The UEFA Europa League is often criticised as being a tournament teams do not care about and would be happy to do without in their fixture list. While this may be true for the group stages of the competition, once the knockout stages commence and the final becomes within reach, the attitude changes and teams want to win the trophy. The fact a place in the Champions League next season is guaranteed, adds a great incentive to all those involved.
Manchester United are the biggest club in the competition and the bookmaker’s favourites to win, as they have been from the start. However, they struggled in a group which contained Fenerbahce and Feyenoord, needing a win in their final game to progress as runners-up to the Turkish club.
Having drawn Saint-Etienne, Jose Mourinho’s team are in for two tough games and will not have things all their own way. The first leg at Old Trafford will be crucial for both teams, if Manchester United can build a lead, they will have something to hold on to but if Saint-Etienne remain in the tie, they could easily cause a shock in the second leg. This one could be a lot closer than many people think.
Another interesting tie, which could easily grace the last 16 of the Champions League sees Villarreal and Roma go head-to-head. The Yellow Submarine reached the semi-final of the tournament last season and will be keen to go one better this time around but will be disappointed to have drawn a top Italian club like Roma in the Round of 32. Roma reached the last 16 of the 2015/16 Champions League and gave Real Madrid a good game, especially in the away leg. This is going to be a close tie, with very little to separate the teams. Don’t be surprised to see this one decided by away goals.
Borussia Monchengladbach dropped down from the Champions League having finished third in a tough group. Their reward is a tie with Fiorentina in the Europa League Round of 32, which could easily see them eliminated from the tournament. With the second leg to be played at the Artemio Franchi, where Fiorentina have been strong this season, Monchengladbach must take a lead to Italy to stand any chance of progressing.
Tottenham Hotspur are another team who have entered the Europa League from the Champions League. Unlike Monchengladbach, Spurs were expected to qualify from their group and will be very disappointed to be playing on Thursday nights. It remains to be seen what strength team Mauricio Pochettino selects but they need to be wary of Gent, who qualified for the Champions League Round of 16 last season. The Belgian club will be no pushover and if Spurs pick a weakened team, they could be punished.
Eastern European giants, Shakhtar Donetsk and Zenit St Petersburg are dangerous but with the former facing a tricky tie against Celta Vigo, it may be the Russian’s who go further in the tournament this season.
There are some great names in the 2016/17 Europa League, which should add to the quality of the tournament. The knockout phase produced some fantastic matches last season and we should be in for more of the same this time around.