Manchester United will learn their next European opponents later on today at 12:00 UK time in the round of 16 draw of the Europa League in Nyon, Switzerland.
United were third in the Europa League table, providing a pleasant contrast to their Premier League form.
They did draw their first three matches but won five on the bounce under Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ruben Amorim to finish as the only team in the Champions League and Europa League unbeaten in the initial league stage.
The third place finish means they enter the draw seeded and will play the away leg first in the first week of March and will play at Old Trafford the following week on Thursday 13th March, for a place in the quarter finals.
Awaiting the Red Devils in the next round will be either AZ Alkmaar or Real Sociedad.
The Dutch team impressively dispatched Galatasaray 6-3 on aggregate and the Spanish side beat FC Midtjylland 7-3 on aggregate.
United have recent history with both sides as they played Alkmaar in the 2019-2020 edition of the same tournament, drawing 0-0 in the Netherlands before running out 4-0 winners at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils have also faced Real Sociedad recently in the Europa League.
They lost 0-1 at home to the Basques in September 2022 but got revenge by the same scoreline in November of the same year at the Anoeta stadium.
They also knocked La Liga team out of the 2021 Europa League 4-0 on aggregate on their way to the final.
Interestingly, United fans will be able to plot their way to the final in Bilbao in May.
“From the knockout phase play-offs onwards the tournament is a bracket with potential opponents in the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals also pre-defined by pairings which are determined by teams’ final league positions.”
“It is worth keeping in mind that teams from the same domestic league can face each other in the round of 16, which was not always the case in previous years.”
“They can also be drawn against teams they previously faced in the league phase”.
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
