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West Ham United Drawn With Sevilla In Europa League Last 16

West Ham United Drawn With Sevilla In Europa League Last 16

The likes of Barcelona, Rangers and West Ham United found out their last 16 fates on Friday, following the first knockout round's completion

West Ham United have been drawn with perennial Europa League winners Sevilla in the last 16 of this year's tournament.

Rangers vs Red Star Belgrade

Braga vs AS Monaco

Porto vs Lyon

Atalanta vs Bayer Leverkusen

Sevilla vs West Ham

Barcelona vs Galatasaray

RB Leipzig vs Spartak Moscow

Real Betis vs Eintracht Frankfurt

Rangers celebrate their goal on Thursday night. Image: PA Images
Rangers celebrate their goal on Thursday night. Image: PA Images

Sevilla have won the competition six times, all of which have come in the past 16 years, winning their first in 2006 and most recent in 2020.

The Spanish side, who are Real Madrid's closest challengers for this season's La Liga title, will be hoping this season more than any they reach the final.

That's because their Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium will play host to the final on May 18th.

The last 16 ties will take place on March 10th and 17th, though Porto and Real Betis will play their first legs on the 9th, due to clashes with the Braga and Sevilla games.

Sevilla love the Europa League. Image: PA Images
Sevilla love the Europa League. Image: PA Images

The competition took a slightly different format this year, with the eight teams who won the groups going straight through to the last 16.

Those who finished as runners up in the group stage were drawn with the eight teams who finished third in their Champions League groups.

That led to Barca being drawn with Napoli, in a match that was more reminiscent of a Champions League fixture, whilst Rangers had the difficulty of facing Borussia Dortmund.

Xavi's side, having drawn 1-1 in the first leg at the Nou Camp, in a game they should have won, might have been in more trouble if the away goals rule was still in use.

However, with the rule no longer existing, the Spanish giants certainly didn't feel under any pressure on Thursday night and defeated their Italian hosts 4-2, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's goal including a 23 pass move, pure tiki-taka genius.

Sevilla beat Zagreb to make it through. Image: PA Images
Sevilla beat Zagreb to make it through. Image: PA Images

Rangers certainly weren't favourites to make the last 16 as soon as they drew Borussia Dortmund, with the Bundesliga giants expected to have too much for the Scottish champions.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side caused the shock of the round when they won 4-2 in the first leg in Germany but knew it would be tough at home, especially with no away goals rule.

Dortmund led 2-1 at half time on Thursday, reducing the deficit to just one goal, but James Tavernier's second goal of the night made it 2-2, and was enough for the Scots to go through.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Europa League, Barcelona, Rangers, West Ham United