Last-eight draw looms large

Parma ambition
The Italian side have won the competition twice in the past eleven years, in 1995 and 1999, and have the chance to join a select band of clubs after seeing off Sevilla FC last night. Only FC Internazionale Milano, Juventus FC and Liverpool FC have won the UEFA Cup three times.

'Good teams'
Parma coach Pietro Carmignani is relishing the challenge ahead. "There are very good teams left in the competition, but I don't have any team I want to face in particular," he said after his side's 1-0 victory last night. "I hope that now we're in a better position in Serie A we can go on and win this competition."

Newcastle shine
Parma are the sole remaining former champions in the draw, but Newcastle United FC will also be hoping to emulate past glory, having won the UEFA Cup's predecessor, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, in 1969. Newcastle, along with AZ Alkmaar, breezed into the last eight on Wednesday and the pair are the form teams going into the quarter-finals.

Alkmaar threat
The competition's top scorer Alan Shearer scored his ninth and tenth goals as Newcastle romped to their eighth straight victory against Olympiacos CFP at St. James' Park, while Alkmaar, second in the Eredivisie, defeated FC Shakhtar Donetsk and are yet to lose a league or UEFA Cup match in 2005. The Dutch side too have final pedigree, but lost to Ipswich Town FC in the 1981 UEFA Cup final.

Austria impress
Surprisingly, there are no German or Spanish sides among the seven nations already certain to be represented in the quarter-finals. FK Austria Wien knocked out Real Zaragoza, AJ Auxerre fly the flag for France after seeing off Ligue 1 rivals LOSC Lille Métropole and Russian hopes rest with PFC CSKA Moskva, comfortable winners against FK Partizan. Sporting Clube de Portugal remain on course for a place in the final on 18 May at their own José Alvalade stadium after defeating Middlesbrough FC at their Lisbon home yesterday.

Outstanding tie
The draws will include both FC Steaua Bucuresti and Villarreal CF, who are yet to complete their Round of 16 tie, which was initially postponed because of heavy snow in Bucharest. A goalless draw was eventually played out in the first leg on Wednesday and the two sides will meet again in Villarreal on Sunday to complete the quarter-final lineup.

Potential rematches
The draw could produce meetings between teams who have already faced each other in the competition this season - Alkmaar and Auxerre, Newcastle and Sporting, and should Steaua defeat Villarreal, the Romanian side could be paired again with Parma who they lost to in the group stage. The quarter-final first legs will be played on 7 April, with the second legs a week later. The semi-finals are scheduled for 28 April and 5 May.