Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger: 'Atletico Madrid are favourites for Europa League'

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted that he wants to avoid Atletico Madrid in the draw for the Europa League quarter-finals.

On Thursday, Arsenal booked their place in the last eight by progressing past AC Milan, and the Gunners remain one of the main contenders to win the competition.

However, Wenger has claimed that Atletico are the favourites for the trophy and would prefer to avoid Diego Simeone's side in Friday's draw.

The Frenchman is quoted by PA as saying: "We would certainly want to avoid Atletico Madrid. Maybe the team that's the biggest favourite is Atletico but anyway, what I like doesn't matter too much because I have no influence.

"We have to wait and see who we get. If we get Atletico, we get Atletico."

Atletico moved through to the quarter-finals with an 8-1 aggregate win over Lokomotiv Moscow.