied by another team by mistake. 

One cannot really take social media replies seriously anymore, but the general feeling from the City fans and a couple of colleagues here at AS HQ is that, while they're rightly favourites, things may not be so straightforward for the EPL side this time.

SofaScore graphic time!

The boffins in white lab coats over the road at SofaScore Towers have sent us this lovely graphic of the two sides of the UCL bracket. 

The more I look at the games, the more excited I get. 

PSG - Barcelona is a hugely intriguing tie, with a certain Kylian Mbappé sure to take the spotlight, as always. Could he even be playing against his *cough* future rivals?

An interesting draw on both sides of the divide...

While Madrid/City vs Arsenal/Bayern is a hugely entertaining side of the bracket and will get the most attention, it looks like a very good chance for Los Rojiblancos on the other side to make it to the final. 

Rodrygo reacts

For what it's worth, I reckon Real Madrid will be better equipped this time round to take on City at the Etihad. 

Look away, Madrid fans...

There's not great news in terms of yellow cards!

Which game are you excited for?

It's hard not to look at Real Madrid - Manchester City and flash back to the devastating defeat Los Blancos suffered at the hands of the English side just last season, as City crashed their way across Europe to collecting the trophy.

Manchester City dominated Madrid from start to finish at the Etihad. Goals from Silva (2), Militao (OG) and Álvarez set up the final against Inter.

And breathe, everyone...

We've already got a piece here of all the games/dates/times/nervous breakdown techniques, should you require that information.

Arsenal - Bayern

Atlético Madrid - Borussia Dortmund

Real Madrid - Manchester City

PSG - Barcelona

When are the quarter-finals?

The quarter-final games will be played in April with the first legs being staged on 9/10 April and the return games a week later on 16/17 April.

The semi-finals will be staged on 30 April/1 May and the second leg games coming a week later on 7/8 May with the final scheduled for Saturday, 1 June at the iconic Wembley Stadium.

And the final will be...

Semi-final 1 winner vs Semi-final 2 winner

(That sounds obvious, but it's to determine the home team of the game)

Semi-final two:

Arsenal/Bayern - Real Madrid/Man City

Semi-final one:

Atlético/BVB - PSG/Barcelona

FULL UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER-FINAL GAMES:

Arsenal - Bayern

Atlético Madrid - Dortmund

Real Madrid - Man City

PSG - Barcelona

And there you have it!

PSG - BARCELONA

The final tie:

PSG are the home side, and they will play...

Well, that is HUGE. Thanks, John Obi.

And they will play:

REAL MADRID - MANCHESTER CITY

Number three...

REAL MADRID

And they will face...

ATLÉTICO MADRID - BORUSSIA DORTMUND

The next team out is...

(Mikel is having a bit of trouble opening the balls)

ATLÉTICO MADRID

I'm sorry, Gunners, I think I predicted that one earlier.

And the game will be...

ARSENAL VS BAYERN

ARSENAL are first out of the bowl.

And the first draw is...

Let's see who is up first! Here we go!

A reminder that we've got an open draw...

"There are no restrictions", Marchetti is telling us, but you know that.

A quick interview with Mikel:

We've got a couple of questions from Pinto to Mikel, who looks in fine form despite being a retired footballer.

"For us to win it in 2012 was really special. To be able to win the UCL for Roman [Abramovich] was really special"

That was, well, an interesting response.

Here comes John Obi Mikel! What a lovely man.

But first, a video montage.

More presentations...

UEFA Deputy General Secretary Giorgio Marchetti is on stage now to give us an emotional speech and talk us through the rules.

As easy to expect as a FIFA pre-game light show, we've got a UEFA video montage of all 8 teams that have made it through. Lots of goals, celebrations and happy, smiley footballers.

Pedro Pinto, the usual face of these events, is smiling as he gives us a warm welcome. I wonder what he does with his time when there's not a UEFA draw to be made.

Here we go!

The action is about to begin!

We'll have some rules chat and presentations of presumably important people in suits first, but we're all set to go!

A final reminder of how things are going to work:

If you've just joined us, you've missed Zotan Gera, Parthenon and tickling Manchester City chat, but do not worry!

Here's how things are going to work when the action begins in a few minutes:

We’ve got a big bowl and 8 mini-Champions League balls.

They’re like Kinder Egg capsules - what do you call the thing inside a Kinder Egg? - and they get a good shuffle from the host. 

The first team drawn out of the pot is revealed and they play the first of of the two-legged tie at home, against the second team drawn. 

The procedure is repeated with the remaining balls in the bowl to complete the quarter-final pairings.

Where and when is the final?

The final is to be held at Wembley stadium in London on June 1st. It feels like every second UCL final is held there but it’s a perfect neutral ground that’s not taken up by club renovations at the end of the season, so I guess we're out of reasons to complain. 

What about yellow cards?

In the UEFA Champions League, yellow cards are reset once the quarter-finals are concluded. 

This rule was implemented in the 2014/2015 season to prevent players from missing the Champions League final due to accumulated yellow cards, as happened to Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso in the 2014 Lisbon final.

A player is suspended for the following game in the Champions League when they accumulate a total of three yellow cards. 

Following this initial suspension, any odd number of cards (five, seven, etc.) will result in a one-match ban for the player in question.

If a player receives a yellow card that results in suspension in the second leg of the quarter-finals, and their team advances, they will be unable to play in the first leg of the semi-finals.

The reset ahead of the semi-finals clears all players’ accumulated cards, making it impossible to miss the final due to accumulation.

One yellow card away from UCL suspension

Alvaro Morata (Atlético Madrid)

Declan Rice (Arsenal)

Matts Hummels (Borussia Dortmund)

João Félix (Barcelona)

Ferran Torres (Barcelona)

Samuel Lino (Atlético Madrid)

Ronald Araujo (Barcelona)

Barcelona 2-8 Bayern: this quarter-final sticks in the mind!

The COVID-19 pandemic caused UEFA to rejig the competition to single-leg affairs at a neutral venue and this one at the Estádio do SL Benfica gave fans one of the most astounding one-off results in the competition's history. 

Simply put, Bayern crushed Barcelona and ran riot for 90 minutes, with Ivan Perišić, Serge Gnabry and Thomas Müller scoring in a ten-minute first-half spell to send Barcelona into a downward spiral they couldn’t recover from. 

Three more goals came for the Germans in the final eight minutes, including two from the on-loan Coutinho against his parent club - remember him, culés?

A reminder of the Round of 16 results:

Here's a look at theresults from the games over the past 2 weeks. If you scroll down, you'll find a full news reel of all the live coverage of the games.

____________

RealMadrid - RB Leipzig: 0-1 | 1-1 (2-1 agg.)

Barcelona - Napoli: 1-1 | 3-1 (4-2 agg.) 

AtléticoMadrid - Inter: 1-0 | 2-1 (2-2 agg, 3-2 pens.)

Real Sociedad - PSG: 0-2 | 1-2 (4-1 agg.)

Dortmund - PSV: 1-1 | 2-1 (3-1 agg.)

Bayern - Lazio 1-0 | 3-0 (3-1 agg.)

Manchester City - Copenhagen: 1-3 | 3-1 (6-2 agg.)

Arsenal - Porto: 1-0 | 1-0 (1-1 agg., 4-2 pens.)

Remember this one?

Roma had scored two own goals in a 4-1 loss in Spain, with Luis Suárez's late goal making it four to Barça and sinking any possible hope of a comeback. 

However, Džeko's early goal and a Daniele De Rossi penalty in the return leg set up a sensationally tense finish and when a corner fell on the head of Kostas Manolas in the 82nd-minute, it felt like the Roman stadium was going to crumble from the shockwaves of the delirious fans.

FIFTEEN MINUTES TO GO!

Get voting before the poll closes! 

Harry Kane is putting up huge numbers

The striker/number 10/creator is still playing as well as ever and currently leads the UCL standings for goal contributions this season. Another Englishman, Jude Bellingham, is chasing his tail, and also doesn't look like stopping any time soon.

What about Barcelona?

No need to find my name in the phonebook and knock on my door, I haven't forgot about Barcelona. 

Ah, Barcelona. What a mind-bendingly strange season they’re having over in Cataluña. It's like Doctor Strange has got his Eye of Agamotto out of his pocket and is warping everything around in 5-dimensional space.

The blaugrana arethird in LaLiga and haven’t looked convincing for what feels like 50 years, but somehow they have found themselves among Europe’s elite and are into the quarter-finals for the first time in 4 seasons.

They were in a group with Antwerp, Porto and Shakhtar, and they finished top, despite a late wobble. 

In the Round of 16, they got past Napoli after a solid away leg and a sensationally crunching second leg tie at Montjuïc.

Dance, Vini, dance!

Madrid have looked imperious at times, while also having a bigger gap at the front than Cletus from The Simpsons has between his teeth.

The problem is obvious - they don’t have a striker - and Bellingham as a number 9 didn’t work out against RB Leipzig in the Round of 16, where they struggled but managed to find a way, as they often do. If only there was a forward on the market who could fill the gap…

Back to the UCL: they smashed Union Berlin, Napoli and Braga, winning the group and coming top. Despite their problems, the 14-time champions are not to be messed with and will give a tough ride to whoever they come up against.

A nice graphic from the Germans

BVB have come up with a lovely map showing us the geographical locations - as maps tend to do - of the teams remaining in the competition.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Atlético Madrid - Inter Milan summary: shootout, score, goals and highlights | Champions League

Inter are the Italian champions-elect. They made it to last year’s final and lost 1-0 to Manchester City - not a ‘bad’ result. Their firepower includes World Cup winners Lautaro Martínez and Benjamin Pavard. 

Oh, Atlético knocked them out!

Yes, Los Rojiblancos managed to beat the Serie A side, going all the way to penalties where Jan Oblak was the hero once again for his team. Simeone’s side just never gives up and never really goes away. You wouldn’t want to face them, unless you’re Real Madrid.

We've also got Europa League action:

Don't go back to work once you've seen the UCL draw, as we'll be bringing you the Europa League and Conference League draws too!

EUROPA LEAGUE TEAMS (bold team advanced)

Sparta Prague vs Liverpool

Marseille vs Villarreal

Roma vs Brighton

Benfica vs Rangers

Freiburg vs West Ham

Sporting CP vs Atalanta

AC Milan vs Slavia Prague

Qarabag vs Bayer Leverkusen

CONFERENCE LEAGUE TEAMS (bold team advanced)

Fenerbahçe vs USG

Fiorentina vs M. Haifa

PAOK vs Dinamo

ViktoriaPlzen vs Servette

Aston Villa vs Ajax

ClubBrugge vs Molde

Lille vs Sturm

M. Tel-Aviv vs Olympiacos

Former Chelsea star in the house!

Well, we all wanted Zoltan, but Mikel John Obi will certainly do!

The former Chelsea midfielder played 249 times over 11 years for the London side, and won the 2011-12 Champions League in that crazy run that saw them beat a Cavani-fuelled Napoli and an all-time great Bayern side in one of the craziest finals in history.

The results are genuinely interesting...

It's not who you might think (City) at the top of the results on our Twitter poll, and I don't think that it is due to Elon messing around with the cables underneath the table again.

Let's take a look at PSG:

PSG got past Real Sociedad over two legs in the Round of 16. While they didn’t shine in the first leg it was their - wait for it - professionalism which saw them bag two quick-fire goals to take a lead to San Sebastián. 

In the second leg, Mbappé was the star of the show and PSG genuinely looked like an incredibly cohesive unit who pressed high and choked La Real into submission. If they can play like that consistently in Europe, they’ll be a match, or more, for anyone.

The Round of 16 round-up:

Here's a nice collection of all the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 games that we've covered for you on AS USA. 

We'll have exactly the same top tier coverage - if I do say so myself - in the quarters, semis and, of course, the grand final.

A reminder of the teams involved today:

· Barcelona (ESP)

· Real Madrid (ESP)

· Atlético Madrid (ESP)

· Manchester City (ENG)

· Arsenal (ENG)

· PSG (FRA)

· Borussia Dortmund (GER)

· FC Bayern (GER)

Remember this one?

It’s *that* game, in *that* Real Madrid kit, and *that* Ronaldo up front.

Madrid came into the tie with a 3-1 win at home and the Brazilian forward scored early on in Salford before Ruud van Nistelrooy equalised. 

Ronaldo bagged another goal and then completed a hat-trick before the hour, when he was taken off to a standing ovation from the home fans.

David Beckham came off the bench to score twice late on but it was not enough as the Brazilian masterclass had already done the damage.

Arsenal are back in the draw

The Gunners made it through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League and I'm sure the fans will be praying for either Barcelona or Bayern Munich, as they haven't played their annual game against one of the two in what seems like a decade!

I'm joking, of course, but Arsenal are a different beast from the team we've seen in recent years: they look more composed and ready to take on the big guns and they're the current Premier League leaders, so take them lightly at your own peril.

Mikel Arteta’s men got past a resilient Porto side on penalties at the Emirates, with Spaniard David Raya the hero in between the sticks.

Before that, they swept aside PSV, Lens and Sevilla in the group and the current Premier League leaders have a huge crowd behind them at the Emirates, which is no longer showing any features of being a library.

If you've just joined us, here's how things work:

We’ve got a big pot and 8 mini-Champions League starballs and they get first a good shuffle fromthe ex-player who's hosting (we want Zoltan Gera).

The first team drawn out of the pot is revealed and they play the first of of the two-legged tie at home, against the second team drawn. 

The procedure is repeated with the remaining balls in the bowl to complete the quarter-final pairings.

As I mentioned before, it’s as simple as pulling balls out of a bag. 

However, from now until the final, unlike in the Round of 16, thereare no seedings and no country protection at all.

Clubs can face teams from the same country, as well as teams they previously played in the group stage.

How it looks for Bayern:

Bayern seem to be powering through the mud with huge legs that wouldn’t look out of place propping up the Parthenon in Athens. 

Despite their managerial issues, Bayern still possess the firepower to blow any team in Europe to pieces and they showed that against Lazio in the previous round, crushing them like a coffee bean under an elephant's foot in the second leg after a scare in Italy.

They got past Manchester United, Galatasaray and Copenhagen in the group stage, showing that a scary away atmosphere does not phase them.

Flashback to 2015/16: Barcelona 2-3 Atlético Madrid

We'll also be going through some of the classic Champions League quarter-finals. Here's one:

Fernando Torres scored for the visitors at the Camp Nou but was sent off before half-time. After the break it was Luis Suárez who took things into his own hands with a double to give Luis Enrique's men a 2-1 advantage for the return.

With Torres suspended, Antoine Griezmann stepped up and scored, levelling things on aggregate before slotting home an 88th-minute penalty to knock out the holders.

When are the quarter-finals?

Well, let me remind you that this draw will also give us the pathway for the teams all the way to the final, so let's take a look at the dates for all the remaining Champions League fixtures:

The Champions League quarter-final first legs are set to be played on Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 April 2024, with the second legs slated for Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 April 2024.

The semi-final first legs are scheduled for Tuesday 30 April and Wednesday 1 May 2024, before the returns are played on Tuesday 7 and Wednesday 8 May 2024.

The final, to be staged at Wembley, will be on 1 June.

Let's take a look at: BVB

Dortmund vs PSV was a curious tie in the Round of 16 and in the end, the Germans were too much for the Eredivisie side to handle. Reus is still Reus and got his name on the Black & Yellow scoresheet once again along with Jadon Sancho, who is once again looking like finding form. 

While they might not be the most feared team left in the competition they are no pushovers, and the atmosphere at the Westfalenstadion is loud enough to push anyone over the edge and crumble like a fruitcake.

Real Madrid are ready - are you?

The Madridistas are primed and ready for an ex-footballer to draw out the teams. I quite enjoy it when Zoltan Gera makes an appearance. Nearly 100 caps for Hungary and 30 games played for West Brom and now he's a UEFA regular for things like this. Fantastic. 

I've gone off topic - Real Madrid are one of the favourites to win the Champions League for what would be a record 15th time, but their two legs against RB Leipzig showed that they can indeed be got at, with some classic Red Bull football causing them all sorts of problems at the back.

Any of these teams will be a huge test but the LaLiga leaders have enough firepower of their own to make a meal of (probably) anyone they come up against.

Join in and have your say!

We've got a live poll up and running which lets you decide on who you think will win the Champions League this year.

I was going to do a 'who do you want?' poll, but the complicated mathematics behind creating 8 polls with 7 teams each was messy and I didn't want to give Elon any more ideas of how to make Twitter worse than it already is.

Let's take a look at: Manchester City

Are they the team to beat?

Nobody wants to play City, who looks like 11 lightsaber-wielding warriors slicing through mouse brains at times, with their slick possession play dancing around their opponents home and away, time and time again. 

While they hold the treble, they’re third in the Premier League, meaning they do get tickled on occasion, it’s just up to the opponent to prod like an octopus to find the sweet spot and see if there’s a soft underbelly somewhere.

Before the draw, we're going to take you through the teams one by one, to see how their seasons are shaping up ahead of the quarter-finals.

How did things go last time?

Here's a look at the scores on the doors from the previous round, where we saw the teams drop from 16 to 8 in what was a typically dramatic round of elite European football.

________________

· Real Madrid - RB Leipzig: 0-1 | 1-1 (2-1 agg.)

· Barcelona - Napoli: 1-1 | 3-1 (4-2 agg.) 

· AtléticoMadrid - Inter: 1-0 | 2-1 (2-2 agg, 3-2 pens.)

· Real Sociedad - PSG: 0-2 | 1-2 (4-1 agg.)

· Borussia Dortmund - PSV: 1-1 | 2-1 (3-1 agg.)

· Bayern - Lazio 1-0 | 3-0 (3-1 agg.)

· ManchesterCity - Copenhagen: 1-3 | 3-1 (6-2 agg.)

· Arsenal - Porto: 1-0 | 1-0 (1-1 agg., 4-2 pens.)

Here are the master marksmen...

The UCL top scorers are tied at the top with 6 goals each, and we've got all four players still alive and kicking in the competition. 

If you're like me, you just assumed that Robot Boy would be out in front with 63 goals already, but things look a little stickier for him this season with a couple of French princes (and Harry Kane) stepping on some wires. Will the same go for the quarter-final tie?

Here are the teams involved:

Let’s take a look at which teams made it past the Round of 16:

· Barcelona (ESP)

· Real Madrid (ESP)

· Atlético Madrid (ESP)

· Manchester City (ENG)

· Arsenal (ENG)

· PSG (FRA)

· Borussia Dortmund (GER)

· FC Bayern (GER)

We'll have more on each of the teams later on, so stay tuned.

Where does the draw take place?

The UEFA HQ is where the draw is taking place. 

The European organisation has their headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, which makes me think of a James Bond supervillain having a missile silo under a mountain.

As far as I know, Ceferin doesn’t have one of them.

What are the rules of the draw?

That’s about it, really. It’s as simple as pulling balls out of a bag. 

However, there is one huge rule in terms of how the games are selected: and that is that there are no rules.

That’s right. From now until the final, unlike in the Round of 16, there are no seedings and no country protection.

This means that clubs can face teams from the same country, league and doorstep, as well as teams they previously came up against in the group stage.

We could have a Clásico, Bayern vs BVB, or City against Arsenal.

What do you want to see?

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Champions League quarter-final draw: date, times, how to watch on TV, stream online

Can I watch it?

Of course you can. Get all the television and streaming information from our explainer page. Make sure to stay tuned to the live feed for all the pre-draw build-up.

How does it work?

You've got all the good questions today.

We’ve got a big pot and 8 mini-Champions League starballs.

They’re like Kinder Egg capsules - what do you call the thing inside a Kinder Egg? - and they get a good shuffle from the host.

We get to see them whizzing round the bowl from a camera that’s placed underneath the transparent bowl.

The first team drawn out of the pot is revealed and they play the first of of the two-legged tie at home, against the second team drawn. 

The procedure is repeated with the remaining balls in the bowl to complete the quarter-final pairings.

What's going on?

So, today we’ve got the draw for the rest of the Champions League. 

That means we’re going to see the teams pulled out of the pot in a random order and the fixtures for the next rounds of games - until the final itself - will be decided.

Welcome!

The ChaaaaaaaampioooonsLeaguedraw is set to get underway today and we're here at AS USA to provide you with live coverage of the ball-drawing action.

It's Joe here today and I'm looking in on the suited officials pacing up and down the room in Nyon Switzerland preparing things before we get going at around 12pm local time (7am ET/4am PT.)