The draw for the quarter finals of the UEFA Europa League was made just before noon today. At this stage of the competition and beyond, teams are no longer seeded and clubs from the same domestic association can indeed be pitted against each other. England has representation from three clubs in the last eight, with Spurs sneaking past Inter Milan, Chelsea overcoming Steaua Bucharest and Newcastle edging out Anzhi with a single injury time goal in the last round. Interestingly, Newcastle will now head to Benfica's Stadium Of Light, the same name as that of their great rivals Sunderland in the North East, as if their quarter-final tie needed anything more to inflame it. The draw sets up a mouth-watering possibility of an all-English semi-final, though none of the teams who made it through to the draw will have an easy ride to the next round. The only ties not to feature English teams sees two teams recently punished for fan behaviour, as Turkish giants face Italians Lazio. The draw is as follows:
Chelsea Vs Rubin Kazan Tottenham Hotspur Vs FC Basel Fenerbahce Vs Lazio Benfica Vs Newcastle United The first side drawn in each tie will play the first leg at home on Thursday, April 4, with the return matches a week later on Thursday, April 11. Source:
UEFA.com