The Europa League and Conference League last 16 draws took place this afternoon at the UEFA Headquarters in Nyon, France where Premier League leaders Arsenal were drawn against Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon while Manchester United, who eliminated FC Barcelona last night were handed another Spanish side in Real Betis.
The first legs of this round will be played on March 9. Mikel Arteta and his boys will make the trip to Lisbon in Portugal while Manchester United will be at home at Old Trafford. The return legs will be played a week later on March 16 .
Arsenal reached the final of Europa League under Unai Emery in 2018/19 and reached the semi-finals in 2020/21 while Manchester United’s most recent silverware was this trophy in 2017 under Jose Mourinho.
Sporting Lisbon are currently fourth in the Primeira Liga and the fixture against Arsenal will reunite full back Hector Bellerin with his former club.
Manchester United’s opponents Real Betis are not doing bad in their domestic league as they are placed fifth currently, but Erik Ten Hag’s charges will take pride in the fact that they have only lost once in all competitions since November 2022, and use it to their advantage in this tie.
In the Europa Conference League, the only participating Premier League club is West Ham. David Moyes’ men have struggled this season and are currently battling relegation in the 18th position. They will make the trip to Cyprus to play AEK Larnaca in the first leg on March 9. AEK are current league leaders in Cyprus.
Europa League last-16 full draw:
Union Berlin vs Union Saint-Gilloise
Sevilla vs Fenerbahce
Juventus vs Freiburg
Bayer Leverkusen vs Ferencvaros
Sporting Lisbon vs Arsenal
Manchester United vs Real Betis
Roma vs Real Sociedad
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Feyenoord
Europa Conference League last-16 draw in full:
AEK Larnaca vs West Ham
Fiorentina vs Sivasspor
Lazio vs AZ Alkmaar
Lech Poznan vs Djurgardens
FC Basel vs Slovan Bratislava
Sheriff Tiraspol vs Nice
Anderlecht vs Villarreal
Gent vs Istanbul Basaksehir.
