NYON-. Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen On Friday they were at opposite poles in the draw for the quarterfinals of the Europa League, so they could only compete in a final in which their coaches would be the great entertainers.
Luis Díaz, Darwin Núñez and the rest of the Reds will face Atalanta in the quarter-finals, with the first leg at Anfield on April 11. The second leg will be played a week later in Bergamo, where Liverpool claimed a 5-0 victory in the Champions League three seasons ago.
Leverkusen will travel to London to clash with West Ham, a series that will start in London. Leader of the Bundesliga, the German team is coached by former Liverpool Xabi Alonso and remains undefeated in all competitions in a sensational first full season for the Spanish strategist.
A Liverpool and Leverkusen would have extra seasoning after coach Jürgen Klopp announced in January that he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season after resurrecting the English club since 2015.
Alonso sounds like the leading candidate to replace Klopp and will return to Liverpool where, as a midfield skipper, he was one of the managers of the “Miracle of Istanbul” — the 2005 Champions League final.
Also on Friday, AC Milan — the team that lost to Liverpool and Alonso in Istanbul — will play an Italian duel with Roma. Benfica, for its part, will face Olympique de Marseille in a series of previous European Cup champions.
In the semifinals, Benfica or Marseille will be home to the first leg against Liverpool or Atlanta. Milan or Roma will host the winner of Leverkusen-West Ham at home.
Leverkusen extended their unbeaten run this season to 37 games by eliminating Azerbaijan’s Qarabag on Thursday. Two goals in stoppage time from Patrick Schick turned around a 2-1 deficit on the night and a 4-3 deficit on aggregate, finally winning 3-2 and 5-4.
At the same time, Liverpool crushed Sparta Prague 6-1 and sealed the victory 11-2 on aggregate.
The final will be on May 22 in Dublin.
In the Conference League draw, Aston Villa will face Lille in the quarterfinals. Czech side Viktoria Plzen will face Fiorentina, who lost last year’s final to West Ham.
Greek clubs PAOK and Olympiakos will play Brugge and Fenerbahce, respectively.
The final of the Conference League will be in Athens on May 29, at the AEK stadium.
FOUNTAIN: AP
