Agencies
Manchester United’s reward for getting the better of LaLiga leaders Barcelona in the Europa League playoffs is a last-16 clash with another Spanish side Real Betis, while Premier League table-toppers Arsenal will face Portuguese outfit Sporting.
United edged a thrilling playoff with Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate thanks to a 2-1 win at Old Trafford in Thursday’s second leg and remain in the hunt for four trophies this season as they continue to improve under coach Erik ten Hag.
The English side are looking to secure their first trophy since their 2017 Europa League triumph under Jose Mourinho, with the Portuguese’s current side AS Roma pitted against Real Socieded in this season’s last 16.
Arsenal sailed through the Europa League group stages, winning five of their six group matches and take on Sporting next, who overcame Denmark’s FC Midtjylland in their playoff.
Serie A giants Juventus progressed through the playoffs at Nantes’ expense thanks to a hat-trick from Argentine forward Angel Di Maria in the second leg in France, and will face Germany’s Freiburg next.
Record six-time winners Sevilla are again in the mix, and must negotiate a way past Turkish side Fenerbahce to reach the last eight of this year’s competition.
The following is the draw for the Europa League last-16 which was held in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday:
Union Berlin v Union Saint-Gilloise
Sevilla v Fenerbahce
Juventus v Freiburg
Bayer Leverkusen v Ferencvaros
Sporting v Arsenal
Manchester United v Real Betis
AS Roma v Real Sociedad
Shakhtar Donetsk v Feyenoord
The first legs of the last-16 ties will be played on March 9 and the second legs on March 16.
*Team mentioned first will host the first leg.
