Europa League quarter-final draw as it happened: Manchester United to play Anderlecht in last eight

Everything you need to know about the draw in Nyon

Juan Mata's goal saw United through (Getty)

Manchester United booked their place in the Europa League quarter-final draw last night when they scraped a 1-0 win in their last-16 second-leg against Rostov to win the tie 2-1 on aggregate.

Jose Mourinho's side negotiated a cabbage patch of a pitch to score an away goal and claim a 1-1 draw at the Olimp-2 Stadium last week before Juan Mata's sole strike saw them through at Old Trafford.

United are favourites to lift the trophy in May and could be dealt a relatively straight-forward draw.

Lyon held their first-leg advantage to knockout Roma while Ajax came from behind to beat Copenhagen. Schalke 04 dumped out Borussia Monchengladbach from their all-Bundesliga tie.

Follow the draw live below...

Please allow a moment for the blog to load...

When is the draw?

The draw will take place in Nyon on Friday 17 March, following the completion of the last-16 ties on Thursday.

What time is the draw?

Proceedings will begin at 12.00pm GMT, one hour after the Champions League quarter-final draw.

Where can I watch it?

It will be shown live on BT Sport 2.

Alternatively, you can follow minute-by-minute updates on The Independent's live blog.

How does it work?

The draw is unseeded and there will be no ‘country protection’, meaning teams from the same domestic league can be drawn against each other.

The team drawn first will play the first leg at home, with those drawn second away.

When will the Europa League quarter-finals take place?

The quarter-final first legs will be played on Thursday 13 April, while the second legs take place the following week, on Thursday 20 April.

[17 March 2017 10:15 · Jack Austin]

Hello and welcome to The Independent's live blog for the draw for the quarter finals of the Europa League. Manchester United are still the Premier League's sole representatives in the competition and favourites to lift the trophy.

Awaiting them are Ajax, Anderlecht, Besiktas, Celta Vigo, Genk, Lyon and Schalke.

Join us for all the build-up to the draw with the balls being picked out at around 11.30am, following the Champions League draw, which you can follow here.

[17 March 2017 11:33 · Jack Austin]

So there you have it, in case you missed it, the Champions League draw was as follows:

Atletico Madrid vs Leicester City

Borussia Dortmund vs Monaco

Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid

Juventus vs Barcelona

[17 March 2017 11:34 · Jack Austin]

But who cares about the measly Champions League? This is the Europa League draw, because football is more fun on a Thursday night, no?

[17 March 2017 11:35 · Jack Austin]

Manchester United are the ones we're looking out for here after they scraped past Rostov at Old Trafford last night. Juan Mata's goal was enough to send Jose Mourinho's side into the last eight and they are favourites for the whole competition.

[17 March 2017 11:38 · Jack Austin]

United will fancy their chances against any of the other seven sides (Ajax, Anderlecht, Besiktas, Celta Vigo, Genk, Lyon and Schalke) - mainly because Turkey is the furthest they will have to travel and they won't be playing on the cabbage patch Rostov served up in the first leg.

[17 March 2017 11:44 · Jack Austin]

Remember, this is the only competition United never won with Sir Alex Ferguson in charge as well...

[17 March 2017 11:48 · Jack Austin]

Mourinho wasn't at all happy with the decisions made between Ferguson's departure and his arrival though. He listed Di Maria, Welbeck and Hernandez as the ones he would never have let go, but also said the club bought players he would never buy. 

Read more here:

Jose Mourinho insists he would never have sold Manchester United trio let go by Louis van Gaal

[17 March 2017 11:50 · Jack Austin]

And if you thought Mourinho was angry, have a read of what Roy Keane had to say about the United manager...

Roy Keane attacks Jose Mourinho's 'garbage' and claimed Manchester United reserves could beat Rostov

[17 March 2017 11:53 · Jack Austin]

[17 March 2017 12:00 · Jack Austin]

We're minutes away from the draw beginning now - Manchester United fans, who do you want?