How’s ZLAT for a blockbuster draw?! Manchester United are paired with AC Milan in the tie of the Europa League last-16, while Arsenal face an Olympiacos reunion and Tottenham take on Dinamo Zagreb
- The draw for the last-16 of the UEFA Europa League was made on Friday
- Manchester United were handed a tricky last-16 tie against Serie A’s AC Milan
- Tottenham take on Dinamo Zagreb while Arsenal will face Olympiacos next
- Rangers travel to Slavia Prague before a return to Ibrox in a favourable draw
Manchester United set up a thrilling reunion with Zlatan Ibrahimovic as AC Milan were paired with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side in the last-16 of the Europa League.
United made light work of Real Sociedad in the round of 32, progressing 4-0 on aggregate after a thrilling first leg in Spain, but face a tougher assignment in the next round.
AC Milan found life tougher against Red Star Belgrade, eventually progressing on away goals, but Ibrahimovic is still in fine form at the age of 39 and will hold no fear returning to Old Trafford.
Manchester United were handed a blockbuster reunion with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the last 16
United will take on Ibrahimovic’s AC Milan in the last-16 round of the UEFA Europa League
Ibrahimovic (left) spent two seasons at Old Trafford where he scored a total of 29 goals
Ajax v Young Boys
Dynamo Kiev v Villarreal
Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk
Olympiacos v Arsenal
Dinamo Zagreb v Tottenham
Manchester United v AC Milan
Slavia Prague v Rangers
Granada v Molde
Ibrahimovic thrived in his two years at Old Trafford as he went on to score 29 goals in 53 games following a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain.
The Swedish star helped guide United to glory in the EFL Cup and the Europa League.
Being paired with Milan means Solskjaer’s side now face a brutal run of fixtures that sees them face Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Manchester City in the Premier League, the home leg of the last-16 tie before a match-up against top-four chasing West Ham ahead of the second leg of the Europa League last-16 in Milan.
History does not favour United in the match-up given they have been eliminated from four of their five UEFA European knockout ties against AC Milan.
Arsenal, who were three minutes away from elimination at the hands of Benfica on Thursday night, were handed a quick return to Greece where they will face Olympiacos.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck late in the 87th minute to salvage the Gunners’ season and they will be looking for similar success on their return to Greece for the next round.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang salvaged Arsenal’s season with a late winner against Benfica
Tottenham’s reward for beating Wolfsberger is a last-16 match-up against Dinamo Zagreb
EUROPA LEAGUE ODDS
Manchester United 7/2
Tottenham 9/2
Arsenal 6/1
Ajax 9/1
Villarreal 10/1
Roma 13/1
AC Milan 14/1
Rangers 19/1
Shakhtar Donetsk 22/1
Granada 28/1
Dynamo Kiev 35/1
Olympiacos 41/1
Slavia Prague 43/1
Dinamo Zagreb 60/1
Young Boys 60/1
Molde 130/1
Odds courtesy of Betfair
Mikel Arteta’s side have only one avenue left for a trophy this season and they will go into the last-16 as favourites against the Greek side despite their inconsistent performances in the Europa League.
For Arsenal’s north London rivals Tottenham, they also start their last-16 tie on the road as Jose Mourinho’s side were paired with Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb.
Mourinho won this competition with Manchester United in 2017 and will believe Tottenham can go all the way this season as a way to secure qualification into next season’s Champions League.
Steven Gerrard’s Rangers, who are yet to be beaten in the Scottish Premiership this season, take on Slavia Prague.
The Czech side upset the odds in the previous round by knocking off Brendan Rodgers 2-0 in the reverse leg, having drawn a blank in the first leg in Prague.
Elsewhere, Granada CF, who saw off Napoli against the odds, taken on fellow last-16 debutant’s Molde.
Napoli boss Gennaro Gattuso accused Granada of lacking ‘respect’ for time-wasting tactics in Naples on Thursday.
But they now have a real chance of reaching the last eight as they face Molde, who are out at 130/1 to win the tournament in Gdansk, Poland.
Switzerland’s Young Boys face Ajax while Roma take on Shakhtar Donetsk. The final tie sees Dynamo Kiev paired with Unai Emery’s Villarreal.
The last-16 matches will take place on March 11 and March 18 with alternative venues, due to travel issues which blighted the round-of-32 still to be determined.
Rangers swept Royal Antwerp aside and they take on Slavia Prague in the next round
Roma, one of the tournament’s dark horses, will need to beat Shakhtar Donetsk to progress
Re-cap how the draw unfolded in Nyon with Sportsmail’s DANIEL RIPLEY…
Host commentator
Here is the draw once again – this time with a fancy graphic from UEFA. Thanks for following and cheerio.
Manchester United set up a thrilling reunion with Zlatan Ibrahimovic as AC Milan were paired with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side in the last-16 of the Europa League.
United made light work of Real Sociedad in the round of 32, progressing 4-0 on aggregate after a thrilling first leg in Spain, but face a tougher assignment in the next round.
AC Milan found life tougher against Red Star Belgrade, eventually progressing on away goals, but Ibrahimovic is still in fine form at the age of 39 and will hold no fear returning to Old Trafford.
Arsenal, who were three minutes away from elimination at the hands of Benfica, were handed a quick return to Greece where they will face Olympiacos.
Mikel Arteta’s side have only one avenue left for a trophy this season and they will go into the last-16 as favourites against the Greek side.
For Arsenal’s north London rivals Tottenham, they also start their last-16 tie on the road as Jose Mourinho’s side were paired with Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb.
Mourinho won this competition with Manchester United in 2017 and will believe Tottenham can go all the way this season as a way to secure qualification into next season’s Champions League.
Steven Gerrard’s Rangers, who are yet to be beaten in the Scottish Premiership this season, take on Slavia Prague.
The last-16 matches will take place on March 11 and March 18 with alternative venues, due to travel issues which blighted the round-of-32 still to be determined.
I refuse to accetp this as a Zlatan Ibrahimovic derby – not while he is still playing for one of the teams. I don’t make the rules.
Granada vs Molde is one for the hipsters but let’s get straight to the point here. Manchester United vs AC Milan… what a draw!
It should be a match taking place in the latter stages of the Champions League and now we have it in the last-16 of the Europa League. Told you this competition starts to get serious now…
Ajax vs Young Boys
Dynamo Kiev vs Villarreal
Roma vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Olympiacos vs Arsenal
Dinamo Zagreb vs Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester United vs AC Milan
Slavia Prague vs Rangers
Granada vs Molde
The Europa League last 16 will take place between March 11 and March 18, with the draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals the following day after the second leg.
Granada vs Molde
Slavia Prague vs Rangers
Manchester United vs AC Milan
Dinamo Zagreb vs Tottenham Hotspur
Olympiacos vs Arsenal
Roma vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Dynamo Kiev vs Villarreal
Ajax vs Young Boys
I have seen some complicated draws in my time, the Europa League curiously enough being guilty of many of them, but on this occasion at least it’s plain simple from now on.
There are no seeded teams, there are no country restrictions. It’s a free-for-all as any team could face any other. Spurs vs Arsenal, Manchester United vs Molde, AC Milan vs Ajax – all are possibilities.
The only minor element I would add is that the team drawn first for a fixture will play their away leg second.
UEFA’s head of competitions Michael Heselschwerdt has joined Pedro Pinto on stage. He is basically just repeating what Pinto said earlier about what happened last night.
He does though invite former Switzerland star Hakan Yakin on stage who will help conduct the draw. Top player in his day.
Every. Single. Time. We know what happened, Pedro! Let’s just get on with it. Thankfully these are only brief clips so we should be underway with the important bits shortly.
Note I said ‘show’, not ‘draw’. Pedro Pinto is on stage now giving a brief introduction…
In theory anyway. I know UEFA say it will start at midday but they do like to see how long they can drag a draw out before actually doing the important bit of actually picking balls out of a pot. We will probably have to watch 30 minutes of highlights from the round-of-32 first…
Here’s a tie to possibly keep an eye out for. Unai Emery was sacked as Arsenal just over a year ago but he has an interest in this draw as the manager of Villarreal where he is doing wel at rebuilding his reputation.
He has previous in this competition too – winning it three times in a row with Sevilla up until 2016 as well as reaching the final with the Gunners in 2019 before they got battered 4-1 by Chelsea.
The Europa League last 16 will take place between March 11 and March 18, with the draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals the following day after the second leg.
The quarter-finals will then be played between April 8 and April 15, while the semi-finals will be played on both April 29 and May 6.
The final, which will be in Gdansk, Poland this year, will take place on May 26.
Here’s a recap on this weeks events. Spurs progressed as easy winners with an 8-1 aggregate victory over Wolfsberger on Wednesday, but their north London rivals Arsenal had to wait until three minutes from time to save their skins after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s effort saw them see off a stubborn Benfica 4-3.
Manchester United’s 4-0 win at Real Sociedad last week meant a goalless draw at Old Trafford last night was more than enough, while Rangers went goal crazy with a 9-5 aggregate win over Royal Antwerp.
One British team did fall at this hurdle, Leicester City suffered a shock exit at the hands of Slavia Prague following a 2-0 defeat at the King Power Stadium.
Remember there are no easy games at this level… or was that international football?
Manchester United appear to have the bookies backing now, with Tottenham second favourites despite their recent struggles under Jose Mourinho.
Arsenal behind Villarreal though? I’m not sure about that…
Manchester United 11/4
Tottenham 11/2
Villarreal 13/1
Arsenal 13/2
Ajax 7/1
Roma 9/1
AC Milan 10/1
Granada 20/1
Rangers 22/1
Shakhtar Donetsk 22/1
Olympiacos 33/1
Slavia Prague 40/1
Young Boys 40/1
Dynamo Kiev 50/1
Dinamo Zagreb 100/1
Molde 250/1
Odds courtesy of betfair.
I have seen some complicated draws in my time, the Europa League curiously enough being guilty of many of them, but on this occasion at least it’s plain simple from now on.
There are no seeded teams, there are no country restrictions. It’s a free-for-all as any team could face any other. Spurs vs Arsenal, Manchester United vs Molde, AC Milan vs Ajax – all are possibilities.
The only minor element I would add is that the team drawn first for a fixture will play their away leg second.
And just in case you needed reminding, here are all the sides that will be taking part on the last 16? Who are your dream draws or ones to avoid?
AC Milan (ITA)
Ajax (HOL)
Arsenal (ENG)
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
Dynamo Kiev (UKR)
Granada (ESP)
Manchester United (ENG)
Molde (NOR)
Olympiacos (GRE)
Rangers (SCO)
Roma (ITA)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Slavia Prague (CZE)
Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
Villarreal (ESP)
Young Boys (SUI)
Often derided, but there is no denying that even the Europa League starts getting tasty as soon as it enters the last 16 and this season is no different.
There are many big names in the hat for the draw and with Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Manchester United and Rangers all making it through this week that gives us a strong chance of an ‘all-British’ tie in the next round.
So good morning all and welcome to our live coverage of the Europa League last-16 draw which will get underway from midday GMT.
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