Arsenal and Manchester United have been handed tough draws in the Europa League last-16 stage.
The English giants are the two favourites to win the competition, but face tricky ties to reach the quarter-finals.
The Gunners face Sporting and will travel to Lisbon for the first leg, which will take place on March 9, before hosting the Portuguese side the following week.
Arsenal avoided a clash with Italian giants Juventus and swerved a showdown against Jose Mourinho’s Roma too. Juventus will instead face Freiburg and Roma are up against Real Sociedad.
The Gunners could not draw United as teams are unable to face opponents from the same country at this stage of the Europa League.
United, who beat Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate last night to reach the last-16, have been rewarded with a clash against Spanish side Real Betis.
The rest of the draw sees Union Berlin face Union Saint-Gilloise, Sevilla against Fenerbahce, Shakhtar Donetsk take on Feyenoord and Bayer Leverkusen versus Ferencvaros.
Arsenal’s opponents Sporting dropped into the Europa League after finishing third in their Champions League group, which Tottenham won.
Sporting performed well against Spurs, though, beating them 2-0 at home and drawing 1-1 in north London.
They have struggled domestically this season, though, and are currently sat fourth in the Portuguese top flight, 15 points behind the leaders Benfica.
Arsenal impressed during the group stages of the Europa League, topping their group with 15 points and only losing one game.
Europa League last-16 draw in full
- Union Berlin v Union SG
- Sevilla v Fenerbahce
- Juventus v Freiburg
- Leverkusen v Ferencvaros
- Sporting v Arsenal
- Man Utd v Betis
- Roma v Sociedad
- Shakhtar v Feyenoord
The last-16 first and second-leg ties take place on March 9 and March 16, respectively.
