Roma were drawn to face Feyenoord once again
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Roma will meet Feyenoord in the pick of the Europa League knockout round play-offs for a place in the competition’s last 16.
Roma defeated Feyenoord in the final of the 2021-22 Europa Conference League to give Jose Mourinho another European trophy and the sides also met in last season’s Europa League at the quarter-final stage, with Roma again coming out on top, 4-2 on aggregate.
The Italian side reached the final of last season’s competition where they lost to Sevilla on penalties while Feyenoord lifted the Europa League trophy in its UEFA Cup guise back in 2002, defeating Borussia Dortmund in the final, and also won in 1974.
The pick of the other ties sees AC Milan take on Stade Rennes of France. Milan, who have won the Champions League on seven occasions, have never won the Europa League. They defeated Newcastle United in their final Champions League group game this season but finished third behind Borussia Dortmund and Paris St Germain.
The eight group runners-up from the Europa League face eight third-placed sides from the Champions League group stages, with the winners of the two-legged play-offs progressing to the last 16.
The eight group winners from the Europa League already qualified for the last 16 are West Ham United, Brighton & Hove Albion, Rangers, Atalanta, Liverpool, Villareal, Slavia Prague and Bayer Leverkusen. The first legs of the ties will take place on 15 February, with the return matches a week later on 22 February.
The Europa Conference League play-offs were also drawn – a competition in which Aston Villa are already straight through to the last 16 – with Ajax facing Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt, Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise doing battle with Eintracht Frankfurt and Real Betis’s clash with Dinamo Zagreb the highlights.
Europa League draw
Feyenoord (Netherlands) vs Roma (Italy)
AC Milan (Italy) vs Rennes (France)
Lens (France) vs Freiburg (Germany)
Young Boys (Switzerland) vs Sporting (Portugal)
Benfica (Portugal) vs Toulouse (France)
Braga (Portugal) vs Qarabag (Azerbaijan)
Galatasaray (Turkey) vs Sparta Prague (Czech Republic)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) vs Marseille (France)
Europa Conference League draw:
Sturm Graz (Austria) vs Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)
Servette (Switzerland) vs Ludogorets (Bulgaria)
Union Saint-Gilloise (Belgium) vs Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)
Real Betis (Spain) vs Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Olympiacos (Greece) vs Ferencvaros (Hungary)
Ajax (Netherlands) vs Bodo/Glimt (Norway)
Molde (Norway) vs Legia Warsaw (Poland)
Maccabi Haifa (Israel) vs Gent (Belgium)
Reuters
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