Ah, the Europa League, a consolation bracket that inspires more apathy than it does excitement. We have something similar here in America- it’s called the NIT (Not Invited Tournament, or Not Important Tournament is the pejorative slang term we have for it). While the NIT is the Europa League, our NCAA Tournament, affectionately referred to as “March Madness,” is the UEFA Champions League counterpart.
With Manchester United having crashed out of Champions League, they are now relegated to the kiddie table bracket.
Today, the Red Devils got their Europa League assignment. Here’s the entire list below.
Round of 32. Ties to be played Feb. 18 and 25:
Valencia v Rapid Wien
Fiorentina v Tottenham
Borussia Dortmund v Porto
Fenerbahce v Lokomotiv Moscow
Anderlecht v Olympiakos
Midtjylland v Manchester United
Augsburg v Liverpool
Sparta Praha v Krasnodar
Galatasaray v Lazio
Sion v Braga
Shakhtar Donetsk v Schalke
Marseille v Athletic Bilbao
Sevilla v Molde
Sporting CP v Leverkusen
Villarreal v Napoli
St-Etienne v Basel
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
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