Europa League last-16 Draw: Man United drawn against AC Milan,Arsenal to play Olympiacos

Manchester United will battle Serie A giants AC Milan in the last-16 of the Europa League.

The Red Devils ensured their place in Friday’s draw with a straightforward victory over Real Sociedad in the round of 32.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were held to a goalless draw at Old Trafford on Thursday evening, with Mikel Oyarzabal badly missing a penalty for the LaLiga outfit and 17-year-old Shola Shoretire becoming the youngest player ever to feature for United in a European game after coming off the bench for the final 15 minutes.

However, the damage had already been done on neutral territory in Turin seven days before, with Bruno Fernandes netting twice and Marcus Rashford and Daniel James also getting on the scoresheet during a 4-0 rout at the home of Juventus that should have been even more comfortable.

United will be hoping to go one stage further than last term, when one of their three semi-final defeats came in the Europa League against eventual champions Sevilla after a profligate display in Germany.

Revenge is written all over Arsenal’s draw as they will face Olympiacos,the Greek side that eliminated the Gunners in the last-32 of the competition in 2019/20.

Mikel Arteta’s side secured their place in Friday’s draw after overcoming Benfica in a thrilling last-32 second-leg clash in Athens on Thursday night.

With the tie finely poised after a 1-1 first-leg draw in Rome, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring for Arsenal at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, only for Diogo Goncalves to net a stunning free-kick and a Dani Ceballos blunder to tee up a second Benfica goal for Rafa Silva after half-time.

However, Kieran Tierney soon hit back and it was left to captain Aubameyang to head home a dramatic winner three minutes from time to secure a memorable 3-2 result on the night and 4-3 triumph on aggregate.

The Gunners will be looking to win Europe’s secondary club competition this season as it now looks to offer their only potential route back into the Champions League next term.

A disappointing Premier League campaign has left Arsenal – who are also out of both domestic cup competitions – 11th in the table and 11 points adrift of the top four ahead of Sunday’s meeting with high-flying Leicester at the King Power Stadium.

The Full Draw:
Ajax Vs Young Boys
Dynamo Kyiv Vs Villareal
Roma Vs Shakhtar
Olympiacos Vs Arsenal
Dinamo Zagreb Vs Tottenham
Man United Vs AC Milan
Slavia Praha Vs Rangers
Granada Vs Molde

 

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