NYON: Barcelona will play Napoli in the knockout round playoff of the second-tier Europa League, marking a face-off between the former clubs of late soccer great Diego Maradona.

Barca, who crashed out of the Champions League after finishing third in their group, will host Napoli in the first leg on Feb 17 before playing away a week later.

I’d say that our glass is completely full: Barcelona v Napoli and then Napoli v Barcelona will be two great matches at Champions League level!” tweeted Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis.

Napoli and Barca met in the last 16 of the 2019-20 Champions League, with Barca advancing 4-2 on aggregate.

The away goals rule has been removed from this season’s European competitions, so ties level after 180 minutes will go to extra time, and then penalties if needed.

Barca’s fellow LaLiga team Sevilla will face Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb, while Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund will play against Scottish champions Rangers after the draw took place on Monday.

RB Leipzig will face Real Sociedad, Zenit St Petersburg will play Real Betis, while Moldovan minnows Sheriff Tiraspol were drawn against Sporting Braga.

Italian side Atalanta will take on Greek club Olympiakos Piraeus and Porto will face Lazio.

The winners of the eight ties will join the eight Europa League group winners in the last 16, the draw for which will be held on Feb 25. West Ham United, Monaco, Olympique Lyonnais and Bayer Leverkusen are among those teams.

In the third-tier Europa Conference League, English Premier League club Leicester City will face Danish side Randers and Scottish club Celtic will take on Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt in the knockout playoff round.

Austrian club Rapid Vienna will face either England’s Tottenham Hotspur or Dutch team Vitesse Arnhem, depending on which one of the two teams advance.

Tottenham’s further participation in the competition is yet to be decided by European soccer governing body UEFA after their game against Stade Rennais was called off due to Covid-19 cases in the club. UEFA has said the game cannot be rescheduled. Vitesse are currently second in Group ‘G’ on 10 points after playing all six games, while Tottenham are third on seven points after five matches.

French club Olympique de Marseille will face Azeri side Qarabag, Dutch team PSV Eindhoven will take on Israeli club Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Turkey’s Fenerbahce will play Czech side Slavia Prague in other ties, which feature the group runners-up of the new competition against the eight third-placed teams dropping down from the Europa League.

The winners of the fixtures played over two legs on February 17 and 24 advance to the last 16, where they will be drawn against the eight Europa Conference League group winners.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2021