Just as the Carling Cup competition put this season's FA Cup in the shade, so the ugly duckling of the Europa League has just stepped out of the Champions League's enormous shadow to enjoy some fun in the sun.

It would not be strictly accurate to say that Thursday evening's entertainment and Friday morning's quarter-final draw knocked spots off the Champions League, because Uefa's main tournament is shaping up well this season, with six different countries represented in the last eight (although Internazionale are even less Italian than Arsenal are English, with a Portuguese coach and 11 overseas players in the starting line-up at Chelsea) and the world waiting to see whether Barcelona can become the first club to retain the trophy under the modern format.

The Champions League is not doing anything wrong, no more than usual anyway, it was more a case of the Europa League's last 16 providing plenty that was gloriously right, as well as enjoyably unexpected. It was not just a matter of Fulham coming back from 4-1 down against Juventus, stupendous as that was. The 4-4 draw between Werder Bremen and Valencia was a riot of twists and turns as well as goals, and Anderlecht's seven-goal thriller against Hamburg must have been a treat to watch even if a 4-3 victory left the home crowd disappointed.

Pedants may point out defences were at fault, key players dismissed and the pressure higher in the Champions League, but surely aggregate scores of 5-4, 5-5 and 5-6 are what the second‑string European tournament ought to be all about – bearing in mind that it is the second-string tournament, not the one with the pretentious signature tune and stupidly expensive squads. No one is fooling themselves that Fulham are kings of Europe or that Juventus are not in decline, though over the two legs the two teams were more or less equally matched, as happened in other ties, and open, attacking, even knockabout football is exactly what people want to see from teams in Europe with little or no interest left in the domestic league. One could almost forgive the Europa League its clumsy group stage and unfortunate obligation to scoop up Champions League rejects for a round of 16 so evenly contested.

In some ways it is a pity the tournament cannot be staged on a knockout basis from the start, as the old European Cup used to be, except there would be mismatches, good teams going out early and interest would only focus on the final stages. Just about the only downside to last week's splendid round of 16 was the fact that grounds were half-empty in Germany, of all places, yet the format of the competition is still new and once word gets around that a tedious gestation can produce some extremely lively knockout ties Uefa could be on to an unlikely winner.

If Fulham can beat Juventus they ought to have at least a chance of squeezing past Wolfsburg, so Roy Hodgson may be wrong to suggest the season cannot get any better. His side have just proved anything can happen, so they had better start believing it. There may be a semi-final or even a final to come, though it appears the strength is in the other half of the draw, where Liverpool are boxed in by familiar Iberian opponents.

There is a danger, it would seem, in dismissing the Europa League as a mere consolation prize. As soon as Liverpool were parachuted in they were installed as favourites, and it was even suggested Rafa Benítez would have to win to save some face and keep his job. While that may or may not be the case, the assumption that the Europa League is going to be a stroll for a team of Liverpool's calibre is clearly misplaced. They were not quite as comfortable against Lille on Tuesday as the final score suggested, and now just to reach the final they must overcome Benfica and then the winners of Valencia/Atlético Madrid.

Lille are fifth in their domestic league, like Liverpool, and so are Hamburg, the likely finalists from the other half of the draw. Benfica are top of the Portuguese league, Valencia are third in Spain, and only Atlético are slumming it in 10th. Four of Liverpool's five European Cups proper came in the days when they only played champions, though often they would be the champions of Switzerland or Belgium.

In 1977 when Liverpool conquered Europe for the first time, the teams they actually beat were Crusaders, Trabzonspor, St Etienne, FC Zurich and Borussia Mönchengladbach. A year later they beat Dynamo Dresden, Benfica, Mönchengladbach and Club Brugge. Times change, comparisons are difficult, yet it seems this season's challenge in the junior tournament may be harder. Liverpool will be pilloried if they fail and deemed to have done no more than the minimum should they succeed. Hodgson may be feeling like Rocky Marciano; Benítez is on a hiding to nothing.