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The draw for the Europa League's Round of 32 was held in Nyon earlier today, and it threw up numerous exciting clashes, with all the English clubs being handed tough opponents. The biggest names in the draw were undoubtedly Manchester United and Manchester City, both of whom dropped into the Europa League folliwng disastrous Champions League campaigns.

Premier League leaders Manchester City will face-off against defending champions FC Porto, who also come into the competition after finishing 3rd in their Champions League group. Neighbours Manchester United, meanwhile, have been handed a match against Dutch giants Ajax. Ajax and United have a combined total of seven European Cup's between them, but that will count for nought as they fight to extend their European campaign. However, the third English side Stoke City, have perhaps been handed the toughest of the draws, with Valencia being their opponents. Tony Pulis’ men will certainly go into this one as underdogs, although their physical style of play may just overwhelm their Spanish opponents.

The other two Spanish sides in the competition are Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, with the former facing a tricky encounter against Italian outfit Lazio. Bilbao on the other hand have a relatively easier tie against Lokomotiv Moscow.  The two German outfits left in the competition, Schalke and Hannover are draw against Viktoria Plzen and Club Brugge respectively.  2011 finalists, Braga square up against Turkish side Besiktas while fellow Portuguese outfit, Sporting Lisbon play Legia Warszawa. Other important matches include Udinese playing Greek outfit PAOK, PSV Eindhoven gearing up to face Trabzonspor and Twente clashing with Steau Bucharest. 

It remains to be seen how seriously United and City take the Europa League, considering the fixture congestion due to Thursday night games. Both sides have the squads to sustain a challenge in the competition and surely have enough in the locker to get past their knockout stage opponents. The Portuguese teams will be their biggest competition going forward in the tournament. They have been performing well in recent campaigns and with Porto, Braga and Sporting fighting it out this time too, the competition promises to be intense.

Roberto Mancini had this to say to the Man City's official website, "Porto is probably the toughest game we could have. Manchester City against Porto feels like a Champions League game. I have come up against them as a player before and also a manager, they are a very good team and a very strong club in Europe. They are used to playing in Europe, in a great stadium. Not too many years ago they won the Champions League and also won the Europa League last year so they are a strong team."

"It will be a hard match for us. When I looked at the teams we could face I thought Porto would be the toughest. We know this game will be difficult, but also it will be difficult for them. It is a good game for the fans, a big team coming to Manchester, and we will be looking forward to it."

On the other hand, Sir Alex Ferguson was upbeat about the draw, telling United's official website, "Ajax are a good team and I've never faced them in competitive European football. I'm looking forward to it."

Meanwhile, the possible match-ups for the Round of 16 have also been announced. Should Manchester City win, they will face either Sporting Lisbon or Legia Warsaw. Manchester United, meanwhile will have to face either Lokomotiv Moscow or Athletic Bilbao, should they beat Ajax. The winner of the match between Stoke and Valencia though will not have it easy either as they face the prospect of either PSV Eindhoven or Trabzonspor in the Round of 16.

Round of 32 Matches:

FC Porto vs Manchester City FC
AFC Ajax vs Manchester United FC
FC Lokomotiv Moskva vs Athletic Club
FC Salzburg vs FC Metalist Kharkiv
Stoke City FC vs Valencia CF
FC Rubin Kazan vs Olympiacos FC
AZ Alkmaar vs RSC Anderlecht
S.S. Lazio vs Club Atlético de Madrid
FC Steaua Bucureşti vs FC Twente
FC Viktoria Plzeň vs FC Schalke 04
Wisła Kraków vs R. Standard de Liège
SC Braga vs Beşiktaş JK
Udinese Calcio vs PAOK FC
Trabzonspor AŞ vs PSV Eindhoven
Hannover 96 vs Club Brugge KV
Legia Warszawa vs Sporting Clube de Portugal

The first leg of the Round of 32 will be played on the 16th of February while the return leg is scheduled for the 23rd of February.

Round of 16 Matches.

Salzburg/Metalist v Rubin/Olympiacos
Legia/Sporting v Porto/Manchester City
Steaua/Twente v Plzeň/Schalke
Wisła/Standard v Hannover/Club Brugge
Stoke/Valencia v Trabzonspor/PSV
AZ/Anderlecht v Udinese/PAOK
Lazio/Atlético v Braga/Beşiktaş
Ajax/Manchester United v Lokomotiv/Athletic

The first round of matches in the Round of 16 will be played on the 8th of March, with the away leg being held on the 15th of March.

File Photograph Copyright:·Ryu Voelkel

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