Europa League Fixtures Announced

Ajax are set to meet Juventus in the round of 32 in the Europa league being the marquee fixture of this round.

The newly created 'seeding' system in the Europa league has come under the scanner for a while now, but it looks to have borne the results expected.

The seeding system was created in the Europa league where the sides that topped the twelve starting groups of the Europa league would be seeded while the second placed qualifiers from the twelve groups wouldn't be seeded. Out of the 8 third placed teams that dropped from the Champions League, 4 teams with more points/goal difference have been seeded, while the other four haven't.

The seeded teams enjoy not having to play each other, considered tougher opposition in earlier rounds and have to play supposedly non-seeded sides which makes their passage to the next round slightly easier. The seeded teams also enjoy playing the second leg of the fixtures at home.

Questions were asked whether this rule might make the round of 32 a bit drab, but the fixture between European powerhouses Ajax and Juventus tell a different story altogether.

And that's not the only one. Liverpool FC face a tough test against Romanian battlers Unirea Urziceni-coached by former Chelsea and Southampton star, Dan Petrescu - who too were eliminated from the Champions League.

Liverpool's Merseyside neighbors, Everton, too were handed a tough draw at Sporting Lisbon. While Fulham face off with current champions Shakhtar Donetsk. Woefully out of form and on the verge of losing their best player, Atletico Madrid face a tough game at Galatasaray. Valencia on the other hand seem to have been handed the easiest fixture against Club Brugge, but the tables might turn on Valencia, as their best players David Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata may be on their way out.

The fixtures list for the round of 32, starting February 16 is given below.

1. Rubin Kazan (Russia) vs Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel)
2. Athletic Bilbao (Spain) vs Anderlecht (Belgium)
3. FC Copenhagen (Denmark) vs Marseille (France)
4. Panathanaikos (Greece) vs AS Roma (Italy)
5. Atletico Madrid (Spain) vs Galatasaray (Turkey)
6. Ajax (Holland) vs Juventus (Italy)
7. Clube Brugge (Belgium) vs Valencia (Spain)
8. Fulham (England) vs Shaktar Donetsk (Ukraine)
9. Liverpool (England) vs Unirea Urziceni (Romania)
10. Hamburg (Germany) vs PSV Eindhoven (Holland)
11. Villareal (Spain) vs Wolfsburg (Germany)
12. Standard Liege (Belgium) vs FC Salzburg (Austria)
13. FC Twente (Holland) vs Werder Bremen (Germany)
14. Lille (France) vs Fenerbahce (Turkey)
15. Everton (England) vs Sporting Lisbon (Portugal)
16. Hertha Berlin (Germany) vs Benfica (Portugal)