NYON, Switzerland – On Friday, Manchester United was drawn to compete against Real Sociedad in the Round of 16 of the Europa League, marking their third matchup in the tournament over the past five years.

Real Sociedad will begin the series with the first leg taking place in Spain on March 6. Notably, Manchester United’s captain Bruno Fernandes scored twice during a commanding 4-0 victory in their previous encounter four years ago, which was part of United’s journey to the final. The two teams will then meet again at Old Trafford for the second leg on March 13.

While a potential Rome derby was anticipated with the pairings of Roma and Lazio, the two teams were assigned different opponents. Lazio, having topped the newly organized 36-team standings, will face Viktoria Plzen. Meanwhile, Roma has been matched against the second-seeded Athletic Bilbao, whose stadium will serve as the venue for the final on May 21. Roma earned their spot in the Round of 16 after eliminating Porto in the playoffs on Thursday.

Jose Mourinho will guide his Fenerbahce squad as they take on Rangers, starting with their first leg in Istanbul.

Ajax will host Eintracht Frankfurt in the opening leg. Frankfurt previously triumphed over Rangers in the 2022 Europa League final.

In what has been a remarkable season for Dutch clubs in European competitions, AZ Alkmaar will go up against Tottenham, a team they faced earlier in November, where Tottenham secured a narrow 1-0 win.

The draw also revealed that Bodo/Glimt will square off against Olympiakos, the previous season’s Conference League champions, while Lyon has drawn FCSB, a Romanian club formerly known as Steaua Bucharest, which famously won the European Cup in 1986, with Lyon playing away in the first leg.