Olympiacos ready to discover Europa League opponents
Olympiacos will discover their opponents in the Round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League on Monday, with the Greek club unseeded for the draw process.
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Last week, the Erythrolefki just about managed to squeeze into the knockout phase of the Europa League, defeating Red Star Belgrade 1-0 at the Karaiskakis Stadium thanks to a late penalty from Youssef El Arabi. Earning four points from six games, Olympiacos finished in third place of Group B in the UEFA Champions League, while Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur progressed to the Last 16 of Europe’s elite competition.
However, while Olympiacos were delighted to secure Europa League qualification, their small points haul in the Champions League means that the Piraeus club won’t be seeded for the draw on Monday. Only Club Brugge finished with fewer points than Olympiacos among third-placed sides in the Champions League group stage.
32 teams will evenly be separated into 16 seeded and 16 unseeded clubs for the draw on Monday afternoon. The 16 seeded clubs will include the 12 Europa League group winners and the four best third-placed Champions League clubs (based on points earned in the group stages). The unseeded sides will include the 12 Europa League group stage runner-ups and the remaining four ex-Champions League teams.
Here is how the draw for the Round of 32 in the Europa League will be held:
The seeded teams play at home in the second legs;
No team can play a club from their UEFA Europa League group or a side from the same national association;
Due to the city clash between Porto and Braga, one of the two return-leg matches will be played on a Wednesday. Porto have priority, having finished in a higher position in their domestic championship, so Braga will play their return leg at home on Wednesday 26 February 2020, at 18:00 CET, irrespective of their opponents;
The first legs are scheduled for Thursday 20 February, with the second legs on 27 February. Kick-off times are split between 18:55 CET and 21:00 CET, as they were in the group stage. The Round of 16 draw is on 28 February.
Full seeding lists for the Europa League Round of 32 draw:
SEEDED
Ajax (NED)*
Arsenal (ENG)
Basel (SUI)
Benfica (POR)*
Braga (POR)
Celtic (SCO)
Espanyol (ESP)
Gent (BEL)
Internazionale Milano (ITA)*
Başakşehir (TUR)
LASK (AUT)
Malmö (SWE)
Manchester United (ENG)
Porto (POR)
Salzburg (AUT)*
Sevilla (ESP)
UNSEEDED
APOEL (CYP)
AZ Alkmaar (NED)
Bayer Leverkusen (GER)*
CFR Cluj (ROU)
Club Brugge (BEL)*
Copenhagen (DEN)
Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)
Getafe (ESP)
Ludogorets (BUL)
Olympiacos (GRE)*
Rangers (SCO)
Roma (ITA)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)*
Sporting CP (POR)
Wolfsburg (GER)
Wolves (ENG)
*transferring from UEFA Champions League
At first glance, Olympiacos will certainly be eager to avoid the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United, although the fact that English clubs generally don’t take the competition seriously could give the Greeks an advantage. In their group, Arsenal defeated Eintracht Frankfurt, Standard Liege and Vitoria Guimaraes in rather unconvincing fashion, while Manchester United were far too strong for AZ Alkmaar, Partizan and FC Astana.
Ajax and Internazionale, both dropping down from the Champions League, are more formidable opponents which Olympiacos would love to avoid.
LASK Linz, Malmo, Basaksehir and Gent are considered more favourable opponents for Olympiacos. Nevertheless, Malmo are a tough nut to crack for the vast majority of European clubs, and Basaksehir gave Olympiacos a good test in the Champions League qualifiers during the summer.
The draw for the Europa League Round of 32 will take place on Monday, December 16th at 14:00 (GR).
