Manchester United will find out who they will face in the quarter-finals and potentially the semi-finals of the Europa League when the draws are conducted at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon this lunchtime.
United, who previously won the competition back in 2017, progressed to the last-eight with a 1-0 win over Real Betis in the second leg of their last-16 tie at the Benito Villamarin Stadium last night. A brilliant second-half strike from Marcus Rashford sealed a 5-1 aggregate victory for Erik ten Hag's side, meaning they could still end the season with three major trophies.
United rode their luck in the first half in Spain, proving too loose in possession and offering Betis more sights of goal than Ten Hag would have liked. Nevertheless, they got their act together after the break and Rashford's moment of brilliance killed off Betis' hopes of a famous comeback.
READ MORE: United player ratings vs Real Betis as duo impress
Over the course of the two legs, United, in truth, did not have to move out of second gear to get the job done. They comfortably made their way through to the next round without any unwanted hiccups.
Unlike the draw for the last-16, the draws for the quarter-finals and the semi-finals are open, meaning any two clubs can be drawn against each other. In the last round, for example, eight teams were seeded and the remaining eight were unseeded. Also, clubs from the same country could not be drawn against each other.
Therefore, this means, for example, that Roma could take on fellow Serie A side Juventus. Immediately after the quarter-final draw is made, the draw for the semi-finals will also be conducted, with ties numbered 1–4 for that particular draw, meaning the eight clubs who are involved in the quarter-finals will already know their potential semi-final opponents ahead of the quarter-finals kicking off.
With that in mind, the quarter-final draw promises to add extra intrigue and excitement as the road to the final in Budapest on May 31 intensifies. And that is exactly what happened when we ran a draw simulation using a simulator.
Ahead of the real draw taking place at 12pm today, MEN Sport did a simulation and it produced some interesting quarter-final ties, pitting United up against Italian outfit Roma. The Serie A club progressed to the last-eight with a 2-0 aggregate win over Real Sociedad.
Should they be drawn against each other in the real draw it would mark a reunion between United and former manager Jose Mourinho. It would also mark a second Europa League meeting between the two clubs in just three years, following their barnstorming semi-final showdown back in 2021.
Meanwhile, Sporting Lisbon will face Europa League specialists Sevilla after knocking Arsenal out of the competition on penalties. After their two-legged tie with the Gunners finished 3-3 on aggregate, the Portuguese heavyweights won 5-3 on spot-kicks to progress.
Simulated Europa League quarter-final draw in full:
Juventus vs Feyenoord
Roma vs Manchester United
Bayer Leverkusen vs Union Saint-Gilloise
Sevilla vs Sporting Lisbon
After concluding the simulation of the quarter-final draw, we completed a simulation of the draw for the last-four. That revealed that United, should they get the better of Roma in the quarter-finals, will face either Sevilla or Sporting Lisbon in the semi-finals for a place in the final.
Simulated Europa League semi-final draw in full:
Roma/Manchester United vs Sevilla/Sporting Lisbon
Bayer Leverkusen/Union Saint-Gilloise vs Juventus/Feyenoord
Quarter-final ties will be staged over two legs and they will take place on Thursday, April 13 and Thursday, April 20. The semi-finals, also staged over two legs, will take centre stage on Thursday, May 11 and Thursday, May 18.
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