Sporting meets Midtjylland in the playoff access to the eighth finals of the Europa League. This is the second time the Danes have played with a Portuguese team this season, having been eliminated by Benfica in the Champions League 3 qualifying round, with the Reds winning both games 3-1 and 4-1.
Midtjylland finished second in Group F, behind Feyenoord, but ahead of Lazio and Sturm Graz. The current eighth place in the Danish league is now coached by Spaniard Albert Capellas. In the history of encounters with Sporting, they have had two defeats (3-2 and 3-0) in the 2001/02 UEFA Cup.
In the remaining games, the highlight for Barcelona-Manchester United is a sort of early Europa League final, one of which is on the way.
As for AS Roma, José Mourinho will face the Austrians of RB Salzburg.
Here are the playoffs:
Barcelona-Manchester United
Juventus-Nantes
Sporting-Midtjylland
Shakhtar Donetsk-Rennes
Ajax-Union Berlin
Bayer Leverkusen-Monaco
Sevilla-PSV Eindhoven
RB Salzburg-AS Roma
It is recalled that the Lions were in third place in their Champions League group, so now they will be forced to play with a runner-up in the Europa League group stage to earn the right to enter the round of 16 of the Europa League. This is a novelty for this season. The losers of this draw fall out of the European competitions.
The two hands of this playoff will take place on February 16 and 23, with the round of 16 scheduled for March 9 and 16.
sp. Braga with difficult opponent in Conference League
The final draw of the day related to the Conference League and dictated that Sporting de Braga will compete against Fiorentina. A draw that ultimately didn’t bode well for the Arsenalistas, as the Italians are one of the strongest teams in the league.
The team of Artur Jorge, third in Group D of the Europa League, will play the first game at home, in Estádio Municipal de Braga, on February 16, and the second in Florence, on February 23.
The ‘Arsenalists’ will participate for the first time in the Europa Conference League, a competition that is in its second edition, after its debut in 2020/21, with the triumph of Roma led by Portuguese coach José Mourinho
Here are the playoffs:
Qarabag-Ghent
Trabzonspor-Basel
Lazio-Cluj
Bodo Glimt-Lech Poznan
sp. Braga-Fiorentina
Sheriff-Partizan
Ludogorets-Anderlecht
AEK Larnaca-Dnipro
Source: DN
