EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 32 DRAW

Porto v Manchester City

Ajax v Manchester United

Lokomotiv Moscow v Athletic Bilbao

Salzburg v Metalist Kharkiv

Stoke City v Valencia

Rubin Kazan v Olympiacos

AZ Alkmaar v Anderlecht

Lazio v Atletico Madrid

Steaua Bucharest v Twente

Viktoria Plzen v Schalke

Wisla Krakow v Standard Liege

Braga v Besiktas

Udinese v PAOK

Trabzonspor v PSV Eindhoven

Hannover v Brugge

Legia Warsaw v Sporting

* First legs to be played February 16, second legs February 23

EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 16 DRAW

FC Salzburg/Metalist v Rubin Kazan/Olympiacos

Legia/Sporting v Porto/Manchester City

Steaua/Twente v Viktoria Plzen/Schalke

Wisla/Standard Liege v Hannover/Brugge

Stoke/Valencia v Trabzonspor/PSV Eindhoven

Alkmaar/Anderlecht v Udinese/PAOK

Lazio/Atletico Madrid v Braga/Besiktas

Ajax/Manchester United v Lokomotiv Moscow/Athletic Bilbao

* First legs to be played March 8, second legs March 15.

By Alan Duffy

It may well be the preserve of Thursday nights and Channel Five, but the Europa League, now ready for the knock-out stages is still peppered with some of Europe's big guns. Probably the biggest in the competition, Manchester United, will face another all-time European great, Ajax, in the last 32, a tie which has more than a hint of glamour.

Down to the nitty gritty now, it's time for a refresh on this page.Champions LeagueRound of 16David Yelldell - Bayer Leverkusen v BarcelonaEuropa LeagueRound of 32Jozy Altidore - AZ v AnderlechtSteve Cherundolo - Hannover 96 v Club BruggeJermaine Jones - Schalke v FK Viktoria PlzeňSacha Kljestan - Anderlecht v AZOguchi Onyewu - Sporting CP v Legia Warsaw- Greg Seltzer

Jozy Altidore and Sacha Kljestan have both enjoyed individual club success this season, which in turn has led to their teams turning in strong results both domestically and in Europe. All of that will come to a head in the UEFA Europa League Round of 32, when their two teams will square off.

Europa League can we ever love it?

It's Thursday, so it must be the Europa League. Hapoel Tel Aviv v Legia Warsaw. AZ Alkmaar v FC Metalist Kharkiv. Birmingham v NK Maribor. Get ready to switch TV channels. Does anybody fancy watching EastEnders?

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-12-15 09:22:06 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

I said, it could be done and Besiktas did it!
Besiktas beat, unbeaten Stoke City 3-1 and claim the top spot in the group E and earned a spot in the round 32 of Europa league..
They,prett much did the damege to Stoke in the second half, after going down in the first half.

Can we ever love the Europa League? Two great cups have merged into a dud

It's Thursday, so it must be the Europa League. Hapoel Tel Aviv v Legia Warsaw. AZ Alkmaar v FC Metalist Kharkiv. Birmingham v NK Maribor. Get ready to switch TV channels. Does anybody fancy watching EastEnders?

Louder Than Bombs
Legia Warsaw 0-0 Cracovia (10:12:11)
During June of next year the streets of the Polish capital will be pounding with football fans ready to embrace Euro 2012. The Polish FA will ensure that there are ladies dressed in traditional Polish folk costumes stood on every corner, and Uefa will insist that those fans drink only Coca-Cola, Castrol or Carlsberg and that no food should exist in Warsaw outside of McDonalds.

Louder Than Bombs
Legia Warsaw 0-0 Cracovia (10:12:11)
During June of next year the streets of the Polish capital will be pounding with football fans ready to embrace Euro 2012. The Polish FA will ensure that there are ladies dressed in traditional Polish folk costumes stood on every corner, and Uefa will insist that those fans drink only Coca-Cola, Castrol or Carlsberg and that no food should exist in Warsaw outside of McDonalds.

Betting sites has tipped Tottenham to take home the silverware, but the odds are now against them even exiting the group stages.

With two weeks until the final matches of the Europa League group stages, 14 clubs have clinched spots in the knockout rounds of the cup with a game to spare. With the eight teams that finish third in their UEFA Champions League groups transferring over to Europe's second-tier competition, that leaves 10 spots.

Name: Dariusz Kubicki In his 1990s prime for: Sunderland Lowdown: Although originally arriving on these shores at Villa Park, after nine years at Legia Warsaw, the international defender struggled to hold down a steady place in the Aston Villa side as they finished second in the inaugural Premier League season.

By Chris Wright

Pies' pick of the stills from last night's Europa League action...

◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 10

Fulham 4-1 Wisla Krakow: Andy Johnson nips in to score the Cottager's third goal

Last night's Europa League results in full.

The injury-curse blighting Arsenal's season struck again on Monday when goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny pulled out of the Poland squad for two upcoming friendlies against South Korea and Belarus with a bad back.

Szczesny, 21, who has played six time for Poland, was due to meet up with his international team mates this week but the official Polish FA website (www.

Uefa have announced the groups for the next round of the Europa League which features two Portuguese clubs, last seasons finalists Braga and Sporting. Group ATottenham Rubin Kazan PAOK Shamrock Rovers Group B Copenhagen Standard Liege Hannover Vorskla Poltava Group C PSV Eindhoven Hapoel Tel-Aviv Rapid Bucuresti Legia Warsaw Group D SPORTING Lazio Zurich Vaslui Group E Dynamo Kiev

The draw for the 2011-12 UEFA Europa League group stage was made in Monaco today. 2009 winners Atlético de Madrid are arguably the biggest club involved in this season's competition and they will have been relatively pleased with a draw which placed them in Group I alongside Italian Champions League drop-outs Udinese Calcio, French side Stade Rennais and Swiss side FC Sion.

There are plenty of Americans still involved in the UEFA Europa League, but none will play against each other until the knockout stage at the earliest after Friday's draw revealed this season's 12 groups.

Jozy Altidore has been on fire as of late, and his AZ Alkmaar has a favorable outlook in Group G.

Legia Warszawa (also called Legia Warsaw) is a professional soccer club based in Warsaw, Poland. Amongst Poland's most successful club's. Legia has won eight Polish championships (Ekstraklasas) and a record fourteen Polish Cups. On Wednesday, the Legia Warszawa adidas 2011/12 home and away kits were launched via the club's website.

In the third and final part of Stoppage Time's European leagues review, the remaining domestic championships from Netherlands to Ukraine feature in our 2010-11 continental review.

NETHERLANDS

There was an exciting tussle in both league and cup between Ajax Amsterdam and FC Twente Enschede.

Legia Warsaw's Miroslav Radovic (left) congratulated his shirtless partner in crime, Jakub, on his superior spandexual celebration following their victory over Lech Poznan in the Poland Cup final, 3rd May 2011.

Hooligans clashed with police and damaged the stadium after Legia Warsaw won the Polish Cup final 5-4 on penalties against Lech Poznan in Bydgoszcz last night.

Fans invaded the pitch, demolished barriers and damaged the tribune as well as attacking press photographers before police got the situation under control by using water cannon.

It was two years ago that Shay Given broke many a Gooner's heart by signing for Manchester City, but Wojciech Szczesny has finally healed the wound, and vindicated Arsene Wenger's faith in youth.

The 20-year-old Pole has emerged from Arsenal's maligned goalkeepers' union to establish himself as Arsenal's next great ‘keeper and the man for the here and now, and he didn't cost the club millions in the process.