Champions League: Feyenoord draw Milan, PSV vs. Arsenal; Ajax in Frankfurt for Europa
The four Dutch teams in European competition found out their opponents in the last 16 stage and their path to the final on Friday. PSV Eindhoven was drawn to face Arsenal from England in the UEFA Champions League. Feyenoord will travel to Milan once again to face Internazionale. In the Europa League, Ajax were drawn to face German team Eintracht Frankfurt, while AZ Alkmaar will face Tottenham Hotspur for the second time this season.
A noteworthy part of the draw was that AZ and Ajax will face each other in the quarter-finals of the Europa League if they are able to defeat their opponents. This could also lead to Ajax playing against Tottenham Hotspur, the team that knocked them out of the Champions League in the dying seconds in 2019.
Feyenoord emerged victorious in the San Siro against AC Milan over two games, but they will now have to face the other Milan side, who also play in the same stadium, Internazionale.
Inter will likely be a much tougher opponent for Feyenoord than AC Milan. While AC is currently seventh in the Italian league, the Serie A and Simone Inzaghi’s side are second. They are currently two points behind league leaders Napoli.
PSV defeated Juventus after extra time on Wednesday to advance to this round. Arsenal and PSV faced each other twice last season in the UEFA Champions League and also played two matches in the UEFA Europa League the previous season. These matches ended up in two wins for Arsenal, one for PSV, and one draw.
Arsenal are currently second in the English Premier League behind Liverpool. They finished in third place in the UEFA Champions League phase. However, the Gunners are currently in the midst of an injury crisis, one of the unavailable players is star winger Bukayo Saka, who tore his hamstring in December.
Both teams will play at home first in the two-legged affair. The first matches will take place on March 4, and March 5. The second legs will be played on March 11 and March 12. PSV will face either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid in the quarter-final if they go through. Feyenoord will face either Bayern Munich or Bayer Leverkusen if they advance to the quarter-finals.
Ajax survived a grueling 120 minutes on Thursday to advance at the expense of Royale Union Saint Gilloise in the UEFA Europa League. They will face Eintracht Frankfurt, a team that is currently third in the Bundesliga. Frankfurt was significantly weakened in the January transfer window as they sold their top scorer, Omar Marmoush, to Manchester City for 75 million euros.
AZ will face Tottenham for the second and third time this season in the next round. The Alkmaarders lost 1-0 away in London on October 24, 2024. Tottenham has been in very poor form in the Premier League, Ange Postecoglou’s side is currently in 12th position.
The Alkmaarders were impressive in the play-off round, defeating Turkish team Galatasaray with an aggregate score of 6-3 over two games.
