Europa League draw: Manchester United to face Anderlecht in quarter-finals

That just about wraps up our assessment of the 2016-17 Europa League quarter-final draw.

Thanks for following along and be sure to look out for IBTimes UK's live Premier League coverage across the weekend.

West Brom vs Arsenal and Stoke vs Chelsea are both on the agenda for tomorrow, with United travelling to newly-managerless Middlesbrough, Tottenham hosting Southampton and Manchester City facing Liverpool on Sunday.

Goodbye for now.

The rest of today's draw was somewhat underwhelming, with Celta Vigo meeting Genk for the first time and Lyon/Besiktas also set for their opening soiree.

A battle between two former Uefa Cup winners in Ajax and Schalke may prove intriguing.

The two sides most recently met during the group stage of the 2000-01 Champions League.

Andy Cole notched a treble in a 5-1 home victory, but United were narrowly defeated in Belgium courtesy of a first-half brace from future Everton and Fulham striker Tomasz Radzinski.

A bit of trivia before we sign off.

United have won four of their previous six meetings against Anderlecht, who finished runners-up to Saint-Etienne in Group C before seeing off Zenit Saint Petersburg and APOEL.

The 33-time Belgian champions provided United's maiden continental opposition back in 1956 and duly lost 12-0 on aggregate. Matt Busby's team were the first English outfit ever to enter the European Cup.

Dennis Viollet notched four goals and Tommy Taylor bagged a hat-trick during a 10-0 second-leg rout at Maine Road, the home of local rivals Manchester City. It remains their biggest victory to date.

Another pleasant draw for heavy competition favourites United, who will travel to Constant Vanden Stock Stadium on 13 April before returning to Old Trafford for the second leg seven days later.

BREAKING: Manchester United will face Anderlecht in the quarter-finals of the Europa League

Lyon vs Besiktas

Ajax vs Schalke

Celta Vigo vs Genk

Anderlecht vs Manchester United

The balls are in the pot. Let's get this show on the road.

After more waffle, Marchetti is now explaining the draw procedures...

Uefa deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti is now on the scene. He will introduce former Blackburn Rovers, Bayern Munich and Barcelona defender Patrik Andersson, who is acting as an ambassador for this season's final in the Swedish capital.

A quick refresher on how the eight last-16 ties played out...

Uefa's managing director of communications, Pedro Pinto, has now taken the stage and we should be underway shortly.

First, an exciting montage...

A reminder that there are no seeding rules enforced at this stage of the competition. Teams from the same association can also be drawn together, meaning that there is nothing to stop Genk, having already toppled Gent, from being paired with another Belgian opponent in Anderlecht.

Speaking to Spanish radio station Onda Cero last night, match-winner Juan Mata revealed a preference to avoid a quarter-final trip to Celta Vigo...

Celta are a complicated team to face. I would not like to be drawn with them. I really like how they play.

This time there will be not many long trips and that is good. The trip to Russia in the last 16, then having to play against Chelsea and then playing today was too much. I do not know (who I want in the quarter-finals) but the truth is that I respect Celta a lot. They play very well, they have a great manager and very good players.

Assessing the other potential opponents, he added...

Besiktas are a team that in their stadium press a lot. Genk or Anderlecht would not be bad but maybe I say this and then they eliminate us. So I don't know. Genk has a coach [Albert Stuivenberg] who last year was our assistant with [Louis] Van Gaal and he would like to return to Manchester.

While we wait to get going, let's bring you that Champions League quarter-final draw that took place a little earlier on...

Atletico Madrid vs Leicester City

Borussia Dortmund vs Monaco

Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid

Barcelona vs Juventus

A couple of cracking heavyweight ties there and a potential goalfest between Dortmund and Monaco.

You have to imagine that both Atletico and Leicester will be content with that outcome, although Los Rojiblancos boast a formidable record in Europe over recent years.

All the key dates you need to know on the road to Stockholm...

Here is Mourinho's feisty post-match interview in all of its glory. Textbook siege mentality stuff from a master of the art...

The last-16 hardly proved to be plain sailing for United, who laboured to a low-key draw on an absolutely woeful surface in Rostov before squeezing past the resilient Russians at Old Trafford last night courtesy of a close-range finish from Juan Mata.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck the woodwork twice during a goalless first half and Sergio Romero made a terrific stoppage-time save to deny Christian Noboa and prevent the embarrassment of extra-time.

Such a win came at a cost, however, with Paul Pogba limping off with a hamstring injury and Daley Blind also withdrawn after taking a blow to the head.

It is safe to say that Mourinho was not best pleased after the final whistle...

Good morning and welcome to IBTimes UK's live coverage of the draw for the quarter-finals of the 2016-17 Europa League.

With Tottenham having fallen at the last-32 hurdle, Manchester United continue to fly the flag alone for English football in a competition that they are seeking to win for the very first time in their illustrious history.

Besiktas, Celta Vigo, Schalke, Lyon, Genk, Ajax and Anderlecht complete a last-eight lineup that will hardly strike fear into the heart of Jose Mourinho.

With the Champions League draw now all wrapped up, proceedings are scheduled to get underway at 12.00 GMT. Stay tuned.