Topics: Europa League, Manchester United, Arsenal, Premier League, Juventus, Erik Ten Hag, Mikel Arteta
Arsenal have been dealt a nightmare draw in a Europa League round-of-16 simulator, while Premier League rivals Manchester United were handed a favourable tie.
United beat Barcelona at Old Trafford 2-1 on Thursday, courtesy of second-half goals from Brazilian duo Fred and Antony, to qualify for the Europa League last-16.
It was the first time the Catalan giants had been eliminated from European competition without reaching the last 16 since 1998-1999.
Meanwhile, Arsenal confirmed their place in the competitions last-16 in November, having finished top of Group A.
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Both sides will discover who they face in the Europa League last-16 at 11am GMT, with the draw taking place at UEFA’s headquarters, the House of European Football, in Nyon, Switzerland.
With all that in mind, we decided to run the draw through a simulator - and it cooked up some mouthwatering ties.
Despite being seeded, Mikel Arteta’s side could be drawn against some of Europe’s biggest clubs in the Europa League last-16.
The Gunners will face one of Sevilla, Juventus, Sporting Lisbon, Bayer Leverkusen, Union Berlin, Roma and Shakhtar Donetsk in the competition’s next round.
Notably, Arteta’s side can not be drawn against a club from the same association at this point, meaning Arsenal will not face United in the last-16.
And our simulator has seen the Premier League leaders drawn against Serie A giants Juventus.
While the Italian club have endured a topsy-turvy season on and off the pitch, they eased through their Europa League play-off tie, dispatching Nantes 4-1 on aggregate.
Furthermore, the Old Lady still claim some of the most potent attackers in world football, including Angel Di Maria, Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa.
After overcoming Barcelona, United could face one of seven seeded teams, who each won their Europa League groups.
Compared to Arsenal, United are likely to have a more favourable tie. Ten Hag’s men can be drawn against one of Real Betis, Fenerbahce, Ferencvaros, Feyenoord, Freiburg, Real Sociedad and Union Saint-Gilloise.
Our simulator has the Premier League giants taking on Freiburg.
The Bundesliga side have impressed under Christian Streich this term and currently sit in fourth, just three points adrift of the summit.
However, the Breisgau-Brasilianer are prone to catastrophic defeats if their system doesn't have the intended effect on opponents.
Indeed, in recent weeks they lost 6-0 to Wolfsburg and 5-1 to Borussia Dortmund, and Ten Hag’s side certainly have the attacking talent to inflict them with another drubbing.
Elsewhere, our simulator had Beyer Leverkusen taking on Real Sociedad, Sevilla against Ferencvaros, Roma versus Fenerbahce, Real Betis against Sporting, Feyenoord versus Shaktar, and Union Berlin drawn with Union Saint-Gilloise.
Follow all the reaction from today's draw at SPORTbible's live blog, as Arsenal and United discover their last-16 opponents
