Barcelona have drawn Napoli in the UEFA Europa League knockout stage play-offs. The Blaugrana dropped down from Champions League following their defeat against Bayern Munich on the final group stage matchday.
The draw for the UEFA Europa League knockout stage play-offs was made on Monday, December 13, with Barcelona versus Napoli the standout fixture. Teams that dropped down from the UEFA Champions League – as a result of finishing third in their respective groups – were drawn against eight runner-ups in the Europa League while the eight remaining group winners progressed directly to the Round-of-16 due to a change in the competition format ahead of the 2021/22 season.
Barcelona failed to progress past the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in 17 years, and as a result, were the big name heading into the Europa League draw. Their luck didn’t improve in there as they were drawn against Serie A high-flyers, Napoli.
The Partenopei finished second in their Europa League group courtesy of a narrow 3-2 win over Leicester City in their final group game.
The other standout tie to emerge from the draw was the clash between RB Leipzig and Real Sociedad. The German giants finished behind PSG and Manchester City in their Champions League group, dropping down a tier as a result. Meanwhile, La Real advanced to the play-off stage as a consequence of their 3-0 win over PSV Eindhoven on the final matchday.
Furthermore, Erling Haaland’s Borussia Dortmund, whose elimination from the Champions League was confirmed on matchday five, were drawn against the Scottish League champions Rangers. Meanwhile, six-time Europa League winners Sevilla were placed alongside Dinamo Zagreb in the play-off draw.
Serie A sides, Atalanta and Lazio, were drawn against Olympiacos and Porto for the play-offs. Real Betis were drawn against Zenit Saint Petersburg, while Sheriff Tiraspol – who beat Real Madrid in their debut Champions League campaign before dropping down – were placed against SC Braga of Portugal.
The eight two-legged ties will take place in late February, and the winner of each tie will join the eight group winners in the RO16 of the Europa League.
