The draw for the first knockout stage of the Europa League has taken place with Athletic Bilbao, Villarreal and Celta Vigo all involved.
Ernesto Valverde’s Athletic Bilbao will face Cypriot side APOEL who topped their group ahead of Olympiakos and Young Boys Bern.
Celta Vigo were handed a tough assignment against Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donestk who were impressive in the group stages by winning all six of their games against Gent, Braga and Konyaspor, and have not lost in any competition since August.
Villarreal also did not get a favourable draw as they were tied with Serie A’s AS Roma who breezed into the next round of the competition as group winners.
The tournament has won by Sevilla in each of the last three seasons but they will not retain their trophy this year as they qualified for the last sixteen of the Champions League.
The first legs will be played on Thursday, 16 February, with the return legs on Thursday, 23 February.
Full draw:
Athletic Bilbao v Apoel FC
Legia Warsaw v Ajax
Anderlecht v Zenit St Petersburg
Astra Giurgiu v Genk
Manchester United v St Etienne
Villarreal v Roma
Ludogorets v FC Copenhagen
Celta Vigo v Shakhtar Donetsk
Olympiakos v Osmanlispor
Gent v Tottenham
FC Rostov v Sparta Prague
Krasnodar v Fenerbahce
Borussia Monchengladbach v Fiorentina
AZ Alkmaar v Lyon
Hapoel Beer Sheva v Besiktas
PAOK v Schalke
