Guide to the Europa League quarterfinal draw: Who Juventus could face next

It wasn’t smooth sailing at times but Juventus are into the Europa League Quarter Finals after a solid performance away at Freiburg saw them win 2-0 on the night and 3-0 on aggregate.

We will find out early tomorrow morning who Juve play next as the eight teams to make it through the Round of 16 are thrown together into a bowl and the balls drawn out to map the route to the Final.

Draw Date & Time & How To Watch

The draw for the Quarter Finals will be held at UEFA’s headquarters at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.

The event is on Friday, March 17 starting at 12pm CET (6am EST, 3am PT).

The draw will be live streamed on the UEFA website.

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Who are the Eight Teams Through

The eight teams who won their respective Round of 16 games on aggregate are as follows.

• Arsenal (England)
• Juventus (Italy) [beat Freiburg 3-0 on aggregate]
• Fenerbahce (Turkey)
• Real Betis (Spain)
• Union Saint-Gilloise (Belgium)
• Real Sociedad (Spain)
• Feyenoord (Netherlands)
• Ferencvaros (Hungary)

Who are the Eight Playoff Qualifiers

In the playoff round eight teams that finished third in their Champions League groups and were eliminated from the competition were drawn against the eight teams that finished in second place in their Europa League groups.

Juventus had finished third in Champions League Group H edging out minnows Maccabi Haifa on goal difference, and went up against Nantes who had ended up second against Freiburg in Europa League Group G.

• Juventus (Italy) [beat SV Freiburg (Germany) 4-1 on aggregate]
• Sevilla (Spain) [beat Fenerbahce (Turkey) 2-1 on aggregate]
• Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) [beat Ferencvaros (Hungary) 4-0 on aggregate]
• Sporting CP (Portugal) [beat Arsenal (England) 5-3 on penalties]
• Manchester United (England) [beat Real Betis (Spain) 5-1 on aggregate]
• Feyenoord (Holland) [beat Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) 8-2 on aggregate]
• Royal Union Saint-Gilloise (Belgium) [beat Union Berlin (Germany) 6-3 on aggregate]
• AS Roma (Italy) [beat Real Sociedad (Spain) 2-0 on aggregate]

Draw Rules

There are no more draw restrictions with any team able to play any one else. Not only will the quarter-final draw be done, but all the clubs will also know their potential semi-finals opponents as well tomorrow.

The Europa League Quarter Final first leg games will be played on April 13, with the return leg games a week later on April 20. The Semi Finals will be played over May 11 and 18, with the Final on Wednesday, May 31 at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

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Who Could Juventus Draw

Juventus could face any of the seven remaining teams in the draw.

Arsenal would have been by far the most difficult challenge for the Bianconeri, but the English side were dumped out by Sporting CP, ably led by Ruben Amorim. The Portuguese side are certainly someone to contend with, having proved against the Gunners that they can go toe to toe against the best in Europe, not unlike what Benfica have done in the Champions League this season.

Manchester United are not the same side as the teams that Sir Alex Ferguson would send to Europe, but possess plenty of quality from front to back to mount a serious challenge for silverware this season. Few players are more in form since the World Cup break than Marcus Rashford, and he is ably supported by a cast of characters that include some Real Madrid Champions League-winning steel in Raphael Varane and Casemiro. They outclassed Betis over both legs to get here, and are comfortably in third place in the Premier League too.

Serie A rivals AS Roma led by the wily Jose Mourinho are having a good season, and the Bianconeri very recently lost in Rome too, though they really should have had the game won well before that. They currently sit in fifth place in the Scudetto race nine points ahead of Juve, and interestingly enough the ruling on the Bianconeri’s points deduction appeal will be made between the two legs of this round. The Special One’s side were efficient in dispatching Sociedad in the Round of 16.

Sevilla are past masters at this competition, and it’s no surprise at all to see the six-time winners of the Europa League at this stage. Led by fiery Argentine Jorge Sampaoli, the Spanish side are struggling in La Liga, wallowing in 12th place a whole 35 points behind leaders Barcelona, but always bring their A-game for this competition.

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Bayer Leverkusen might be struggling in their domestic league, but were efficient in dispatching Ferencvaros, and more than fortunate in beating AS Monaco in the previous round, with both sides’ calamitous defending and a tense sudden death penalty shootout needed to separate the two teams.

Storied Dutch club Feyenoord have hit upon harder times in recent decades, and played their part in a dramatic Group F where all four teams finished level on 8 points, with goal difference separating the quartet. Lazio were victims of that group, having beaten the Dutch side 4-2 in Italy but losing 1-0 on matchday six to end their European campaign. Feyenoord currently lead the Eredivisie three points ahead of Ajax Amsterdam, last lost a game in late October, and destroyed Shakhtar 7-1 at home.

Union Saint-Gilloise are a surprise outfit, sitting in second place in the Belgian Jupiler League but an almost impossible seven points behind Genk. It would be foolish to underestimate the side that narrowly beat another surprise team Union Berlin, who are tied with Freiburg in the league.