“Porto”, the Portuguese who survived the “1/8 finals” of the Champions League, as well as “Benfica”, “Sporting” and “Sporting Braga”, in the playoffs for reaching the 1/8 finals of the Europa League, will face their next European opponents this Monday.
In Nyon, Switzerland, from 12:00 local time (11:00 Lisbon time), the Dragons will be the first team to find out their luck and be able to catch one of the great “colossi”, namely Manchester City (England). Bayern Munich (Germany) and Real Madrid (Spain).
These are the opponents that should be avoided in the draw, more so than the English side Arsenal, the Spanish side Real Sociedad and Atlético Madrid and the German side Borussia Dortmund, and in none of these cases can we expect any relief. .
Sergio Conceiço’s eleven players, who finished second in Group H won by Barcelona (the only seed they cannot face), already know they will play the first leg at home on February 13, 14, 20 or 21, 2024.
The second leg of the round of 16, the stage where the Dragons will compete for the 14th time, repeating the 2003/04 season (the season in which this stage debuted), 2004/05, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008 seasons /09, 2009/10, 2012/13, 2014/15, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2020/21 and 2022/23 will take place on March 5, 6, 12 and 13.
In the Europa League, Benfica and Sporting Braga, dropped out of the Champions League as they are third in their groups, have seven possible knockout opponents for the eighth and a shared desire not to face them. at Roma, Jose Mourinho, Rui Patricio, Renato Sanchez and Joao Costa.
Other possible opponents of the Reds and the Arsenalists are three French clubs – Marseille, Rennes and Toulouse – the Germans from Freiburg, the Czechs from Sparta Prague and the “friendly”, albeit “distant” Azerbaijanis from “Karabakh”. .
For their part, Sporting, who were unable to directly reach the round of 16 because they were second in Group D of the Europa League behind Atalanta, will certainly not want to face the Italians from Milan and face Rafael Lean again.
On the “route” of the “Lions” there are also Turks from Galatasaray, the French from Lens, the Dutch from Feyenoord, the Swiss from Young Boys and the Ukrainians from Shakhtar Donetsk, whom Porto “flyed out” to the second tournament UEFA. .
The play-off draw for the round of 16 of the Europa League is scheduled for 13:00 local time (12:00 Lisbon time), with games scheduled for 15 and 22 February, with Sporting finishing at home to Benfica and “Braga” to begin.