Only the Italian team Atlanta has a modest record in European competitions.
Unlike the Italian team, its rival in the Europa League quarterfinals, Liverpool, has an exuberant record in European competitions: 6 European Cups (and four lost finals), in addition to a Cup Winners’ Cup, three UEFA Cups and four Super Cups.
By history, Liverpool is a clear favorite, but also by the present: the ‘Reds’ are co-leaders of the Premier League and aspire to a treble to fire their coach Jürgen Klopp, who announced weeks ago that he will leave his position at the end of the season after almost a decade of success.
Atalanta, for its part, currently occupies sixth place in the Serie A standings and is not even clear about its participation in Europe next year.
To overcome the tie, Liverpool has its South American ‘Armada’, with the Argentine Alexis Mac Allister at the controls and the goals of the Uruguayan Darwin Núñez and the Colombian Luis Díaz.
More doubtful is the participation of Brazilian Allison Becker, who has been out in recent weeks due to injury, although the goalkeeper resumed training with his teammates this week.
Bayer Leverkusen also appears as a favorite in its tie against West Ham, although the greatest danger for the team led by Spanish Xabi Alonso is that it has its head set on next Sunday, when it could win the first Bundesliga in its history.
Leverkusen has not yet lost a single game this season, in any competition, and the play displayed by Alonso’s team is astonishing.
Furthermore, they would only face Liverpool in a hypothetical final.
The other two ties, with the 100% Italian duel Milan-Rome and Benfica-Marseille, appear a priori more even.
Winner of three consecutive Europa Leagues with Sevilla (2014, 2015 and 2016) and one with Villarreal (2021), Basque coach Unai Emery can return Aston Villa to the forefront of European football.
The Birmingham team, European champion in 1982, is having a great season under Emery and is in the fight for one of the Premier League places for the next Champions League.
Their rival in the quarterfinals, the French Rennes, may be the rival with the most potential of the other seven teams classified for the quarterfinals of the Conference League, without forgetting Fiorentina, whom they would only see in the final, scheduled for May 29 in Athens.
Although there are three Spanish teams still competing in the Champions League (Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético), the absence of LaLiga representatives in the quarterfinals of the other two European competitions is striking.
Villarreal went the furthest, losing in the round of 16 against Marseille.
Betis, for its part, finished third in its Europa League group and went to the qualifying play-off for the round of 16 of the Conference, where it could not beat Dinamo Zagreb.
Finally, Osasuna did not even reach the group stage of the Conference League, after losing the play off with Bruges.