After a collective blow-out in the Champions League, England has a three-pronged attack on Europe’s second tier competition with Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United all vying for Europa League success.

The three Premier League sides head into today’s quarter-final first legs looking to earn back some of the country’s European lustre.

European champions Chelsea host Russian outfit Rubin Kazan, London rivals Tottenham welcome Swiss side Basel and Newcastle travel to Benfica.

Fenerbahce’s clash with Lazio is the only quarter-final not to feature a Premier League club.

For Chelsea, today’s match against Rubin is the start of a gruelling fixture pile-up that involves playing five matches in 13 days as they look to do battle in three competitions.

Defeat to Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday left them looking vulnerable in a three-way fight with Tottenham and Arsenal for the final two Champions League qualification spots.

But victory over Manchester United in an FA Cup quarter-final replay 48 hours later set them up nicely for an end-of-season push for silverware.

Chelsea start as favourites but Rubin are no pushovers having knocked out holders Atletico Madrid and their La Liga rivals Levante in two previous rounds to reach a European quarter-final for the first time.

Tottenham host Basel, the Swiss champions for the last three seasons. The Swiss are the only reigning domestic champions still in the Europa League.

Dismal record

For Newcastle, the Europa League is a distraction from their domestic battle to avoid relegation with the club three points above the drop zone following a crushing 4-0 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.

Fenerbahce host Lazio with the Turkish side looking to improve on a dismal record against Italian teams, having lost 10 of 13 clashes to date.

Lazio are fifth in Serie A after their 2-1 win over Catania on Saturday but still have an outside chance of finishing third and a place in the Champions League next season.

Quarter-finals

Today’s first legs – 21.05
Chelsea vs Rubin Kazan
Tottenham vs Basel
Fenerbahce vs Lazio
Benfica vs Newcastle

Second legs: April 11

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