Liverpool has learned its Europa League fate for the rest of the competition. Its immediate challenge will be a quarter-final with Atalanta, before a potential semi-final against Benfica or Marseille.
Should it progress all the way, Liverpool would then face a potential showpiece final against Bayer Leverkusen, which will take place in Dublin on May 22. But as always — having fielded an extremely strong team against Sparta Prague at Anfield, with a 5-1 aggregate lead already secured — Jürgen Klopp will be taking each game as it comes.
Other potential opponents in the final are West Ham, AC Milan and Roma. The two Italian sides will face off in the quarter-final, while West Ham takes on Xabi Alonso's side.
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This will be the last time the draw as we know it takes place, with UEFA reforms leading to a computerized draw for future expanded versions of the European competitions. That includes the Champions League, where Liverpool is near-certain to be playing again next season.
Before the draw, vice secretary general of UEFA Giorgio Marchetti assured us that this will add 'an extra spice of excitement and a layer of unpredictability'. Time will tell on that front — but at the end of an era for both Liverpool and European competition, the old-school format did not disappoint.
The honors were done by Fernando Llorente, who named Liverpool as his favorite for the competition, while praising 'amazing guy' Alonso and the job he is doing at Bayer Leverkusen. He kept those two teams apart at the quarter-final stage, drawing the Reds against Atalanta as the third and fourth teams out of the bowl.
Bayer Leverkusen will take on West Ham, a draw neither side would have been especially keen on. It will be another test for Alonso, although Klopp will probably expect the Bundesliga side to progress — but even then, Liverpool will avoid its former player until a potential final.
In many ways, that is the dream final, although the narrative is almost too good. Liverpool will hope that Alonso is the one to whom Klopp passes the torch, while the up-and-coming manager could yet still be defending an unbeaten record. Both will be going for multiple trophy hauls.
But there is a long way to go until then. The immediate test is Atalanta, and Klopp won't be making the mistake of taking the Italians lightly.
Atalanta had to beat a good Sporting side to get to this stage, while it has picked up some big scalps in an admittedly patchy domestic season. It beat Milan in a Coppa Italia quarter-final clash. The games against Liverpool are scheduled for April 11 and 18, with Klopp's side at home first.
Liverpool.com says: As draws go, this was a kind one. Liverpool avoids any of Bayer Leverkusen, West Ham, Milan and Roma until a potential meeting in the final, and that quartet are among the strongest teams left in the competiton.
Even so, everyone left in has earned respect, and Liverpool will need to be at its best to get past Atalanta, while trying to maintain its challenge on two other fronts at the same time. It's impossible not to start thinking about the potential final against Alonso, but there is work still to be done before then.
