These are the Europa League teams qualified for the Round of 16

The Europa League round of 16 ties have been decided. UEFA held its draw at 12:00 on Friday when the teams in the second continental competition can start to prepare themselves by thinking in particular about the potential weaknesses of their opponents in the first step after the play-offs.

In the section that includes the Champions League losers and the second-placed teams from each group in its sister competition, Roma eliminated Feyenoord, Sporting CP knocked out Young Boys, Sparta Prague knocked out Galatasaray, Olympique Marseille sent Shakhtar Donetsk home, Milan dumped out Rennes, Freiburg beat Lens, Benfica defeated Toulouse, Milan saw off Rennes, Freiburg defeated Lens and Benfica beat Toulouse and surprise package Qarabag overcame Sporting Braga.

However, the fixtures that have been drawn are as follows: Sparta Prague-Liverpool, Olympique Marseille-Villarreal, Roma-Brighton, Benfica-Rangers, Freiburg-West Ham, Sporting CP-Atalanta, Milan-Slavia Prague and Qarabag-Bayer Leverkusen. Marcelino Garcia Toral, therefore, will return to the Velodrome to face the club he left amid complaints of threats from its most radical ultras.

Liverpool are the clear favourites to win the Europa League. They finished last season in 5th place in the Premier League with Jurgen Klopp, who has already announced that he will leave his post at Anfield at the end of the season. Because of the difference in level between his squad, worthy of the Champions League, and the rest and because of the motivational component of seeing him off with several titles, the 'Reds' will be the rival to beat.

Marcellin returns to Marseille

Villarreal coach Marcelino will face Olympique Marseille in the last 16. This is his former club, which he left abruptly after complaining that the club's most radical ultras were threatening him. In several interviews he gave after his departure, he pointed out that the board itself welcomes the fact that this type of fan has a say in what happens to the project.

The affair brought to a bad end a potentially fruitful partnership because the tactician had been hired by a compatriot of his, Pablo Longoria, who is the president of the Velodrome. The seat currently belongs to Jean-Louis Gasset, who replaced Gennaro Gattuso after a bad sporting drift that has been going on for a few weeks. The 70-year-old newcomer is the one who was sacked in the middle of the Africa Cup of Nations, despite qualifying the Ivory Coast for the round of 16 and eventually becoming champions.

Kind road for Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen

It makes sense to place Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen among the teams with the best chance of progressing from the beginning because of their quality, but their opponents suggest that their access to the quarter-finals would have to be easy. The Reds will face Slavia Prague and Xabi Alonso's side will take on Qarabag.

The Czechs will present too much of a threat to the English side, who are leading the Premier League ahead of Manchester City and Arsenal and are used to not only competing against tough opposition at home, but beating them. This Sunday they will contest the EFL Cup final against Pochettino's Chelsea, whose cup cabinets are still empty in their blue sector.

The Germans, also top of the Bundesliga standings, have emerged as the sensation of the big leagues. They are largely responsible for the fact that Bayern Munich have already formalised that Thomas Tuchel will no longer be their coach at the end of the season, as they beat them 3-0 in a recent match on which many of the Bavarians' chances of reaching the top rested.

 

February 23, 2024