UEFA Europa League Round of 32 draw announced

The Europa League draw threw up some fascinating contests

Shortly after the announcement of the draw for the knock-out stages of the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA announced the fixtures for the Round-of-32 of the Europa League competition and there are a number of mouth-watering clashes to look forward to.

With the likes of Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, AS Roma, FC Schalke’04, Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Monchengladbach amongst the mix, the draw drew a lot of interest from millions of football fans worldwide and it surely did not disappoint.

The biggest talking points from the draw were Villarreal facing AS Roma, Fiorentina facing Borussia Monchengladbach while Manchester United drew Saint-Etienne in what is already being dubbed the battle of the Pogba brothers.

The mouth-watering clashes in the round-of-32 are scheduled to take place on 16^th and 23^rd February 2017 and are destined to take the footballing word by storm.  

Hosted at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, the 32 teams were divided into two groups of 16 teams each. While the group winners from their respective groups in the Europa League as well as the 4 best 3^rd placed teams entering from the UEFA Champions League were in the seeded pot, the runners-up from the Europa League group stages and the remaining 4 teams from the UEFA Champions League made up the unseeded pot.

The teams were drawn with two restrictions. First of all, no two teams from the same football association could be drawn against each other. Secondly, no two teams who had progressed from the same group in the Europa League could be pitted against each other.  

Seeded Teams that qualified as winners of their respective groups in the Europa League:

Ajax (NED), APOEL (CYP),  Fenerbahçe (TUR), Fiorentina (ITA), Genk (BEL), Osmanlspor (TUR), Roma (ITA), Schalke (GER), Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR), Sparta Praha (CZE), St-Étienne (FRA), Zenit (RUS)

Teams that qualified as best third-placed teams in the UEFA Champions League:

Besiktas (TUR), København (DEN), Lyon (FRA), Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)

Unseeded Teams that qualified as the runners-up of their respective groups in the Europa League:

Anderlecht (BEL), Astra Giurgiu (ROU), Athletic Club (ESP), AZ Alkmaar (NED), Celta Vigo (ESP), Gent (BEL), Hapoel Beer-Sheva (ISR), Krasnodar (RUS), Manchester United (ENG), Olympiacos (GRE), PAOK (GRE), Villarreal (ESP)

The remaining unseeded teams that transferred from the UEFA Champions League:

Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER), Legia Warszawa (POL), Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL), Rostov (RUS)

Here is the draw in full for you to analyse and plan accordingly:

APOEL FC vs Athletic Bilbao

Ajax vs Legia Warsaw

Zenit St. Petersburgh vs Anderlecht

Genk vs FC Astra

Saint-Etienne vs Manchester United

AS Roma vs Villarreal

FC Copenhagen vs Ludogorest Razgrad

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Celta Vigo

Osmanlispor vs Olympiacos

 

A detailed look at the draw

Tottenham Hotspur vs KAA Gent

Sparta Prague vs FC Rostov

Fenerbahce vs FC Krasnodar

AFC Fiorentina vs Borussia Monchengladbach

Olympique Lyon vs AZ Alkmaar

Besiktas vs Hapoel Beer-Sheva

Schalke vs PAOK