Arsenal to face Ostersund in round of 32
Arsenal will face Ostersund and their English manager Graham Potter in the last 32 of the Europa League. Monday’s draw paired Arsène Wenger’s men with the Swedish side, who the former Southampton and York defender Potter has taken from the fourth division to the top-ranked Allsvenskan in six years.
The 42-year-old has earned comparisons with Roy Hodgson – who himself managed in Scandinavia in his formative years – and this will be his first clash against English opposition. The draw also saw Brendan Rodgers’s Celtic come out against Russian outfit Zenit St Petersburg.
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Here endeth your live coverage of the Europa League draw. The Round of 16 draw will be held on 23 February 2018. See you then!
Incredibly, I have found a weather forecast for Ostersund on 15 February. Feel free to totally ignore it. It looks like it’s going to be cloudy with flurries of snow, and somewhere between -5C and -10C. On 15 February this year it got down to -7C.
When Arsene Wenger took over as manager of Arsenal, Ostersund didn’t even exist.
In short, partners of Liverpool fans should not expect a particularly romantic Valentine’s Day next year.
Back to the Champions League for a moment, as Uefa have announced the dates for those Round of 16 matches:
Juventus v Tottenham Hotspur: 13 February & 7 March
Basel v Manchester City: 13 February & 7 March
Porto v Liverpool: 14 February & 6 March
Real Madrid v Paris: 14 February & 6 March
Chelsea v Barcelona: 20 February & 14 March
Bayern Munich v Besiktas: 20 February & 14 March*
Sevilla v Manchester United: 21 February & 13 March
Shakhtar Donetsk v Roma: 21 February & 13 March
Meatballs?
4 - Arsenal have never lost a European match against Swedish opposition (W3 D1 L0). Meatballs.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 11, 2017
Here’s Nick Ames on Graham Potter, who will now be plotting Arsenal’s downfall:
That leaves Marseille playing Braga, and the final draw looks like this:
Borussia Dortmund v Atalanta
Nice v Lokomotov Moscow
Copenhagen v Atlético Madrid
Spartak Moscow v Athletic Bilbao
AEK Athens v Dynamo Kyiv
Celtic v Zenit St Petersburg
Napoli v RB Leipzig
Red Star Belgrade v CSKA Moscow
Lyon v Villarreal
Real Sociedad v Salzburg
Partizan Belgrade v Viktoria Plzen
Steaua Bucharest v Lazio
Ludogorets v Milan
Astana v Sporting
Ostersunds v Arsenal
Marseille v Braga
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Good news for Clive - it’s Arsenal v Ostersunds!
@simon_burnton Hoping my second team, Ostersunds, get Arsenal! Graham Potter is doing an incredible job in northern Sweden.
— Clive 🇪🇺 (@Baking_Good) December 11, 2017
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Ostersunds are the penultimate unseeded side. It’s either Arsenal or Braga for them.
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It’s Astana v Sporting!
Astana represent Kazakhstan in the draw. Will it be England or Portugal for them?
It’s Ludogorets v Milan!
Ludogorets cannot play Braga, so it’s Milan, Arsenal or Sporting for them.
It’s Steaua Bucharest v Lazio!
Steaua Bucharest are up next. Just five names till in the pot, Lazio, Milan and Arsenal among them.
It’s Partizan Belgrade v Viktoria Plzen!
On with the show, and Partizan Belgrade will face one of Milan, Arsenal, Braga, Lazio, Viktoria Plzen and Sporting.
It’s Real Sociedad v Salzburg!
Now for Real Sociedad. Only seven names still in the seeded pot: Milan, Arsenal, Braga, Lazio, Viktoria Plzen, Salzburg and Sporting.
It’s Lyon v Villarreal!
Lyon are up next, and one of Milan, Arsenal, Braga, Lazio, Viktoria Plzen, Salzburg, Sporting and Villarreal await.
And it’s Crvena Zvezda v CSKA Moscow!
Crvena Zvezda, the next side up, will play one of Milan, Braga, CSKA Moscow, Lazio, Viktoria Plzen, Salzburg, Sporting and Villarreal.
It’s Napoli v RB Leipzig!
Now Napoli, probably the shortest straw in the unseeded hat, or whatever. Representatives of Milan, Arsenal, Braga, CSKA Moscow, Lazio, Leipzig, Viktoria Plzen, Salzburg, Sporting, Villarreal cross their fingers and say, “not me”.
It’s Celtic v Zenit!
Celtic are up next. The shrinking list of potential opponents is now comprised of Milan, Arsenal, Braga, CSKA Moscow, Lazio, Leipzig, Viktoria Plzen, Salzburg, Sporting, Villarreal and Zenit.
And it’s AEK Athens v Dynamo Kyiv.
Now AEK Athens, who could face any of Milan, Arsenal, Braga, CSKA Moscow, Dynamo Kyiv, Lazio, Leipzig, Viktoria Plzen, Salzburg, Sporting, Villarreal and Zenit.
And the next pairing sees Spartak Moscow put with Athletic Bilbao!
It’s Copenhagen v Atlético Madrid!
FC Copenhagen are the third unseeded side out of the pot. Any of Milan, Arsenal, Athletic Bilbao, Atlético Madrid, Braga, CSKA Moscow, Dynamo Kyiv, Lazio, Leipzig, Lokomotiv Moscow, Viktoria Plzen, Salzburg, Sporting, Villarreal and Zenit could be paired with them.
And it’s Nice v Lokomotiv Moscow.
Next up is Nice, who will face one of Milan, Arsenal, Athletic Bilbao, Atlético Madrid, Braga, CSKA Moscow, Dynamo Kyiv, Leipzig, Lokomotiv Moskva, Viktoria Plzen, Salzburg, Sporting, Villarreal and Zenit.
It’s Borussia Dortmund v Atalanta!
They can be drawn against Milan, Arsenal, Atalanta, Athletic Bilbao, Atlético Madrid, Braga, CSKA Moscow, Dynamo Kyiv, Lazio, Lokomotiv Moskva, Viktoria Plzen, Salzburg, Sporting, Villarreal or Zenit. It takes a while to get all the right balls together.
They’re ready to draw! And the first name out of the hat is Borussia Dortmund...
As with the Champions League draw, the unseeded teams will be picked first, and balls containing the names of all the teams they could be paired with will then be poured into a big pot, which is when Abidal will do his thing.
Michael Heselschwerdt, the Uefa Head of Club Competitions, explains the rules of the draw. His actual surname is indistinguishable from the sound you would make if you forgot his actual surname and just tried to fudge it, which is handy.
The final will be played in Lyon, you see, and Abidal played there for a bit.
The Europa League ambassador Eric Abidal is here to help with the draw.
“It would take a very brave person to predict with any certainty the two teams that will be taking part in the final,” he adds. This is true.
“It’s the most European competition,” he says. This reminds me of the time I bought a carton of orange juice from a popular supermarket chain that said it was “now even juicier!”. How is that even possible? What’s juicier than juice?
Uefa’s deputy general secretary, Giorgio Marchetti, is back on stage.
And look at these Champions League balls. It’s not right. Uefa’s balls are just rude.
Look, you can see the boring white balls in the bottom right corner here:
I hope they don’t think nobody has noticed this blatant snub.
The Champions League draw featured bespoke Champions League draw-balls. This one has blank white ping-pong-style balls.
I think Uefa’s balls are a little disrespectful.
It’s on! Pedro Pinto, Uefa’s managing director of communications, is back!
So Borussia Dortmund and Napoli are among the unseeded teams, as indeed are Lyon, Marseille and Celtic. There’s certainly potential for this competition to throw up some difficult draws, if not quite as sexy as some of the Champions League ties. But then, without meaning any disrespect for Viktoria Plzen, the big unseeded teams could also be handed relatively unshowy, potentially straightforward encounters.
Hello world!
You wait for ages* for a decent draw and then two come along at once. The dust only just having settled on the Champions League round-of-16 pot-picking, it’s time to turn our attention to the Europa League. Here, then, are the names in the hat:
The seeded teams: Milan, Arsenal, Atalanta, Athletic Bilbao, Atlético Madrid, Braga, CSKA Moscow, Dynamo Kyiv, Lazio, Leipzig, Lokomotiv Moskva, Plzen, Salzburg, Sporting, Villarreal and Zenit.
The unseeded teams: AEK Athens, Astana, Celtic, Crvena Zvezda, Dortmund, Steaua Bucharest, Copenhagen, Ludogorets, Lyon, Marseille, Napoli, Nice, Ostersunds, Partizan, Real Sociedad, Spartak Moskva.
Important information: No team can draw another who was also in their Europa League group, or a side from the same country. Also, teams from Russia and Ukraine will be kept apart for reasons of diplomacy.
Dates for the diary: Games will be played on 15 and 22 February, unless there’s a really good reason why they shouldn’t be. Seeded teams shall be at home in leg two.
* Well, almost a fortnight.
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Preamble
Simon will be here shortly. Meanwhile:
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