Surprise qualifiers Sevilla take on Bayern Munich while Barcelona were paired with AS Roma in the draw made in Nyon on Friday.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side will host Pep Guardiola’s City at Anfield for the first leg, either on April 3 or April 4 as the sides meet for the first time in Europe.

It will also be the first meeting of two English sides in the last eight of the Champions League since Chelsea played Manchester United in the 2010-2011 season.

City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain said: “We know each other very well, they are a very offensive team, the truth is it is going to be a great couple of games and we are going to see good football.”

Cristiano Ronaldo and his Real teammates will be happy to be playing the second leg of their tie at their Santiago Bernabeu stadium against Juventus, whose experience proved lethal to English club Tottenham in the last 16.

Bayern, aiming to win Europe’s top club crown for the sixth time, face Sevilla, the surprise slayers of Manchester United in the last round, but goalkeeper Sven Ulreich said they were relieved to avoid one of their major rivals.

“There are harder draws. It’s doable, but Sevilla have shone in Europe and they have won three Europa Leagues,” Ulreich said.

“So we’ll be very focused when we go over there (for the first leg) and then we’ll do the business at home.”//AFP

The former world No 1 generated three straight birdies before she committeed a lone bogey on the 15th hole, followed by two more birdies on the third and fifth holes to take the joint third place along with with players.

“I start on back nine and I have three birdies in a row. Pretty good start. I had so much fun. I haven’t played with Jess (Jessica Korda)  for a long time, and really see some amazing shot from here,” said Ariya.

“I mean, I have great memory here, so I love this event. You know, like all the people come support all the players, especially like American. It’s so much fun,” added Ariya who was followed a shot behind by countrywoman Pornanong Phatlum.

France’s Karine  fired seven birdies in a five-under par 67. In chilly, windy weather Icher teed off early and got off to a blazing start with five birdies in her first eight holes.

She added birdies at 11 and 14 to get to seven-under, but as the wind increased she bogeyed 15 and 18.

“I made some good putts and that made the difference,” Icher said. “I hit good second shots. On this course, if you start getting confidence you can go low.

“It was a good front nine. On the back nine, I made two bogeys at the end, but with the wind picking up, it’s a little bit hard.”

Icher, who owns 45 top-10 finishes on the LPGA tour, is seeking her first title.

Choi lit up the leaderboard in the afternoon. She teed off on 10 and had four birdies in her first five holes en route to her share of the lead.

After two more birdies coming in she made her lone bogey of the day at her final hole, three-putting the ninth.

“It was windy and tough every hole out there,” Choi said. “Every player was in the same position, I tried to calm myself and control myself.”

Half a dozen players were a shot off the pace on four-under par 68. That included seven-time major champion Park In-bee of South Korea.

Eight players on 69 included American Jessica Korda, who won two weeks ago in Thailand, and defending champion Anna Nordqvist of Sweden.

Nordqvist made four birdies on Thursday against just one bogey at her last to post a 69 to open her title defense.

“I played really solid today,” Nordqvist said. “It was a really hard wind. It was gusty and very cold, so it was hard to gauge yardages.”

Federer, who is seeking a record sixth Indian Wells title, extended his win streak to 16 straight matches, matching the start he had to the 2006 ATP calendar season.

In the semi-finals, Federer will face Croatian Borna Coric who outlasted seventh seeded Kevin Anderson 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

Federer won 70 percent of his first serve points, had just one double fault and broke Chung’s serve four times in the one hour, 23 minute main stadium match.

He clinched the victory on the second match point when he blasted his 12th and final ace of the contest.

Earlier this year he defended his title at the Australian Open, picking up his 20th Grand Slam win.

Last month he claimed his 97th singles title with a victory in Rotterdam which helped him regain the world number one ranking and become the oldest No. 1 player in ATP history.

And this victory guarantees he will hold onto the top spot after Indian Wells.

This was the first match between Federer and Chung since the semi-finals of the Aussie Open when the Swiss was leading 6-1, 5-2 and Chung was forced to retire with a foot blister.

The bespeckled Chung dropped to 15-6 on the season as he was appearing in his fifth quarter-final in six tournaments this year.

Federer said he plans to get ready for Coric the same way he prepared for Chung.

“He plays similar to Chung,” Federer said. “A great mover and has got a world of confidence.

“I got to play aggressive tennis as much as I can. Pretty simple, not always easy to do.”

Venus advances to semi-final

Seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams reached the WTA Indian Wells semi-finals for the first time since 2001 on Thursday by routing Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-3, 6-2.

Despite the windy conditions, Williams improved to 5-2 on the season, including a third round win over sister Serena, who was making her return to the WTA after having a baby.

Venus, who at 37 is the oldest player in the women’s draw, has played sparingly this year but is just beginning to step up her game.

“We’ve had a lot of great matches,” Williams said of playing Suarez Navarro. “I was glad that I was able to close it out.”

She dominated Suarez Navarro, who became increasingly frustrated and had to call her coach a couple of times to come down to the court in between sets for advice.

Wiliams is back in the semis in the California desert for the first time since pulling out before a semi-final match against Serena in 2001, with an injury.

Although she skipped the event for many years, Williams said she recalled her earliest appearance fondly.

“This was my first breakout tournament when I was 16,” Williams said.

Williams improved to 6-3 lifetime against the 29-year-old Suarez Navarro as the two veterans faced off for the first time since the round of 16 at last year’s US Open.

Williams won that contest in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Williams, who is seeded eighth, will need that experience when she takes the court in the next round against Russian 20-year-old Daria Kasatkina who has been jackhammering Grand Slam champions for the past year and rolling over top 10 players this week in Indian Wells.

They have played twice before in 2016 with Williams winning at Wimbledon, 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 and Kasatkina winning another tough three setter in Auckland, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-3.

Klopp made clear that his players were too slow to react to second balls last weekend, as they fell to only their fourth league defeat of the season in losing 2-1 at Manchester United.

That defeat cost Liverpool the chance to go second, although with both United and Tottenham in FA Cup action this weekend, Klopp’s side will go third if they avoid defeat against Watford.

The key to success on Saturday will be to ensure they remain solid while maintaining their attacking threat, something they failed to do when they drew 3-3 with Watford at Vicarage Road on the opening day of the season.

Liverpool trailed twice that day, then went ahead through Mohamed Salah’s first goal for the club, only to concede a 94th-minute equaliser to Miguel Britos.

That was a sign of the defensive troubles that have continued to plague Liverpool.

At Old Trafford last Saturday, they conceded two avoidable first-half goals to Marcus Rashford, then ran into a metaphorical brick wall as they attempted to save the game.

Klopp could reflect on the fact that his team lost despite having 67.9 per cent possession during the game and 14 efforts on goal to United’s five.

“The second balls were not good around the two situations where we conceded,” said Liverpool midfielder Emre Can.

“In my position, it was not good from me. We have to learn from it and do it better in the game against Watford.

“We made very easy mistakes when we conceded the goals; we have to defend better as a team there.

“We have to learn from the game, we have to push on and go again on Saturday.”

– Take solace –

Despite the disappointment of losing for only the second time in their past 21 league matches, Liverpool can take solace from the fact that their overall form is good.

They remain one of only two teams yet to lose a Premier League game at home this season, and have a Champions League quarter-final to look forward to in April.

Klopp also has more or less a full squad to choose from, with only defender Nathaniel Clyne definitely unavailable as he continues to recover from a long-term back injury.

They do have one other concern, though.

Midfielder Can has collected nine bookings this season, and one more on Saturday will bring him a two-match domestic suspension, keeping him out of the Merseyside derby against Everton at Goodison Park on April 8.

Watford are yet to score on their travels under new manager Javi Gracia, but it’s at the other end of the pitch where their troubles lie.

The Spaniard, who has seen his side go scoreless on the road for the last six hours, is wary of the threat posed by Sadio Mane, Salah and Roberto Firmino.

“Nobody has won at Anfield in the league this season so it won’t be easy,” he said.

“They can certainly win the Champions League. They are good enough — but there’s a lot of other good teams like Barcelona and Bayern Munich who also can.”

Third bottom Crystal Palace, beaten in their last four games, travel to Huddersfield while West Bromwich Albion, bottom of the table and eight points from safety, desperately need a victory at Bournemouth.

Stoke are also embroiled in the fight for survival and Paul Lambert’s second bottom team will aim to end a six-match winless run when they host Everton.

Fixtures (1500 GMT unless stated):

Saturday

Bournemouth v West Brom, Huddersfield v Crystal Palace, Liverpool v Watford (1730 GMT), Stoke v Everton

After taking the first leg 2-0 in Milan last week, Wenger’s side were in danger of blowing their lead when Hakan Calhanoglu put the Italians ahead in the first half at the Emirates Stadium.

But Welbeck turned the last 16 second leg back in Arsenal’s favour moments after Calhanoglu’s goal as the striker appeared to dive to win a penalty that he converted himself.

With their nerves steadied, Arsenal eased through 5-1 on aggregate thanks to second half goals from Granit Xhaka and Welbeck.

Welbeck’s theatrics were condemned by pundits, while Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson was slammed for being tricked by the play-acting.

“It’s a definite dive,” former Arsenal defender Martin Keown told BT Sport, while ex-Tottenham star Jermaine Jenas said: “Welbeck doesn’t feel any contact apart from his own feet connecting with themselves and he goes over.

“The referee and assistant referee completely buy it.”

But Wenger wouldn’t be drawn on the criticism of Welbeck and said he would have to watch the incident again on television.

“I haven’t seen it again. You want to accuse English players to be divers?” Wenger said.

“Was it a penalty? I don’t know, the Italian players were not happy. I can understand that, but I don’t know what happened.

“I will watch it again and give you my honest opinion. I will give Danny my opinion as well, no problem.”

Milan boss Gennaro Gattuso was certain it wasn’t a penalty but he opted against criticising Welbeck.

“I don’t want any alibi. In the same way a player can make a mistake, a referee can do a mistake,” he said.

“We can’t find any bad luck. Welbeck is a striker, he has to do what he does. There is a lot of fair play in England.

“Even myself when I was a player, I would take advance of individual situations. I’m not going to judge these things.”

Following on from Sunday’s Premier League victory over Watford, Arsenal’s third successive win in all competitions provides a measure of breathing space for Wenger after a miserable run sparked fresh calls for his dismissal.

Looking certain to miss out on a top four finish in the league, Arsenal must win the Europa League to qualify for next season’s Champions League — a target that seems essential for Wenger to avoid the sack.

Arsenal’s anxiety levels were rising when captain Laurent Koscielny limped off after taking a blow to his back.

– Dubious circumstances –

The Gunners were vulnerable and Milan took advantage to snatch the lead in the 35th minute.

When Ricardo Rodriguez slipped the ball inside to Calhanoglu, the Arsenal defence backed off just long enough for the Turkey midfielder to rifle a blistering 25-yard strike past David Ospina.

But crucially Arsenal were able to draw level in dubious circumstances four minutes later.

Welbeck’s run took him past Rodriguez into the six-yard box and he threw himself to the turf after the slightest contact from the Milan defender.

It was enough to persuade Eriksson to point to the spot and Welbeck, back on his feet, calmly stroked home the penalty for his first goal since January.

Arsenal supporters had stayed away from the Watford game in their droves in protest at Wenger, prompting the manager to admit he was worried about how they would win back the absentees.

But there were far fewer empty seats in the 60,000-capacity arena and more vibrant mood undoubtedly helped Arsenal maintain their momentum.

Arsenal put the result beyond doubt in the 71st minute thanks to a mistake from Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Xhaka’s long-range effort should have simple for Donnarumma, but instead he somehow pushed the ball into his own net.

Rubbing salt into Milan’s wounds, it was Welbeck who finished them off with a close-range header in the 87th minute.

Pochettino’s men travel to Swansea City on Saturday (1215GMT) in the hope of reaching the last four of the FA Cup.

Spurs have impressed at home and abroad in the last three seasons under Pochettino, but will again end the season without a trophy unless they lift the FA Cup on May 19 at their adopted home of Wembley.

But Pochettino knocked down suggestions Tottenham will have underachieved yet again if they fail to win a trophy this season.

“People that understand football very well know that this project is a project that is very exciting because we are not a club that are going to buy trophies, we are a club that is going to deserve trophies,” said the Argentine.

“That for me is why people show frustration because they think we deserve trophies that we do not achieve.”

Despite a lack of silverware, Spurs have punched well above their weight in finishing in the top four in recent seasons.

The question remains, though, how long Spurs can keep an exciting young squad assembled by Pochettino together if trophies don’t come along soon.

And their quest for Cup glory will be hampered by the absence of talismanic striker Harry Kane, who is sidelined for the rest of the month at least by ankle ligament damage picked up in a 4-1 win at Bournemouth last weekend.

On-form South Korean international Son Heung-min stepped ably into Kane’s shoes by scoring twice to take his tally to seven goals in his last four games.

And Son is expected to deputise for the England striker once more ahead of the more physical presence of Fernando Llorente on his return to the Liberty Stadium.

Llorente’s presence was badly missed by Swansea early in the season, but the Welsh side have been in great form since Carlos Carvalhal replaced the sacked Paul Clement in December.

The Swans have lost just twice in 15 games in 2018, although one of those defeats did come against Spurs in early January.

Carvalhal will have to cope without Ghanian international brothers Jordan and Andre Ayew as the former is suspended, whilst the latter is cup-tied having previously played in the competition for West Ham.

The 21-year-old Coric survived a 16 ace performance by Anderson as he improved to 10-3 on the season and punched his ticket to his first semi at the hardcourt tournament in the California desert.

“It has been a fantastic week,” Coric said.

Coric had lost three straight matches to world No. 9 Anderson, including one in the round of 32 at last year’s US Open. Anderson went on to his first career Grand Slam final where he lost to Rafael Nadal.

“I know I lost to him three times in the past, I never played good against him,” Coric said. “I just needed to serve better and taking more risks.”

Coric won 69 percent of his second serve points and broke Anderson’s serve twice in Thursday’s two hour, 22 minute match on the main stadium court.

The 31-year old Anderson won the first set but failed to muster much of a challenge in the third set tiebreaker, losing five of the final six points.

Coric iced the victory on the first match point when Anderson hit a shot long.

Coric is ranked 49th in the world and certain to improve after his Indian Wells run.

The crafty Croatian is having a productive season after going through a lot of upheaval in 2017 when he replaced his coach, agent and trainer.

He celebrated Thursday’s win with a fist pump and a scream while looking over to his current team.

“I was in the same place for the last three years. I think I can be better than that,” he said.

“Obviously I needed to change something. And I cannot change myself. I cannot fire myself. I just decided to change my whole team. I had that opportunity and I thought it is a very clever move.”

He now has Riccardo Piatti as a coach.

“We talked a lot in December and looked at the things I needed to do better, my attacking game and my return,” Coric said.

Heading into the match, Anderson led the tournament in aces with 55.

Anderson dropped to 14-4 on the season as he was looking for his second title of 2018, having defeated Sam Querrey in the final of the New York Open.

Earlier this month he also reached the Mexican Open final but lost to Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro.

The Thai pair who won the home title from the Thailand Masters in January needed three sets to move past countrywomen Chayanit Chaladchalam and Phataimas Muenwong 16-21 21-17 21-17.

They will next play the fourth-seeded pair of Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota of Japan in the quarter-finals. They beat the Japanese duo 23-21 21-12 in the 2017 Hong Kong Open which was their only win from four meets.

In women’s singles second round, Nitchaon Jindapol went down to fourth-seeded Sindhu V. Pursarla 21-13 13-21 21-18 while Busanan Ongbamrungphan lost to world No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan 15-21 11-21.

Thai No 1 Khosit Phetpradab was eliminated from the men’s singles event, losing to 2016 Olympic Games gold medalist Chen Long of China 18-21 14-21.