Europa League

Liverpool to meet Atalanta BC in Europa League quarter-finals

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 15 March 2024

Liverpool will take on Atalanta BC in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, while West Ham United square off with Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen.

Liverpool will take on Atalanta BC in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, while West Ham United have been paired with Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen.

The Reds obliterated Sparta Prague 11-2 over two legs in the last 16, prevailing 5-1 at the epet Arena during last week's first leg before scoring four times in just 14 minutes during Thursday's 6-1 second-leg slaughter.

During the Anfield annihilation, Mohamed Salah became the first Liverpool player to score 20 goals in seven straight seasons for the Reds, who have been rewarded with an intriguing tie against Serie A giants Atalanta.

Gian Piero Gasperini's troops previously locked horns with Jurgen Klopp's side in the group stage of the 2020-21 Champions League, where Liverpool thumped La Dea 5-0 away from home before going down 2-0 at Anfield.

Three years later, Atalanta prevailed 3-2 over Sporting Lisbon in the last 16 to qualify for the quarter-finals, where Liverpool managed to avoid a colossal battle with Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who will instead tackle West Ham United.

The side led by Alonso - considered the leading contender to replace Klopp as Liverpool's new head coach this summer - produced an astounding comeback against Azerbaijani giants Qarabag in the last 16, where an injury-time Patrik Schick brace sealed a 5-4 aggregate success.

West Ham United's Mohammed Kudus celebrates scoring their fourth goal with teammates on March 14, 2024 © Reuters

Leverkusen will now play their first leg at home against Europa Conference League winners West Ham, who overturned a 1-0 deficit against Freiburg with a 5-0 London Stadium romping in Thursday's second leg.

Should Liverpool and Leverkusen both prevail in their quarter-final ties, the two title-challenging titans could meet in May's final at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, as they were kept apart in the semi-final draw.

The winner of Liverpool and Atalanta's tie will instead battle either Benfica or Marseille, the former of whom sunk Rangers 3-2 on aggregate in the previous round, while the French side bested Villarreal 5-3 over two legs.

Whoever triumphs out of Leverkusen or West Ham will vie for a spot in the final against AC Milan - 7-3 aggregate victors against Slavia Prague - or their Italian counterparts Roma, who bested Brighton & Hove Albion 4-1 in the last 16.

The first leg of the quarter-final ties will be played on April 11 before the second legs take place seven days later, before the semi-final encounters commence on May 2 and 9 respectively.

Either Benfica, Marseille, Liverpool or Atalanta will then be the designated home team for the Dublin final on May 22.