UEFA Europa League Draw: AC Milan Host Arsenal In Last-16
AC Milan will be a stiff challenge for a less-than-impressive Arsenal.
- Posted by SylvesterT
- Updated: February 23, 2018 06:44 pm IST
Highlights
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The matches will be played on March 8 and March 15
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The quarter-final draw will take place on March 16
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The final will be played in Lyon on May 16
Premier League side Arsenal are drawn against Italian giants AC Milan in a mouth-watering last-16 clash of the UEFA Europa League. The Gunners will travel to Italy for the first leg on March 8, with the return match a week later. Milan, placed 7th in Serie A, beat Bulgarian club Ludogorets Razgrad 4-0 on aggregate in the previous round. Arsene Wenger's Arsenal beat Swedish minnows Ostersunds FK 4-2 on aggregate in the last 32, despite a "complacent" performance in Thursday's second leg.
The official result of the Round of 16 #UELdraw!
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) February 23, 2018
Most exciting tie?pic.twitter.com/t8txcYPtwg
Russian club Zenit St Petersburg, who knocked out last year's Scottish champions Celtic, play RB Leipzig of Germany. In each of their previous seven seasons in Europe, Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage.
Despite their European pedigree, Milan have never won the Europa League - nor its predecessor, the Uefa Cup. Managed by their former midfielder Gennaro Gattuso, they are 25 points behind Serie A leaders Napoli, despite having spent around 200 million British pounds on new signings in the summer transfer window.
In other matches, Atletico Madrid take on Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow while Marseille play Athletic Bilbao.
Complete draw
Lazio (Ita) v Dynamo Kiev (Ukr)
RB Leipzig (Ger) v Zenit Saint-Petersburg (Rus)
Atletico Madrid (Esp) v Lokomotiv Moscow (Rus)
CSKA Moscow (Rus) v Lyon (Fra)
Marseille (Fra) v Athletic Bilbao (Esp)
Sporting Lisbon (Por) v Plzen (Cze)
Borussia Dortmund (Ger) v Salzburg (Aut)
AC Milan (Ita) v Arsenal (Eng)
The matches will be played on March 8 and March 15. The quarter-final draw will take place on March 16 with the two legs planned for April 5 and April 12. The semi-final draw will take place on April with the semis leg planned for April 26 and May 3. The final will be played in Lyon on May 16.