A trio of Portuguese clubs will be seeking a place in the last four of football's Europa League when the quarter-finals get under way with first-leg matches on Thursday.Porto, Benfica and Sporting Braga avoided each other in the draw and all could continue their advance in a competition which looks wide open.
There is an unusual feel to the quarter-finals in the absence, for the first time in UEFA Cup or Europa League history, of any teams from England, Italy, Germany or France.
The Spanish league is left with one representative in Villarreal who face Dutch champions FC Twente.
The winner of that match will come up against either Porto or Spartak Moscow, while an all-Portuguese semi-final beckons if Benfica beat Dutch side PSV Eindhoven and Braga overcome Dynamo Kiev.
Having defeated Russian opponents in Rubin Kazan and Zenit St Petersburg in the two previous rounds, Twente have another tough task as they travel to Villarreal.
The Spanish side, fourth in the Liga, eliminated strong opponents in Germany's Bayer Leverkusen in the previous round and have the competition's top scorer in eight-goal Giuseppe Rossi.
"Villarreal play nice football," said Twente coach Michel Preud'homme. "They are a typical Spanish side, who play quickly with short combination football. They are a very good team. Actually they are the 'little' Barcelona."
He added: "When you play against a Spanish side, they are always the favourites - they will be favourites against us."
Dynamo Kiev, unbeaten in their last seven European home games, greet Braga in a match between two sides who eliminated English opponents in the last 16.
Kiev, who overcame Manchester City, will be wary of Braga who upset Liverpool in the previous round and will be looking for an improvement against Ukrainian opponents after losing twice to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League group stage this season.
Porto have another Moscow mission as they welcome Spartak, having knocked out CSKA Moscow in the last 16. Spartak coach Valeri Karpin sees his side as the underdogs against a team he rates as the favourites to win the competition.
The Benfica-PSV tie recalls greater days for both clubs: the Dutch side, then under coach Guus Hiddink, captured the 1987-1998 European Cup by beating Benfica in a penalty shoot-out in the final in Stuttgart.
There is an unusual feel to the quarter-finals in the absence, for the first time in UEFA Cup or Europa League history, of any teams from England, Italy, Germany or France.
The Spanish league is left with one representative in Villarreal who face Dutch champions FC Twente.
The winner of that match will come up against either Porto or Spartak Moscow, while an all-Portuguese semi-final beckons if Benfica beat Dutch side PSV Eindhoven and Braga overcome Dynamo Kiev.
Having defeated Russian opponents in Rubin Kazan and Zenit St Petersburg in the two previous rounds, Twente have another tough task as they travel to Villarreal.
The Spanish side, fourth in the Liga, eliminated strong opponents in Germany's Bayer Leverkusen in the previous round and have the competition's top scorer in eight-goal Giuseppe Rossi.
"Villarreal play nice football," said Twente coach Michel Preud'homme. "They are a typical Spanish side, who play quickly with short combination football. They are a very good team. Actually they are the 'little' Barcelona."
He added: "When you play against a Spanish side, they are always the favourites - they will be favourites against us."
Dynamo Kiev, unbeaten in their last seven European home games, greet Braga in a match between two sides who eliminated English opponents in the last 16.
Kiev, who overcame Manchester City, will be wary of Braga who upset Liverpool in the previous round and will be looking for an improvement against Ukrainian opponents after losing twice to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League group stage this season.
Porto have another Moscow mission as they welcome Spartak, having knocked out CSKA Moscow in the last 16. Spartak coach Valeri Karpin sees his side as the underdogs against a team he rates as the favourites to win the competition.
The Benfica-PSV tie recalls greater days for both clubs: the Dutch side, then under coach Guus Hiddink, captured the 1987-1998 European Cup by beating Benfica in a penalty shoot-out in the final in Stuttgart.
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