Liverpool drawn against Atalanta in the quarter-finals of the Europa League and will have to wait until the FINAL to play Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen… while West Ham face the Bundesliga leaders in last eight

Liverpool will face Atalanta in the quarter-finals of the Europa League – and will have to wait until the final to meet Xabi Alonso‘s Bayer Leverkusen. 

It is the fairytale that Reds fans have dreamed of as they could see off Jurgen Klopp in Dublin against the man they hope will succeed him. 

In the semi-finals, Klopp‘s men will face the winner of Benfica and Marseille if they can navigate their tie against Atalanta. Liverpool beat Sparta Prague 11-2 on aggregate in the last 16.  

Meanwhile, West Ham face a stern test in the last eight against Leverkusen, who are unbeaten all season. 

Leverkusen pulled off mission impossible on Thursday night when Patrick Schick scored two goals in stoppage time to help them beat Qarabag 3-2 (5-4 on aggregate). 

The Reds could come up against Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen in the final of the competition

West Ham needed to overcome a 1-0 deficit from a miserable night in Freiburg – and did so in style in front of their home fans with a 5-0 pummelling of the Germans. 

David Moyes has already done marvellously to lead the Hammers to the last eight of European competitions in the last three years and will hope to build on last season’s Europa Conference League triumph. 

AC Milan and Roma will contest an all-Italian quarter final, pitting the latter’s boss Daniele De Rossi against one of the bitter rivals from his playing career. 

Roma are a team to watch out for thanks to their renaissance under De Rossi, who has won seven of his 12 games in the hot seat since taking the reins from Jose Mourinho. Milan sit second in Serie A. 

Benfica and Marseille will contest the final quarter-final. 

Benfica were quarter-finalists in the Champions League in the previous two seasons, while Marseille have picked up form after a dire start to the season. 

If they progress, West Ham will meet either AC Milan or Roma in the final four. 

Liverpool are the favourites for the competition – and we didn’t need Fernando Llorente to tell us that during the quarter-final draw. 

West Ham will play Leverkusen in the last eight and will be brimming with confidence after beating Freiburg 5-0 on Thursday night 

Liverpool’s opponents Atalanta reached the last eight via a 3-2 aggregate win over Sporting CP

Sterner challenges await but the 11-2 demolition of Sparta Prague on aggregate in the last 16 shows how explosive and determined this Liverpool side are.

Atalanta will be no pushovers. They dumped out Portuguese league leaders Sporting CP 3-2 on aggregate in the last round. 

For Liverpool fans, the idea of Klopp winning the Europa League in his final season represents something of a full circle and the completion of unfinished business. 

Klopp lost the Europa League final 3-1 to Sevilla in his first season at the club and it is the only trophy available to him that he is yet to lift as the Kop’s king. 

The Europa League quarter-finals will be played across two legs on April 11 and April 18. 

Roma are enjoying a resurgence under Daniele De Rossi and could be dark horses 

Meanwhile, the semi-finals will take place on May 2 and May 9.

The Europa League final will be held at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on May 22 while the Europa Conference League final will be played in the AEK Athens Arena on May 29.