Tuesday, 15 December 2015

Reaction to Europa League Last 32 draw

As with the champions league draw today, the last 32 was also drawn for the Europa league. It gave us some intriguing ties as well as some talking points. Here we go.


Draw in full:
Valencia v Rapid Wien
Fiorentina v Tottenham
Borussia Dortmund v Porto
Fenerbahce v Lokomotiv Moskva
Anderlecht v Olympiacos
FC Midtjylland v Manchester United
Augsburg v Liverpool
Sparta Praha v Krasnodar
Galatasaray v Lazio
FC Sion v Sporting Braga
Shakhtar Donetsk v Schalke
Marseille v Athletic Bilbao
Sevilla v Molde
Sporting CP v Bayer Leverkusen
Villarreal v Napoli
Saint Étienne v Basel

A few standout ties there with Dortmund v Porto having the look of a champions league knockout tie. In fact you could make the same case for Villarreal v Napoli and Galatasaray v Lazio.
The English sides have a mixed draw. Manchester United will be happy with theirs as FC Midjylland aren't as strong as some of the other sides that United could've been paired with such as Dortmund and Valencia. Tottenham face Fiorentina again at the same stage as last season where the Florence side emerged victorious and Jurgen Klopp returns to Germany with Liverpool to face Augsburg.
La Liga sides in the main have handy ties on paper. Sevilla will be relatively happy with Molde and Valencia can be happy with Rapid considering who they could've drawn. Only Villarreal have a really tough draw. Napoli will be a stern test for the yellow submarine to overcome but it should make for a fascinating tie with both sides playing a lovely brand of football.

A big talking point was the draw of Fenerbahce v Lokomotiv Moskva. UEFA have again this season banned Russian and Ukrainian clubs from meeting in both competitions but in light of recent events the meeting of Turkish and Russian clubs in this tie has the potential to be a real cracker on and off the pitch. Football wise Lokomotiv topped their group while Fenerbahce finished behind Molde in theirs.

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