Izuchukwu Okosi
The Europa League round of 16 draw was made on Friday afternoon at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, France with matches between Barcelona and Galatasaray as well as West Ham against Sevilla on paper being the standout matches of the round.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelBarcelona on Thursday night eliminated Napoli from the competition winning 5-3 on aggregate
The first leg fixtures of the 2021/2022 season are scheduled for 10 March, though Porto and Betis will play their first legs at home on Wednesday 9 March to avoid a clash with Braga and Sevilla, respectively.
The second legs take place on 17 March.
The UEFA Europa League group winners were seeded and drawn against the winners of the knockout round play-offs, with the seeded teams playing the second leg at home. Clubs from the same association could not be drawn against each other.
The winners of the eight ties earn a place in the draw for the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals and semi-finals on 18 March. A draw will also be made to determine the home team for the final, for procedural reasons.
Scottish champions Rangers who eliminated one of the bookmakers’ choice for the title, Borussia Dortmund take on Red Star Belgrade and RB Leipzig will face overcome Spartak Moscow in order to reach the quarter-finals.
There are two meetings between French and Portuguese sides, as Braga face Monaco and Porto tackle Lyon, while Atalanta come up against Bayer Leverkusen and Real Betis square off against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Europa League last-16 draw in full
Rangers vs Red Star Belgrade
Braga vs Monaco
Porto vs Lyon
Atalanta vs Bayer Leverkusen
Sevilla vs West Ham
Barcelona vs Galatasaray
RB Leipzig vs Spartak Moscow
Real Betis vs Eintracht Frankfurt
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
