Europa League Draw 2017-18: Schedule of Dates for Quarter-Final Fixtures

Arsenal will face CSKA Moscow in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League following Friday's draw in Nyon, Switzerland.

Atletico Madrid have been drawn against Sporting CP, while RB Leipzig will take on Marseille and Lazio play Red Bull Salzburg.

Here are the ties:

RB Leipzig vs. Marseille

Arsenal vs. CSKA Moscow

Atletico Madrid vs. Sporting CP

Lazio vs. Red Bull Salzburg

The first legs will played on Thursday, April 5, while the second legs will be a week later on April 12, with the team drawn first in the tie playing at home in the opening leg.

The Gunners overcame a tough draw with surprising ease in the round of 16, having eased past Gennaro Gattuso's AC Milan side with a 5-1 aggregate scoreline, despite their recent domestic form leaving much to be desired.

The team are 12 points off the top four in the Premier League, so their season—and their hopes of playing in the UEFA Champions League next year—now rests almost entirely on this competition.

With a strong selection of potential opponents, there was no side who stood out as an entirely straightforward draw for Arsenal, but if they play as well against CSKA as they did Milan, they should be able to progress.

ESPN FC's Mattias Karen anticipates the Gunners will do so, while sports reporter Ian Abrahams believes they could win the entire competition:

Arsenal should not be complacent when they take on CSKA, though. The two sides have only met twice in their history—in the 2006-07 Champions League group stage—and the Gunners failed to win either clash, as OptaJoe noted:

Meanwhile, Sporting, who scraped past Viktoria Plzen to reach this stage, drew the short straw by being paired with Atletico Madrid.

Football writer Tom Kundert offered Sporting a silver lining:

Nevertheless, they'll need to go above and beyond if they're to go any further.

Los Rojiblancos reached the Champions League final in 2016 and 2014 and won the Europa League in 2012 and 2010, so they've got plenty of European pedigree.

They've enjoyed a strong domestic campaign, too. Though they look set to fall short of pushing Barcelona all the way in La Liga having slipped eight points back, they're also seven points clear of third-place Real Madrid and have conceded just 12 goals in 28 matches.