Europa, Conference Leagues Quarter-Final Draws Emerge
The Europa League, and the Europa Conference League action went down on Thursday night with Chelsea, and Manchester United booking their quarter-final spots in their respective competitions.
The Red Devils earned a comfortable 4-1 win at Old Trafford over Real Sociedad to advance to the last eight of the Europa League in style.
Chelsea recorded a hard-fought 1-0 win over Copenhagen to complete a 3-1 aggregate score which confirmed their place in the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League.
Tottenham earned a 3-1 win over Az Alkmaar to overturn a 1-0 defeat in the first leg to advance to the Europa League last eight.
Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce failed to advance in the Europa League despite their 2-0 win over Rangers. The Scottish team qualified for the quarter-finals with a 3-2 penalty shootout win after the tie ended 3-3 on aggregate.
Lyon earned a 4-0 win over Basel to end the tie with a comfortable 7-1 scoreline to advance, Frankfurt also defeated Ajax 4-1, earning a 6-2 aggregate win.
Lazio got the better of Viktoria Plzen 3-2 in aggregate after winning the first leg 2-1.
Athletic Bilbao earned a comfortable 3-1 win over Roma to book their place in the last eight with an aggregate score of 4-3.
Bodo/Glimt lost 2-1 to Olympiakos but they qualified for the quarter-finals after a 3-0 win in the first leg.
Europa League Quarter-finals Fixtures
Lyon vs Manchester United
Rangers vs Athletic Bilbao
Bodo/Glimt vs Lazio
Tottenham vs Frankfurt
In the Europa Conference League, overwhelming favourite, Chelsea laboured to a 1-0 win over Copenhagen to complete a double over the Danish team, booking their place in the last eight in style.
Italian side Florentina also advanced to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Panathinaikos to earn a 5-4 aggregate score.
Real Betis defeated Vitoria SC 4-0 with an aggregate score of 6-2 to advance to the last eight.
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca is targeting the Europa Conference League trophy at the end of the season to reward the club’s supporters.
He said: “It’s important to reach the quarter-finals. Now the target is the next step which is the semi-finals. We deserved it over two legs. We changed and adjusted in the second half and we were much better. You need patience.
“Exactly. This club always won trophies in the past and we need to do our best to achieve our target this season. We have to give the fans and the club a title.”
Up next for Chelsea in the quarter-finals is a clash against Legia Warsaw in April.
Europa Conference League Quarter-finals Fixtures
Chelsea vs Legia Warsaw
Djurgarden vs Rapid Wien
Celje vs Fiorentina
Real Betis vs Jagiellonia Białystok
Europa, Conference Leagues Quarter-Final Draws Emerge is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
