European football returns this midweek, with the quarterfinal stage of the 2023-24 UEFA Europa League wrapping up this Thursday.
The round kicked off last Thursday, with Leverkusen and Roma impressing while Liverpool suffered one of the most shocking results of the season. All four second-leg ties will simultaneously kick off at 3 p.m. ET as the eight remaining participants fight to make the penultimate stage.
Which teams will progress to the semifinals and which sides will bow out of the competition in the last eight? Here is everything you need to know about the second leg of the 2023-24 UEFA Europa League quarterfinal fixtures.
UEFA Europa League quarterfinals 1st leg scoreline
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AC Milan 0-1 Roma
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Benfica 2-1 Marseille
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Leverkusen 2-0 West Ham
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Liverpool 0-3 Atalanta
The 2nd leg UEFA Europa League quarterfinals games to watch
Roma vs. AC Milan
After suffering an unexpected 1-0 loss at the San Siro in the first leg, AC Milan will be looking to pull off a comeback at the Stadio Olimpico. Gianluca Mancini scored the only goal of the game last Thursday but can Rafael Leao and Co. turn things around in the Italian capital?
The Rossoneri followed up that defeat with another disappointing result, drawing 3-3 away to Sassuolo in Serie A. Giallorossi, meanwhile, saw their clash with Udinese suspended after defender Evan Ndicka suffered a "medical emergency" on the pitch and had to be rushed to hospital. Roma have been in lovely form since Daniele de Rossi replaced Jose Mourinho as interim boss and a win over AC Milan to make the Europa League semifinals would be the cherry on top of the cake for the iconic Italian midfielder.
Marseille vs. Benfica
Benfica head to the Stade Vélodrome boasting a slim one-goal lead knowing that anything but a clinical away performance could knock them out of the competition. The Primeira Liga giants, who crashed out of the UEFA Champions League group stage and appear set to lose the Portuguese top-flight title to rivals Sporting CP, will need to be at their best. Fortunately for the visitors, they face a Marseille side in dreadful form.
Les Phocéens enter this tie on the back of a five-game losing streak, suffering defeats against Benfica in the first leg but also against PSG, Lille, and Rennes in Ligue 1 as well as a 3-1 loss away to Villarreal in the second leg of that Knockout Round Playoff. Can Marseille get their act together to eliminate the Portuguese giants and make the UEFA Europa League semifinals? Tune in to find out.
West Ham vs. Leverkusen
Just days after being crowned the champions of Germany, Bayer Leverkusen return to action, this time traveling to London to secure their ticket to the UEFA Europa League semifinal. Standing in their way are West Ham, but with Xabi Alonso's high-flying side boasting a 2-0 lead, Wirtz and Co. should enter this tie with confidence.
The visitors thrashed Werder Bremen 5-0 over the weekend to secure the Bundesliga title for the first time in history. West Ham, on the other hand, lost 2-0 at Fulham over the weekend, leaving them with only one win from their last six fixtures. Do not miss this exciting second-leg showdown.
Atalanta vs. Liverpool
And finally, we have Liverpool's trip to Stadio di Bergamo as Jurgen Klopp's side go in search of a miraculous comeback to remain in this competition. The Merseyside giants were on the hunt for the quadruple roughly a week ago but after losing 3-0 to Atalanta in the first leg, followed by their 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the Premier League, Salah and Co. are now in danger of finishing Klopp's final season in charge with only a Carabao Cup title to their name.
Gianluca Scamacca scored an unforgettable brace at Anfield to lead Atalanta to that shocking 3-0 victory. However, that is La Dea's only win in their last four matches, with Gian Piero Gasperini's side drawing 2-2 at home to Verona following that first-leg triumph. The question on everyone's mind is whether Liverpool can pull off a comeback. Klopp's men achieved something similar against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League but Salah and Co. will not have the home advantage this time around, thus making things more interesting.
Who's in and who's out?
Here are the players unavailable for the top teams in the UEFA Europa League quarterfinals:
Atalanta: Giorgio Scalvini and Saed Kolasinac (injured)
Liverpool: Joel Matip, Thiago Alcantara, Conor Bradley (injured)
Marseille: Valentin Rongier, Quentin Merlin, Ismaila Sarr, Bamo Meite, Bilal Nadir, Jean Onana, and Jonathan Clauss (injured)
Benfica: Juan Bernat (doubtful)
Roma: Sardar Azmoun (injured); Evan Ndicka (unwell)
AC Milan: Tommaso Pobega and Pierre Kalulu (injured)
West Ham: Alphonse Areola, Jarrod Bowen, and Kalvin Phillips (injured); Emerson and Lucas Paqueta (suspended)
Leverkusen: Adam Hlozek (doubtful)
TV details and live streaming info for the UEFA Europa League quarterfinals (2nd leg)
[SCHEDULES competition 4 2024-04-17 2024-04-19]