Arsenal draw AC Milan in Europa League last 16
History repeated
Arsenal and AC Milan have enjoyed a couple of thrilling knockout ties in the last decade.
First there was 2008 when Arsenal knocked out the Champions League holders with a 2-0 last-16 win at San Siro before Milan exacted revenge with a 4-3 aggregate win at the same stage four years later. In that 2012 meeting, Milan won the first leg 4-0 before Arsenal so nearly pulled off a miracle comeback by winning the second leg 3-0.
The first leg of this Europa League tie will be played on Thursday March 8 at San Siro, with the return a week later on March 15 at the Emirates.
The draw in full
So it's AC Milan vs Arsenal!
The first leg will be played at San Siro on Thursday March 8.
That's a great draw. Eric Abidal picks out Milan vs Arsenal as the pick of the draw.
Dortmund will play...
not Arsenal.
Dortmund vs RB Salzburg
Arsenal and Dortmund still in the hat
Sporting Lisbon vs Viktoria Plzen
Just three pairings left now
Marseille vs Athletic Bilbao
And the other Moscow club is out
CSKA Moscow vs Lyon
Atletico are out...
...and they will face: Lokomotiv Moscow.
Atletico vs Lokomotiv Moscow
Next
RB Leipzig vs Zenit
First up
Lazio vs Dynamo Kiev
Pleasantries over
We're about to get under way. The only rules are that the team drawn first will play the first leg at home, and teams from Russia and Ukraine can't play each other. Uefa must be praying Zenit and one of the Moscow clubs don't reach the final.
The draw will be made by...
...Eric Abidal, who spent three years at Lyon where the Europa League final will be held this season.
A sombre start
The draw starts with our host (who I believe is the former CNN journalist and now Uefa's head of press Pedro Pinto) saying that Uefa "strongly condemns the deplorable acts of violence" that took place in Bilbao last night.
Nearly there
The draw should be getting under way in about five minutes. Though we would be wise to expect a fair amount of fluff from the Uefa dignitaries before the draw actually starts.
A reunion of sorts?
After last night's dismal defeat to Ostersunds, Arsene Wenger could be forgiven for privately hoping to avoid one of the big boys.
One possible opponent is Zenit, who eliminated Celtic last night. Their striker Aleksandr Kokorin said afterwards: "I guess it’s better to play the strongest sides right away to test ourselves. “Give me Arsenal!"
Drawing Zenit would also see former Branislav Ivanovic return to the Emirates for the first time since his Chelsea career was effectively ended there after a terrible performance in a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal 17 months ago.
Preamble
Morning all,
Welcome to our coverage of this afternoon's draw for the last 16 of the Europa League, which takes place at 12pm GMT in Nyon, Switzerland.
Arsenal just about kept the British flag flying with their 4-2 aggregate win over Ostersunds, but Celtic bowed out after a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Zenit St Petersburg.
In what is a completely open, unseeded draw, the worst possible opponents for Arsenal in the last 16 would be Atletico Madrid, while the best would probably be Viktoria Plzen.
That said, whoever Arsenal face will be a big jump in quality from the pretty average opponents they've faced in the competition so far.
Preview
What is it?
It is the draw for the last-16 of the Europa League, typically when the quality of the competition begins to improve.
When is it?
The draw is on Friday 23 February and begins at 12pm UK time.
Where is it?
As always, the draw takes place at Uefa headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
What TV channel is it on?
Uefa will live stream the draw across their social media channels and website, while you can also watch live coverage on TV with BT Sport 2 from noon. Alternatively, you can bookmark this page and return on Friday to see what ties the draw throws up with our liveblog.
Who can Arsenal draw?
Arsenal just about finished the job against Ostersunds at the Emirates on Thursday, so they will be in the hat for what is an entirely open draw in Nyon.
There is no seeding system at this stage of the tournament nor country protection, although there are no other Premier League teams for Arsenal to draw anway. So Arsenal could be paired with:
CSKA Moscow
RB Leipzig
Zenit St Petersburg
Locomotiv Moscow
Atletico Madrid
Lazio
Sporting Lisbon
Viktoria Plzen
Dynamo Kiev
Lyon
AC Milan
Borussia Dortmund
Athletic Bilbao
Marseille
RB Salzburg
When will the last-16 ties be played?
The first leg of the next round of the Europa League will be played on Thursday 8 March and Thursday 15 March.
Kick-off times will be 6pm and 8.05pm UK time, and the team drawn out of the bag first will play at home before playing the second leg away.
What are the latest odds?
Atletico Madrid 3/1
Arsenal 4/1
Borussia Dortmund 10/1
RB Leipzig 11/1
AC Milan 14/1
Lyon 16/1
Sporting Lisbon 22/1
Lazio 25/1
What are they saying?
Arsene Wenger on defeat to Ostersunds:
"We were in trouble because we were complacent and not focused," Wenger said. "We were open every time we lost the ball and had no ideas with the ball. That's why we were in trouble.
"In the second half, it was much better.
"We did the job to qualify. That's what you have to keep from the night and that's it."
He added: "The fact that we won the first leg 3-0, the fact that we have another big game on Sunday, the fact that people subconsciously think they just have to turn up to win the game.
"Football doesn't work like that. We played against a good side and ... you can be in trouble every time you're not 100 per cent focused."
