Barcelona, Napoli meet in crunch Europa League tie

SOCCER 10 POOL OF THE DAY

Thursday 17 February

S10 V2

Barcelona and Napoli would both prefer to be competing in the Champions League but clash against each other in the last 16 of the Europa League, having both been handed a tough draw. More details at www.soccer6.co.za

M1 APOEL Nicosia vs Anorthosis Famagusta: Anorthosis are unbeaten in their last seven matches against APOEL in both league and cup competition in Cyprus.

M2 Barcelona vs Napoli: Barcelona find themselves on unfamiliar ground as they make their UEFA Europa League debut against Napoli, who are appearing in the knockout phase of the competition for a record-equalling ninth time.

M3 Borussia Dortmund vs Rangers: Rangers hold the upper hand in previous meetings between the clubs, winning three of the eight matches to Dortmund’s one, though the Bundesliga side’s sole victory came in the most recent encounter,

M4 Fenerbahce vs Slavia Prague: Fenerbahçe finished third in Europa League Group D while Slavia, who have played in all three European club competitions this season, came through their Europa Conference League section in second place

M5 FC Midtjylland vs PAOK Salonika: Midtjylland and PAOK meet for the first time in European competition as they go head to head in the Europa Conference League knockout round play-offs.

M6 PSV Eindhoven vs Maccabi Tel Aviv: PSV are undefeated in four matches against Israeli opposition. Maccabi have a positive record against Dutch clubs of three wins, one draw and two losses.

M7 Rapid Vienna vs Vitesse: Rapid claimed third place in Europa League Group H with a 1-0 win at Genk. Vitesse were runners-up to Rennes in UEFA Europa Conference League Group G on 10 points.

M8 Sheriff Tiraspol vs Sporting Braga: Sheriff beat Real Madrid in their Champions League group but finished third to drop down to the Europa League. Braga are playing in European club competition for a 17th time in 18 years.

M9 Zenit St Petersburg vs Real Betis: Russian champions Zenit make a seventh appearance in the UEFA Europa League knockout phase as they host Real Betis, one of two clubs from Seville and four from Spain taking part in the knockout round play-offs.

M10 Porto vs Lazio: This is only the second time the clubs have been drawn together in UEFA competition. The first was in the semi-final of the 2002/03 UEFA Cup, when José Mourinho’s Porto overcame Roberto Mancini’s Lazio.

Suggested permutation:

R16.00 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 2,3 x 2,3 x 1,2 x 1