After the final round of group stage fixtures last week, the Europa League’s knockout round play-off draw has been made at UEFA’s headquarters this afternoon. The eight ties see teams who finished third in each of the Champions League groups stage pools being paired with the runners-up of each Europa League group. The eight winners of the Europa League groups receive a bye into the next round where they will face the winners of these ties. An exciting draw’s headline tie will be the meeting between Manchester United and Barcelona while the French contingent face a trio of tough matchups. Nantes, however, will be ecstatic to be facing Italian giants Juventus in a European knockout game just 18 months after nearly being relegated from Ligue 1.
The Europa League knockout round play-off draw:
Juventus v Nantes
Roma v RB Salzburg
Leverkusen v Monaco
Sevilla v PSV
Ajax v Union Berlin
Shakhtar Donetsk v Rennes
Sporting v Midtjylland
Barcelona v Manchester United
GFFN | Adam White
