UEFA Europa League round of 32 draw
Monday, December 11, 2017
Article summary
Swedish minnows Östersund were handed a dream tie with Arsenal while history awaits Sporting CP and Astana after the round of 32 draw in Nyon.
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Round of 32 draw
Borussia Dortmund (GER) v Atalanta (ITA)
Nice (FRA) v Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS)
København (DEN) v Atlético Madrid (ESP)
Spartak Moskva (RUS) v Athletic Club (ESP)
AEK Athens (GRE) v Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
Celtic (SCO) v Zenit (RUS)
Napoli (ITA) v RB Leipzig (GER)
Crvena zvezda (SRB) v CSKA Moskva (RUS)*
Lyon (FRA) v Villarreal (ESP)
Real Sociedad (ESP) v Salzburg (AUT)
Partizan (SRB) v Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)
FCSB (ROU) v Lazio (ITA)
Ludogorets (BUL) v AC Milan (ITA)
Astana (KAZ) v Sporting CP (POR)
Östersund (SWE) v Arsenal (ENG)
Marseille (FRA) v Braga (POR)
All ties 15 & 22 February except *13 & 21 February
HAVE YOU PICKED YOUR TEAM OF THE YEAR?
Draw facts
- Of the 16 pairings, only two have happened before in UEFA club competition. Atlético beat København 2-0 in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage while Marseille and Braga managed a win apiece in the UEFA Europa League group phase two seasons ago.
- Sporting CP and Astana will complete some of the longest journeys in UEFA football history for their tie, the 6,173km trip between Portugal and Kazakhstan matching the distance covered by Benfica and Astana in the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Lyon are bidding to become only the second team to win at their own stadium since one-match finals in pre-selected venues were introduced in 1998. Feyenoord beat Dortmund in Rotterdam in 2002; Sporting CP lost to CSKA Moskva in Lisbon three years later.
- Lokomotiv defender Nemanja Pejčinović spent four seasons at Nice, making over 100 appearances, before moving to Moscow in 2014.
- Napoli and Leipzig, two of the eight sides that transferred from the UEFA Champions League after the group stage, were paired.
How the draw worked
Two seeding pots were formed: one consisting of group winners and the four best third-ranked teams in the UEFA Champions League group stage; the other containing group runners-up and the remaining third-placed UEFA Champions League sides.
No team could play a club from their UEFA Europa League group or a side from the same national association. Based on decisions taken by the UEFA Executive Committee, teams from Russia and Ukraine could not be drawn together either.
The road to Lyon
23/02/18: round of 16 draw
08/03/18: round of 16, first leg
15/03/18: round of 16, second leg
16/03/18: quarter-final draw
05/04/18: quarter-finals, first leg
12/04/18: quarter-finals, second leg
13/04/18: semi-final and final draw
26/04/18: semi-finals, first leg
03/05/18: semi-finals, second leg
16/05/18: final (Stade de Lyon, Lyon)