Soccer

Europa League round of 32: Celtic draw Valencia

Arsenal to play BATE Borisov while Chelsea will take on Swedish club Malmo FF

Celtic will play against Valencia in the round of 32 of the Europa League. Photograph: Getty Images

Ed Aarons
Mon Dec 17 2018 - 15:42

Arsenal and Chelsea will fancy their chances of progressing in the Europa League after being drawn against Bate Borisov and Malmo respectively in the last-32 of the competition, while Celtic face a tricky tie with Valencia.

Unai Emery's side must make the trip to Belarus to face Bate – who finished as runners-up in Chelsea's group and boast former Arsenal midfielder Alex Hleb in their ranks – for the first leg on February 14th before the return at the Emirates Stadium a week later.

Maurizio Sarri's side face a shorter journey to Sweden for a tie against Malmo, who are managed by the former Manchester city striker Uwe Rösler and finished ahead of Besiktas in their group but should not represent too difficult a task for Chelsea, who won this competition in 2013.

Celtic's reward for reaching the last 32 ahead of the German side RB Leipzig will be another tough encounter with Valencia, who were one of the eight sides to drop into the Europa League after finishing third in their Champions League group behind Juventus and Manchester United. Marcelino García Toral's side are struggling in 14th place in La Liga but Celtic will be wary of underestimating their opponents having been knocked out of the completion at this stage last season by Zenit St Petersburg.

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Elsewhere, Lazio face Sevilla in what looks the outstanding tie of the round, with Galatasaray up against Benfica. Napoli, who finished behind Liverpool in their Champions League group, face FC Zürich.

Europa League Round of 32
Plzen v Dinamo Zagreb
Club Brugge v Red Bull Salzburg
Rapid Vienna v Inter Milan
Slavia Prague v Genk
Krasnodar v Bayer Leverkusen
Zurich v Napoli
Malmo v Chelsea
Shakhtar Donetsk v Eintracht Frankfurt
Celtic v Valencia
Rennes v Real Betis
Olympiacos v Dynamo Kiev
Lazio v Sevilla (second leg to be played on Wednesday February 20th at 5pm Irish time)
Fenerbahce v Zenit St Petersburg (first leg to be played on Tuesday February 12th at 5.55pm Irish time)
Sporting v Villarreal
Bate v Arsenal (second leg to be played on Wednesday February 20th at 5pm Irish time)
Galatasaray v Benfica

Matches to be played on Thursday February 14th and 21st
Seeded teams (on the right of each fixture) are at home in the second legs.

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