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.