Manchester United will play Real Sociedad in the Europa League last 16, while Tottenham Hotspur will take on AZ Alkmaar. In their third meeting in the competition in five seasons, Sociedad will host the first leg on March 6 in Spain, where United captain Bruno Fernandes scored twice in a 4-0 win four years ago on their way to the final. The return game will be at Old Trafford on March 13.
In a stellar European season for clubs from the Netherlands, AZ Alkmaar were paired with Spurs, who won 1-0 when the teams met in October in London. Ajax will be at home first against Eintracht Frankfurt, who won the 2022 Europa League final against Rangers. Spurs could face Ajax in the quarter-finals, in a repeat of their memorable 2019 Champions League semi-final.
A Rome derby at Stadio Olimpico was avoided as Lazio – who came first in the new 36-team league format – were drawn against Viktoria Plzen while Roma face No 2 seeds Athletic Bilbao, whose stadium hosts the final on May 21. Roma eliminated Porto in the play-offs on Thursday.
Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce team will take on Rangers, with the first leg in Istanbul. The former Porto manager has spoken of how Rangers fans have thanked him in public for beating Celtic in the 2003 Uefa Cup final. Bodo/Glimt will face Olympiacos, the Conference League winners last season, and Lyon are away first at FCSB, the Romanian club formerly known as Steaua Bucharest.
Expect a big security operation for this one, with fans of the Dutch team in trouble before when they tried to storm the area where West Ham players’ friends and family were watching two years ago. There was also trouble recently when they faced Ferencvaros, whose fans disguised themselves as stewards.
AZ are fifth in Eredivisie and their results have picked up recently. They also have Troy Parrott, the former Spurs striker, in their ranks. He has scored 16 goals this season and will be motivated to show his old club what they are missing. Verdict: Spurs should have enough quality to get through.
The Basque club have had a mixed season, dropping into mid-table in La Liga but slowly putting some form together recently. They also have Spain pair Mikel Oyarzabal and Martín Zubimendi – a target of Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool in the past – in their ranks and will have the quality to trouble United.
It will depend on which team shows up for Ruben Amorim. They have troubled Liverpool on their day but can collapse spectacularly. Verdict: Early exit for United. Mourinho has never faced Rangers in his managerial career but made himself very popular with the blue half of Glasgow by beating Celtic in the 2003 Uefa Cup final with Porto. Mourinho has claimed that Rangers fans have walked up and thanked up on the streets of London.
3 - Manchester United haven't won any of their three home games in the UEFA Europa League against opponents from the Basque Country:. 2-3 v Athletic Club (2012). 0-0 v Real Sociedad (2021). 0-1 v Real Sociedad (2022). Vascos. pic.twitter.com/q20mjRRo5G. United would play away first in both the quarter-finals and semi-finals should they progress. The same goes for Tottenham which could be a minor handicap.
Viktoria Plzen vs Lazio. Bobo/Glimt vs Olympiacos. Ajax vs Frankfurt. AZ Alkmaar vs Tottenham. Real Sociedad vs Man Utd. FCSB vs Lyon. Fenerbahce vs Rangers. Roma vs Atletic Club. Manchester United would play the winners of FCSB vs Lyon. Tottenham would play the winners of Ajax vs Eintracht Frankurt. Rangers would play the winners of Roma vs Atletic Club.
The two clubs played in the Europa League group stage in 2022 during Erik ten Hag’s first season. That is a repeat of a league phase fixture. Spurs have plenty of support in the Netherlands. FCSB vs Lyon and Ajax vs Eintracht Frankfurt. The Scottish club are heading to Istanbul. That draw means it is also Bobo/Glimt vs Olympiacos.
Manchester United, Tottenham and Rangers fans do not have much longer to wait. Once the teams have discovered which of their two possible last-16 opponents they will face, the remainder of the draw will be to see who plays at home first in the quarters and semis.
Jose Mourinho delivered the second major trophy of his first season at Old Trafford by winning the Europa League (everything went swimmingly after that I think.. ). United were too strong for a callow Ajax team in the final. Tottenham saw Mourinho target Davinson Sanchez and decided to sign him. Four years later, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lost the final on penalties to Unai Emery’s Villarreal and in truth he never rediscovered whatever authority he had after that disappointment.
It’s pretty straightforward. Obviously with Radu Dragusin going down, we’re short on a central defender there with Micky [van de Ven] and [Cristian] Romero – we’ve got to see where they get back – it made sense to bring Kevin Danso and Djed Spence into the squad.”.
We were keen to bring Mathys in as well, that’s why we signed him. We could only make the three changes.”. We’re obviously still limited because we don’t have [enough] club trained [players] and that’s going to be an issue for us over the next couple of years. So that kind of limits the opportunities for us to tinker, but with three changes, I thought they were the logical ones.
