Europa League draw in full: Arsenal and Chelsea learn last 16 fixtures

Arsenal vs Chelsea on the cards?

There is no seeding or rule preventing sides from the same country facing each other, so both Chelsea and Arsenal could face any of the 15 other teams left in the competition – and that includes each other.

Chelsea placed under transfer embargo

“Chelsea FC has today received a decision from the FIFA Disciplinary Committee concerning alleged breaches of the FIFA Regulations that relate to the international transfer of players under the age of 18. The decision imposes a transfer ban of two consecutive registration periods and a fine of 600k Swiss francs. Chelsea FC categorically refutes the findings of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee and will therefore be appealing the decision.

“The club wishes to emphasise that it respects the important work undertaken by FIFA in relation to the protection of minors and has fully cooperated with FIFA throughout its investigation. Initially, Chelsea FC was charged under Articles 19.1 and 19.3 in relation to 92 players. We welcome the fact that FIFA has accepted that there was no breach in relation to 63 of these players, but the club is extremely disappointed that FIFA has not accepted the club’s submissions in relation to the remaining 29 players. Chelsea FC acted in accordance with the relevant regulations and will shortly be submitting its appeal to FIFA.”

Europa League last 16: How they got here

Chelsea

Chelsea eased some of the pressure on Maurizio Sarri with a 3-0 win over Malmo which saw them advance 5-1 on aggregate, though it was far from a flowing performance from the Blues.

Olivier Giroud’s goal broke the deadlock in the 55th minute and, after Rasmus Bengtsson collected his second yellow card for a foul on Emerson, Ross Barkley bent in the resulting free-kick into the top corner with 16 minutes to go.

A man down, Malmo’s resistance faded and Callum Hudson-Odoi added a third late on.

Arsenal

Arsenal enjoyed an easy time of it as they beat BATE Barisov 3-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate.

The visitors’ 1-0 lead from the first leg lasted just four minutes before Zakhar Volkov turned the ball into his own net, and headers in either half from defenders Shkrodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos had Arsenal on course for the next round.

Valencia

Celtic’s were beaten 1-0 on the night for a 3-0 aggregate loss to Valencia, playing most of the night with 10 men.

Already up against it facing a 2-0 deficit, Celtic were down to 10 when Jeremy Toljan collected his second yellow with eight minutes of the first half left.

They held out until the 70th minute when Kevin Gameiro fired in for Valencia moments after coming off the bench.

Napoli

Italian big guns Napoli advanced with a 2-0 win over Zurich giving them a 5-1 aggregate win.

Adam Ounas set up Simone Verdi to volley in the opener just before the break before scoring himself in the 75th minute.

Inter Milan

Goals from Matias Vecino, Andrea Ranocchia, Ivan Perisic and Matteo Politano saw Inter Milan rout Rapid Vienna 4-0 for a 5-0 aggregate win.

Rennes

Rennes enjoyed a 3-1 win away to Real Betis to go through with a 6-4 aggregate win.

Ramy Bensebaini and Adrien Hunou put Rennes in control and they hung on after Giovani Lo Celso got a goal back late in the first half, with M’Baye Niang scoring a third in stoppage time.

Villarreal

Pablo Fornals’ late goal sent Villarreal through as a 1-1 draw with Sporting Lisbon was enough for a 2-1 aggregate win. Sporting took the lead against the run of play through Bruno Fernandes but could not hold out after Jefferson saw red five minutes into the second half.

Dinamo Zagreb

Dinamo Zagreb cruised to a 3-0 home win over Viktoria Plzen, turning their tie around to advance 4-2 with goals from Mislav Orsic, Emir Dilaver and Bruno Petkovic.

Krasnodar

A dramatic finish saw Krasnodar knock out Bayer Leverkusen, with their second leg and the tie both finishing 1-1.

Magomed Suleymanov finally broke the deadlock between the two sides in the 84th minute and though Charles Aranguiz quickly replied the visitors had the decisive away goal.

RB Salzburg

RB Salzburg thrashed Club Brugge 4-0 to advance 5-2, with Patson Daka’s brace following Xaver Schlager’s opener, and Munas Dabbur making up for an early missed penalty by adding a fourth in stoppage time.

Zenit

Zenit St Petersburg are through after winning an engaging match with Fenerbahce 3-1 to advance 3-2, the decisive goal coming from Saradar Azmoun with 14 minutes left.

Dynamo Kiev

Fran Sol’s 32nd minute goal gave Dynamo Kiev a 1-0 win over Olympiacos and a 3-2 aggregate victory.

Benfica

A goalless draw was enough for Benfica to knock out Galatasaray 2-1 on aggregate.

Eintracht Frankfurt

Eintracht Frankfurt beat Shakhtar Donetsk 4-1 for a 6-3 aggregate win, while Slavia Prague won 4-1 away to Genk to advance after a goalless first leg.

Standard Sport’s Chelsea correspondent Simon Johnson sums things up nicely on Twitter…