Saturday, March 17, 2012

Europa League draw: Athletic take on Schalke


Athletic Bilbao, conquerors of Manchester United, will face German side Schalke in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

Athletic overcame Premier League leaders United over two legs in convincing fashion, with Marcelo Bielsa's men claiming a well-earned 5-3 aggregate triumph.

Sporting Lisbon, who held off Manchester City to clinch their place in the last eight, will play Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv.

Sporting were given a scare in their meeting with City on Thursday night when a late header from goalkeeper Joe Hart came close to nestling home, with another goal from Roberto Mancini's men enough to knock out the Portuguese club.

Athletic and Sporting could face each other in the semi-finals - their quarter-finals have been paired together.

Two other Spanish sides are also still in the Europa League - Atletico Madrid play Bundesliga side Hannover in one quarter-final with the winners facing the victors of the other between Dutch side AZ Alkmaar and Valencia.

The matchdays are:
Quarter-finals: March 29 and April 5.
Semi-finals: April 19 and April 26
Final (Bucharest): May 9

Europa League draw - Quarter-finals
AZ Alkmaar v Valencia
Schalke 04 v Athletic Bilbao
Sporting Lisbon v FC Metalist Kharkiv
Atletico Madrid v Hannover 96

Europa League draw - Semi-finals
Atletico Madrid or Hannover 96 v AZ Alkmaar or Valencia
Sporting Lisbon or FC Metalist Kharkiv v Schalke 04 or Athletic Bilbao


ESPN

No comments:

Post a Comment