AS Roma and Feyenoord will face off in the Europa League knockout round playoffs to determine who will advance to the last 16 of the competition.
Last season, Roma emerged victorious against Feyenoord in the final of the 2021-22 Europa Conference League, and also in the Europa League at the quarter-final stage with a 4-2 aggregate win. Managed by Jose Mourinho, Roma reached the final of last season’s competition but lost to Sevilla on penalties. On the other hand, Feyenoord claimed Europa League victory in 2002 and also in 1974 when they defeated Borussia Dortmund in the final.
AC Milan, who has won the Champions League seven times, is set to take on Stade Rennes of France. They have yet to secure a Europa League win. Although they did defeat Newcastle United in their final Champions League group game this season, they finished third behind Borussia Dortmund and Paris St Germain.
The playoff will feature eight group runners-up from the Europa League facing eight third-placed sides from the Champions League group stages. The winners of the two-legged playoffs will then go on to the last 16. The eight group winners from the Europa League that have already qualified for the last 16 are West Ham United, Brighton & Hove Albion, Rangers, Atalanta, Liverpool, Villareal, Slavia Prague, and Bayer Leverkusen.
The first legs of the ties will take place on Feb. 15, with the return matches occurring a week later on Feb. 22.
The complete draw includes matchups between Feyenoord v AS Roma, AC Milan v Stade Rennes, RC Lens v Freiburg, Young Boys v Sporting Lisbon, Benfica v Toulouse, Sporting Braga v Qarabag, Galatasaray v Sparta Prague, and Shakhtar Donetsk v Olympique de Marseille.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
