UEFA Europa League, Conference League draw results, bracket: Liverpool could face Bayer Leverkusen in final

Liverpool face Atalanta in the quarterfinals , West Ham get Leverkusen

By James Benge

Mar 15, 2024 at 9:21 am ET • 2 min read

Jurgen Klopp's final game as Liverpool manager could pit him against the favorite to take his job at Anfield with the Europa League draw placing the Reds on what appears to be a collision course with Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen.

There is of course work to be done for the title contenders in England and Germany if they are to face off in Dublin in May. Liverpool face Atalanta in the quarterfinals with the winner of that tie drawing Benfica or Marseille. Meanwhile Leverkusen have been handed what looks to be a challenging but winnable tie against Europa Conference League holders West Ham United, who stunned Freiburg on Thursday night, overcoming a 1-0 first leg deficit with a 5-0 win at the London Stadium.

AC Milan, bidding to add a first Europa League title to their vast trophy collection, will face a familiar foe in Roma. They have already beaten the Giallorossi home and away in Serie A this season but are yet to face a Roma side with Daniele De Rossi in charge. The winners of that tie will face Leverkusen or West Ham.

Liverpool are favorites with most bookmakers to win what would be their fourth UEFA Cup/Europa League, a trophy they last lifted in 2001. Were they to do so it would constitute a brilliant farewell for outgoing manager Klopp, who has already announced he will step down at the end of the season. So far the Reds, who beat Sparta Prague 11-2 on aggregate in the round of 16, have won six and lost two of their European games so far this season, scoring 28 goals in the process.

Presumptive Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen are also among the frontrunners. They overcame two goal deficits in both legs of their 5-4 aggregate win over Azeri side Qarabag and are still yet to lose a game in any competition this season.

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Meanwhile the stand out tie in the Europa Conference League draw pits Aston Villa against Lille while beaten finalists of 2023 Fiorentina will have to overcome Viktoria Plzen if they are to continue their bid to go one better. La Viola and Villa are favorites to win Europe's third tier competition and cannot meet until the final.

Two Greek sides remain in the mix for the final in Athens, PAOK have been drawn against Club Brugge while Olympiacos will welcome Fenerbahce to Piraeus next month.

The first leg of all quarterfinal ties is scheduled for April 11. The second legs will be played seven days later.