EUROPA League
Manchester United draw Real Betis in Europa League last-16
The draw was conducted for the last-16 of the Europa League on Friday morning and Man United will play Real Betis.
Manchester United will face Real Betis in the last-16 of the Europa League.
The draw was made at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon shortly after 11am on Friday morning and Manchester United will go head-to-head with the Spanish outfit for a place in the quarter-finals. United booked their place in the last-16 in dramatic fashion on Thursday night, beating Spanish giants Barcelona 2-1 at Old Trafford. .
Second-half goals from Fred and substitute Antony sealed a 4-3 aggregate triumph for Erik ten Hag’s side, keeping their European adventure alive. They are the only club in Europe’s top five leagues to still be competing in four different competitions this season.
Betis, meanwhile, booked their place in the last-16 by winning their Europa League group earlier in the campaign. They topped Group C by winning five of their six matches in a group that also contained Italian heavyweights AS Roma.
The Spanish club are currently fifth in the La Liga table, just four points shy of the Champions League places. Betis, who faced United in a friendly during the World Cup pause in December, were knocked out of the Europa League at the last-16 stage last season by eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt.
The ties will be played on Thursday, March 9 and Thursday, March 16, with the first leg being staged at Old Trafford. United’s Premier League clash with Southampton, currently scheduled for Saturday, March 11, is now set to be moved, with Sunday, March 12 the most likely new date.
The following weekend, United are scheduled to face Brighton at the Amex Stadium, penciled in for a 2pm kick-off on Sunday, March 19. That fixture, however, will be postponed if either or both sides progress to the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Four-times Europa League winner Unai Emery booked an astonishing sixth final in the competition as a manager on Thursday when his Aston Villa team swept aside Nottingham Forest in the second leg of their all-English semi-final.
The 54-year-old Spaniard has won three times with Sevilla (2014, 2015, 2016) and once with Villarreal (2021) – either side of a defeat with Arsenal (2019) – deservedly earning him the epithet “Mr Europa League” from some fans and media.
Now he goes to the 2026 final seeking a fifth title, this time with Aston Villa against Bundesliga side Freiburg.
“His track record speaks for itself,” said Villa striker Ollie Watkins, heaping praise on his boss as the man to guarantee Europa League success. “We need to go and win it now.”
Emery was delighted with how his team overturned a 1-0 deficit to Forest in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final to score four times at home and win 4-1 on aggregate.
“Now we have to look to the final,” he said, hoping that Villa will do “something fantastic” for their fans.
Though thrilled at Thursday’s win, Emery left the pitch quickly after the final whistle, pumping his fist a few times at the crowd before letting his players enjoy the moment with fans
He and his Villa side will be favourites at the Europa League final in Istanbul on May 20, but Emery was taking nothing for granted. “Of course German teams are so difficult, their coaches, their players are so good,” he added of the upcoming opponents.
-Reuters
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List of teams which have qualified for the next round of the Europa League after the league phase concluded on Thursday, ranked by table position:
Directly to the round of 16:
1. Olympique Lyonnais (France)
2. Aston Villa (England)
3. Midtjylland (Denmark)
4. Real Betis (Spain)
5. Porto (Portugal)
6. Braga (Portugal)
7. Freiburg (Germany)
8. AS Roma (Italy)
Knockout phase play-off places (seeded)
9. Genk (Belgium)
10. Bologna (Italy)
11. VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
12. Ferencvaros (Hungary)
13. Nottingham Forest (England)
14. Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)
15. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)
16. Celta Vigo (Spain)
Knockout phase play-off places (unseeded)
17. PAOK (Greece)
18. Lille (France)
19. Fenerbahce (Turkey)
20. Panathinaikos (Greece)
21. Celtic (Scotland)
22. Ludogorets (Bulgaria)
23. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
24. SK Brann (Norway)
-Reuters
UEFA Europa League – Aston Villa v RB Salzburg – Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain – January 29, 2026 Aston
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Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv will not accept any away fan tickets for their Europa League match at Aston Villa next month, even if local authorities reverse the decision to ban their supporters, they said on Monday.
The ban followed safety concerns raised by British Police, who cited potential protests outside Villa Park, following demonstrations at Israel’s recent World Cup qualifiers in Oslo and Udine.
“From hard lessons learned we have taken the decision to decline any allocation offered on behalf of away fans and our decision should be understood in that context,” Maccabi said in a statement.
“We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future.”
Aston Villa announced the decision last week, saying they were following instructions from the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), who are responsible for issuing safety certificates for games at Villa Park.
West Midlands Police described the match as high risk, past incidents, including violent confrontations and hate crime offences involving Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters ahead of a November 2024 game in Amsterdam.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the announcement as “shameful”.
Villa are third in the Europa League standings while Maccabi Tel Aviv are 30th after two rounds.
-Reuters
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