English trio avoid each other in last eight draw

Lazio and Fenerbahce, who have both been in trouble with UEFA over fan behaviour, were paired in another tie while Tottenham Hotspur, the only one of the quarter-finalists to have won the trophy, face FC Basel with the first leg in London.

Former European champions Benfica were drawn against Newcastle United, the third English Premier League side still in the competition. None are left in the Champions League.

"It's a great draw for us," Newcastle manager Alan Pardew told the club's official website.

"The Estadio da Luz is a great venue. I've been there and it's a fantastic stadium. Importantly, we are at home in the second leg and that will give us an advantage."

"I must say I'm very happy with such a draw," Iskhakov was quoted as saying by local media.

"First of all, I'm a good friend with [Chelsea's billionaire owner] Roman Abramovich from our days together when he was a governor of Chukotka and I was the Russian President's envoy for the Far East region," he said.

"So I'm a big fan of Chelsea, after Rubin of course."

Rubin, who played their two previous Europa League home games at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium because the grass pitch in Kazan was in poor condition, will host the London club at Kazan's 27,000-seat Central Stadium, Iskhakov said.

It was Lazio's fourth racism offence this season.

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.