Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
Sport
Paul Myers

Rennes old boy Cech returns with Arsenal in Europa League last 16

Petr Cech played at Rennes before moving to Chelsea. (AFP/Glyn Kirk)

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech will take a trip down memory lane after his side was drawn on Friday against Rennes in the last 16 of the Europa League.

Cech, 36, who will retire at the end of the season, spent two years in Brittainy before moving to Chelsea in 2004 for a trophy packed career which included penalty shoot-out heroics in the final of the 2012 Champions League and a Europa League triumph the following year.

He moved to Arsenal in 2015.

"When a goalkeeper makes the draw good things happen," tweeted Cech after the former Sevilla goalkeeper, Andres Palop, performed the draw at Uefa's headquarters in the Swiss city of Nyon.

Arsenal advanced to the last 16 following a 3-1 aggregate victory over BATE Borisov. Rennes progressed after winning 3-1 at Real Betis.

Arsenal will be without striker Alexandre Lacazette for the last 16 games. The 27-year-old Frenchman was handed a two match suspension on Friday for his red card during the first leg of the last 32 in Belarus.

Chelsea, the other English Premier League club in the competition, will take on Dynamo Kiev.

Elsewhere, Sevilla, who have won the trophy five times including twice in its former guise as the Uefa Cup, will face Slavia Prague.

Napoli will play last season's semi-finalists Salzburg and Eintracht Frankfurt were drawn against Inter Milan.

Benfica face Dinamo Zagreb and there are two ties pitting Russian clubs against Spanish outfits. Valencia play FC Krasnodar and Zenit Saint Petersburg battle with Villarreal.

The last 16 matches will take place on 7 and 14 March.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.