>
Manchester United’s prize for beating Barcelona is another trip to Spain to face Real Betis in the Europa League round of 16… while Arsenal avoid Juventus but miss out on the Champions League Sporting Lisboa
- Erik ten Hag’s team will face more Spanish rivals at the hands of Real Betis
- It came after they beat Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate in a thrilling play-off tie.
- Arsenal faced Portuguese Sporting Lisbon in the round of 16.
Manchester United will face more Spanish opposition in the form of Real Betis in the Europa League round of 16, while Arsenal have been drawn with Sporting Lisbon.
Erik ten Hag’s side beat Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate in a thrilling play-off tie and now face another LaLiga side next month.
Arsenal, who topped their Europa League group to advance directly to this stage, will take on Portuguese opponents after sidelining Juventus.
The first legs will be played on Thursday, March 9 and the return matches a week later, on March 16.
United host Betis at Old Trafford first after being unseeded in the draw. Arsenal have home advantage in the second leg of their draw against Sporting.
Manchester United will play Real Betis and Arsenal will play Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 after Friday’s draw
Antony scored the winning goal for Man United as they beat Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate
Arsenal will juggle their Europa League campaign with a penchant for winning the Premier League title.
It was the first time United had faced Betis in European competition, although they lost 1-0 to the Sevillian team in a friendly in December.
Betis will present a tough test for Ten Hag’s team chasing the quadruple: they sit fifth in the LaLiga standings and are four points out of the top four and one place in the Champions League.
They are led by former Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini and went through the group stage unbeaten to finish six points clear of José Mourinho’s Roma.
Meanwhile, Premier League leaders Arsenal face a Sporting side that is somewhat off the pace in the Portuguese top flight.
They sit fourth, some 15 points behind leaders and city rivals Benfica, but made light work of Danes Midtjylland in the play-off round, winning 4-0 away from home in Thursday’s second leg for the night after drawing the first game 1-1. .
That came after they withdrew from the Champions League after finishing behind Tottenham and Marseille in a tight group.
Sporting defeated Spurs 2-0 at home on matchday two and held on to a 1-1 draw in London on matchday five.
While it is a winnable tie, Mikel Arteta must ultimately decide if the Europa League will be an obstacle to his Premier League title bid.
Top four LaLiga contenders Real Betis stalk Manchester United in the next round
The Spanish club is led by former Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini.
The two clubs have met before, in the Europa League group stage in 2018-19. The Gunners won 1-0 in Portugal thanks to a Danny Welbeck goal but were held scoreless at the Emirates Stadium.
Elsewhere in the round of 16 draw, Juventus were paired with German club Freiburg, while Italian teammates Roma face a tough draw against Real Sociedad.
Six-time Europa League champions Sevilla will face Fenerbahce, while Bayer Leverkusen will play Hungarian side Ferencvaros after their epic win over Monaco.
Shakhtar Donetsk, forced to play ‘home’ games in Poland due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, faced Feyenoord.
And it was a union of Unions as Union Berlin plays Union Saint-Gilloise.
Teams from the same association could not be put together at this stage, meaning there was no chance of United drawing Arsenal.