Sevilla, Betis and Real Sociedad will meet this Friday – 12:00 pm – their rival in the round of 16 of the Europa League in the draw that will take place in Nyon (Switzerland) and that will also bring Villarreal’s rival in the Conference League.
The great absentee in the hype will be Barcelona after losing last night against Manchester United. The team led by Xavi had gone 18 games without losing, and they did it again in Europe. Another continental setback. In the current season, adding the Champions League and the Europa League, the Catalan team has only been able to win two games, both against the Czech Plzen. Against Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Manchester United were unable to achieve victory – four losses and two draws on balance.
In this draw, the eight teams that qualified first in the group stage will return to the scene, among which are the Andalusian and the San Sebastian. The pairings will be decided between the aforementioned first eight and the eight winners of the ‘Play-Off’ knockout round. The first, who will be the seeded ones, will play the second leg at home.
In addition, in this phase of the tournament, UEFA establishes that clubs belonging to the same federation will not yet be able to face each other, so none of the three Spanish teams will have a direct match. The first legs are scheduled for March 9 and the second leg a week later, on March 16.
The first of the group phase, which are included in Pot 1, will be Arsenal, Real Betis, Fenerbahçe, Ferencváros, Feyenoord, Freiburg, Real Sociedad and Union Saint-Gilloise, while the winners of the ‘Play-Offs’ of The round, located in Pot 2, will be Union Berlin, Manchester United, Juventus, Bayern Leverkusen, Roma, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donestk and Sporting de Portugal.