Manchester United drew Granada in the Europa League quarter final and avoided the possibility of drawing Arsenal until the final, with the Gunners next facing Slavia Prague.
Quarter finals:
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Granada vs Manchester United
Arsenal vs Slavia Prague
Ajax vs Roma
Dinamo Zagreb vs Villarreal
Semi final:
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Granada/Manchester United vs Ajax/Roma
Dinamo Zagreb/Villarreal vs Arsenal/Slavia Prague
For Arsenal the Europa League provides their only chance of winning silverware this season, and their best chance of qualifying for Europe next season.
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Mikel Arteta's side are currently 10th, and 10 points behind Chelsea in the fourth Champions League spot, the north Londoners are still five points short of Everton in seventh place, potentially the final Europa League place.
To get to the final the competition they'll have to get through Slavia Prague, who knocked out Rangers on Thursday, before meeting Spurs' victors Dinamo Zagreb or Villarreal, who they beat in the Champions League semi final in 2006.
United are still aiming for second place in the league and also have their FA Cup quarter final with Leicester City to look forward to.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is yet to lift any silverware and, whilst success in the Champions League is the club's ultimate aim, winning the secondary European competition would be a good place for the manager to pick up his first trophy.
Paul Pogba returned to action on Thursday night as a second half substitute and scored within minutes to help United beat AC Milan in the San Siro.
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Arsenal made things even more difficult to go through, as they actually lost the second leg 1-0 at the Emirates to Olympiakos, but progressed thanks to their 2-0 win in Greece.
With Spurs crashing out to Zagreb, thanks to an extra time winner, and Rangers getting knocked out by Slavia on a nasty night in Glasgow, it left just the two British teams left in the final eight.
Both the Premier League sides have recent history in the competition, having both reached finals with differing success.
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United, then managed by Jose Mourinho, beat Ajax in the final 2017, and made it to last season's semi-final, before being knocked out by eventual champions Sevilla.
The Gunners were less successful as they reached the 2019 final, losing to fellow Londoners 4-1 in the final in Baku.
Elsewhere Ajax vs Roma is certainly the tie of the quarter finals on paper and the Dutch side could get revenge on United if they make it through.
The final will be in Gdansk, Poland, it was supposed to be held there last season but Covid-19 led the end of the competition to be held in Germany in a 'tournament' style.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Europa League, Manchester United, Villarreal, Roma, Ajax, Arsenal
