Europa League draw LIVE: Liverpool get Atalanta, while Europe’s most-wanted manager Xabi Alonso is headed to West Ham with Leverkusen… plus Conference League draw to come

Not that it would impact the game all too much, but if Liverpool and West Ham do both get to the final, the Reds would be named as the hosts.

Just a formality, of course.

the victor of Milan or Roma will be the home side against Bayer Leverkusen or West Ham, that means.

And yep, no shocks from the balls, and that’s confirmation of that one.

Now it’s timew for the semi-final match ups…

First up in semi-final No 1 will be the winner of Benfica vs Marseille against the victor of Liverpool against Atalanta!

And that of course us leaves us with Benfica, who come out first, and the Portuguese side will face Marseille!

Quarter-final No 3 now, and it’s Leverkusen up first.

Who will the unbeaten side be taking on?

West Ham are the next name out!

Mark Noble doesn’t look too fussed by that one…

And next up is, oh, three-time winners Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp and Co will face… Atalanta!

First name out is… AC Milan!

And the Italian giants will face Roma!

reminder, there is no country protection for this draw, meaning two sides from the same nation can face one another.

Right then, let’s get some names out, shall we?

The Spanish striker who won the Europa League with Sevilla in 2015-16, but will also be fondly reminded for his goals for Swansea in the Premier League not too long ago.

Llorente is a veteran of two Europa League finals, winning just the one of them, and speaks of his love for the tournament.

He has 18 goals to his name in the competition, and surprise surprise, has tipped Liverpool or Leverkusen to go all the way this year.

The final this year will be played in Dublin, at the approriately named Dublin Arena.

This is of course the final Europa League before the change in format across the three competitions, as we are reminded almost ominously before the announcement of the special guest…

Well we’re underway in Nyon, Switzerland as we’re treated to a rundown of all the best action from the previous round from the Europa League, which will be drawn first off.

A few famous faces in the crowd, too, and we’ve still got the special guest to meet!

I’m sure this is exactly the news that every other team in the draw was hoping to read.

Klopp has claimed that Salah ‘will not stop’ scoring goals.

One of those that sort of doesn’t really need to be said, that.

Salah has scored 20 in 31 games this term in all competitions to take his Liverpool tally to a staggering 206 in 336, plus another 92 assists.

Read more on that one below…

All you draw enthusiasts out there will know there’s not much better than a tournament theme tune.

Here’s a nice little clip from the Europa League to get yourselves in the mood with just five minutes to go until we start the ceremonies…

Here’s an interesting one.

There’s been a battle to secure a fifth Champions League spot next season by virtue of coefficient scores across the top leagues.

Essentially, leagues with clubs that perform well in Europe can earn more coefficient points that are ranked against other divisions, with England and Germany trailling Italy for that fifth spot, with the UCL expanding to 36 teams next season.

However, with Villa, Liverpool and West Ham all making it deep into the Europa and Conference Leagues – as well as Arsenal and Man City in the UCL – the Premier League is picking up more points and has since pulled ahead of germany.

As such, West Ham’s success could mean a boost to their near rivals Tottenham, who are currently in fifth spot…

Read more at the link below for more on that one…

Leverkusen managed the only really notable comeback of the round in the Europa League last night, but there were still plenty of goals on offer.

West Ham came into their clash with Freiburg 1-0 down but five goals – including that Kudus stunner – quickly put away the Bundesliga outfit with a dominant 5-1 win in east London.

Similarly, Liverpool beat Sparta Prague 6-1 at home to win 11-2 on aggregate, while Brighton beat Roma 1-0 but were unable to overturn the 4-0 deficit, as the Seagulls came crashing down to earth.

A grand total of 30 goals across the eight games last night!

At first glance this just looks like a normal run of results from the previous round, doesn’t it?

Take a look at that one down the bottom between Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Oympiacos – the visitors had been beaten 4-1 on home turf but managed to turn it around, making it 4-1 on the night before forcing extra time and sealing a magnificent 6-1 win – 7-5 on aggregate!

Certainly makes that 0-0 aggregate draw between Viktoria Plzen and Servette look that little bit more drab, doesn’t it?

We’ve still got about half an hour to go until we get a few names on the board in these competitions so…

Feel free to get your heads round the draw from the Champions League, the less impressive, less prestigious older brother of the mighty Europa and Conference Leagues, which has only just come to an end!

There are some scintillating ties on offer, not to mention Arsenal vs Bayern Munich and Man City vs Real Madrid – and who could forget a replay of the icnoic La Remontada game beetween Barcelona and PSG?!

Check it all out below…

We’re all ready for the draw to get going as evidenced by two nearly identical videos…

So which 16 teams are going into the hats?

Take a look at these two handily put together graphics which show you the contenders, and there are some huge names in there.

Liverpool and West Ham bear the Premier League flag for the Europa League, while Aston Villa are doing the same in the Conference League.

Some giant names though to try and get past in the Europa League, with AC Milan, Atalanta, Benfica, Marseille, Roma and unbeaten Leverkusen all in the mix.

But it was also a round of stunning goals in the Europa League and Conference League this week.

Take a look at these two offerings from both competitions and see if you can pick a winner.

That Kudus one is pretty special for my money.

This is a great one to kick us off.

Bayer Leverkusen scraped through to the last-eight of the Europa League and preserved their precious unbeaten record in the process, but it was a game that saw one of the greatest moments in European club football history.

In an incredibly, skin-crawlingly awkward passage, Qarabag defender Elvin Cafarguliyev was left hanging by Anthony Taylor before being sent off in a double whammy – compounded further by the fact his side were knocked out of the competition in added time.

Read the story below for more on that one!

Welcome everyone to this morning’s Europa League and Conference League draw coverage, which we will be bringing to you live as names come out of balls.

Stick around as we build up to the ceremony and bring you all the latest news from UEFA’s second and third tier competitions!