Spanish armada head cup hopefuls

Three Spanish sides will be involved in Friday's draw for the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, with five countries represented among the eight contestants including a trio of former winners.

Spanish trio
Holders Sevilla FC lead the Spanish contingent, with Juande Ramos's team still on course to emulate Real Madrid CF's achievement of 1986 in defending the trophy after a dramatic comeback victory against FC Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine. Sevilla are joined by Primera División rivals RCD Espanyol and CA Osasuna, with the latter appearing in the quarter-finals of a UEFA competition for the first time.

Former winners
Two German clubs will also harbour dreams of the final in May with Werder Bremen and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the hat. Leverkusen, who lifted the UEFA Cup in 1988, played Tottenham Hotspur FC in the group stage and could yet meet their fellow former winners again after the English side knocked out SC Braga.

Unbeaten record
Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar, runners-up in 1981, kept up their unbeaten European home record to recover from a 4-2 first-leg defeat at Newcastle United FC and move into the next round. Meanwhile, completing the lineup are Portuguese giants SL Benfica who will be hoping Simão retains the goalscoring touch that helped see off Paris Saint-Germain FC in the Round of 16.

Fixture dates
The four quarter-finals will get under way with the first legs on Thursday 5 April, and the return matches taking place the following Thursday. The draws for the semi-finals and final will also be made at Friday's ceremony in Glasgow, host city for the final which takes place at Hampden Park on Wednesday 16 May.