NYON, Switzerland — English trio Chelsea, Tottenham and Newcastle all managed to avoid one another as the Europa League quarterfinal draw was held at UEFA headquarters here Friday. Dethroned Champions League winner Chelsea hosts Russian club Rubin Kazan in their first leg on April 4, while Tottenham is at home the same night against Swiss outsiders Basel and Newcastle travel to former European champion Benfica. The final last-eight tie features 1999 Cup Winners' Cup champion Lazio against Fenerbache with the first leg to be played in Istanbul. The final is set to be played at the Amsterdam Arena on Wednesday, May 15. On Thursday, Chelsea staged a thrilling comeback to beat Steaua Bucharest 3-1 and reach the Europa quarterfinals, but Inter Milan failed to advance despite a second-leg recovery of its own on a breathless night of last-16 action. John Terry and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to help Chelsea, the reigning European champion, squeeze past Steaua 3-2 on aggregate at Stamford Bridge. Trailing 3-0 from the first leg, Inter thrashed Tottenham 4-1 at the San Siro for a 4-4 aggregate scoreline but exited on the away-goals rule, with Emmanuel Adebayor's extra-time strike proving decisive. The match was marred by apparent racist abuse by Inter fans toward Adebayor. Newcastle completed an English clean sweep into the last eight thanks to Papiss Cisse's stoppage-time winner against Anzhi Makhachkala. Basel avoided extra time thanks to a late penalty save by Yann Sommer from Roman Shirokov, which meant the Swiss team only lost 1-0 at 2008 winner Zenit St. Petersburg and went through 2-1 overall. Rubin Kazan ensured there would be Russian representation in the last eight as extra-time goals by Jose Rondon and Vladimir Dyadyun saw off Levante 2-0 on the night and on aggregate. Lazio and Benfica won their second legs to go through comfortably, while Fenerbahce was the other team to progress. Progression added to Chelsea's hectic fixture schedule, with the team now facing six games in 16 days across three competitions — Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League — after the international break later this month. Libor Kozak grabbed a hat trick in Lazio's 3-1 victory over Stuttgart, which sealed a 5-1 victory on aggregate. Oscar Cardozo scored twice as Benfica beat Bordeaux 3-2 away, going through 4-2 overall. — Agencies
