English Premier League leaders Arsenal will play Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League last 16, while Manchester United face Spain’s Real Betis after eliminating Catalan giants Barcelona.
Round of 16 🤩
Most exciting tie?#UELdraw pic.twitter.com/YJLGm1er6J
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) February 24, 2023
Arsenal avoided the knockout round play-offs by topping Group A with five wins from their six games.
Sporting, who are fourth in the Portuguese league, thrashed Danish club Midtjylland 5-1 in their play-off after they finished third in their Champions League group.
United came from behind to beat the La Liga leaders Barcelona 2-1 at Old Traford to seal a 4-3 aggregate win in the play-off tie.
Real Betis, coached by former Real Madrid, Manchester City and West Ham manager Manuel Pelegrini, are fifth in La Liga and ended the Europa League group stage with the best record in the competition, winning five and drawing one of their matches.
The Europa League last-16 ties will take place on 9 and 16 March.
Six-time Europa League winners Sevilla meet Turkish club Fenerbahce, while Jose Mourinho’s Roma will play Real Sociedad – who topped Manchester United’s group.
Italian giants Juventus will meet German Bundesliga outfit Freiburg while Shakhtar Donetsk were drawn against Feyenoord.
German surprise package Union Berlin come up against their Belgian namesakes Union SG and Bayer Leverkusen were paired with Hungary’s Ferencvaros.
The eight Europa League group winners were drawn against the eight clubs who came through the knockout round play-off matches, with clubs from the same association not allowed to be drawn against each other.