Feyenoord draws Shakhtar Donetsk in Europa League; AZ to play Lazio in Conference League

Feyenoord will compete in the Europa League Round of 16 against Ukrainian top club Shakhtar Donetsk. A lottery draw matched the two teams on Friday. Additionally, Alkmaar football club AZ will play in the Conference League Round of 16 against Italian club Lazio, currently the number 5 in Serie A.

Feyenoord will first play an away game on March 9. Because of the war, that match will not take place in Ukraine. Shakhtar will play its remaining European matches this season in Stadion Wojska Polskiego, the home base for Legia Warsaw in Poland. The return leg at De Kuip in Rotterdam will follow one week later.

Shakhtar Donetsk reached the Round of 16 with difficulty on Thursday by eliminating French club Stade Rennes. Ukraine's number 2 won the first match 2-1, but Rennes tied the score on the return. After extra time and penalties, Shakhtar qualified for the Round of 16.

Former Ajax player Lassina Traoré plays football at Shakhtar, which will not allow Feyenoord supporters in Poland. The Rotterdam club finished first in the group stage of the Europa League. In the decisive match against Lazio, the Rotterdam team's fans were accused of despicable behavior in De Kuip. Lazio trainer Maurizio Sarri even accused fans of throwing bags filled with urine at his players on the bench.

Feyenoord was previously fined by UEFA for disturbances during European matches. In November, UEFA ruled that Feyenoord is forbidden from selling tickets to its fans for two European away matches. The northern portion of De Kuip must also be closed during the return in Rotterdam.

Feyenoord and Shakhtar met previously in 2017 during the group stage of the Champions League. The Ukrainian club twice defeated Feyenoord, winning 2-1 in De Kuip and 3-1 in Kharkiv. Shakhtar started this season in the Champions League. They finished third in a group with Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Celtic.

There will still be some Dutch presence in the Europa League, though the other Eredivisie clubs were eliminated on Thursday. Trainer Erik ten Hag will lead Manchester United as they take on Real Betis. 1. FC Union Berlin proved to be too strong for Ajax. They will play against the Belgian club Union. Sevilla, responsible for the elimination of PSV, is paired with top Turkish team Fenerbahçe. This year 's Europa League final will be held in Budapest.

Aside from Feyenoord, the only other Dutch team still participating in European football is AZ. They will first play an away game on March 7 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, with a return leg on March 16 in Alkmaar.

Trainer Pascal Jansen thinks the meeting with Lazio will be "tough, but beautiful." He said, "In due course we will prepare ourselves very well for that. It is nice to know who we are playing against and what we have to prepare for, but that is not a priority now." AZ will play at home against SC Cambuur on Saturday.

Lazio was Feyenoord's opponent in the group stage of the Europa League last year. In Rome, Lazio beat Feyenoord 4-2, and then lost 0-1 in De Kuip on the return. Lazio was knocked down to the intermediate round of the Conference League after finishing third in the group. There, they beat their Romanian opponent, Cluj, with a 1-0 victory in Rome and a 0-0 draw at Dr. Constantin Rădulescu Stadium. As winner of group E, AZ qualified directly for the Round of 16 without needing to play in the intermediate round.

Last season, Lazio finished fifth in Serie A, behind champions AC Milan and Internazionale, Napoli and Juventus.

This year marks the second edition of the Conference League. The first edition of the club tournament was won last year by Lazio's cross-town rival, AS Roma, who defeated Feyenoord in the final.

The Belgian club Anderlecht will face Spanish club Villarreal, while AA Gent will compete against Istanbul Basaksehir. West Ham United is awaiting its meeting with AEK Larnaca from Cyprus. OGC Nice, where Pablo Rosario is under contract, was linked to FC Sheriff Tiraspol from Moldova, the lottery draw in Nyon determined.

The final of the third European club tournament will be played in Prague on June 7.