Europa League - Freiburg to face RC Lens in the intermediate round
SC Freiburg will play RC Lens in the intermediate round of the Europa League for a place in the round of 16. This was the result of the draw for the second most important European club competition at the headquarters of the European Football Union (UEFA) in Nyon.
The matches will be played on February 15 and 22, with Sport-Club first having to play away and then at home in the second leg. The team from South Baden, coached by Christian Streich, finished the Europa League group stage in second place behind Premier League club West Ham United and were unable to avoid a detour via the play-off round by missing out on group victory. Lens are currently seventh in the French Ligue 1. The French side finished third in Champions League Group B behind FC Arsenal and PSV Eindhoven.
Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen are the other German team to progress directly to the round of 16 as first in their preliminary group, having won all six games in the group stage. The round of 16 will be played in March.
Donetsk in Hamburg against Marseille
Hamburg's Volksparkstadion will host the Europa League clash between Shakhtar Donetsk and Olympique Marseille on February 15. Due to the war in their home country, the Ukrainian champions are playing their international home games in Hamburg this season. For the two play-off matches to qualify for the round of 16, Shakhtar were drawn with the top French club. The second leg in Marseille will take place on February 22.
Donetsk began the season in the Champions League and have already played FC Porto, FC Barcelona and Royal Antwerp in Hamburg. As third in their group, the Ukrainians can continue in the Europa League after the winter break. Opponents Marseille are coached by Italian world champion Gennaro Gattuso and lost the finals of the Europa League and its predecessor competition, the UEFA Cup, in 1999, 2004 and 2018 respectively.
Read also:
- NFL kicker out injured, then something unbelievable happens!
- Taylor Swift talks about love for her NFL star
- Crazy victory in the NFL top game
- NFL star breaks referee's leg
- Christian Streich, the coach of SC Freiburg, led his team to a second-place finish in the Europa League group stage, setting up a match against RC Lens in the intermediate round.
- Freiburg, hailing from Baden-Württemberg, will face Lens from France in the intermediate round of the Europa League for a spot in the round of 16.
- The first-leg match between Freiburg and Lens will take place in Lens on February 15, with the second leg scheduled for February 22 at the Europa-Park Stadion in Freiburg.
- SC Freiburg finished behind Premier League club West Ham United in the group stage, missing out on a chance to avoid the play-off round and proceed directly to the round of 16.
- In the meantime, Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen will represent Germany in the round of 16 after finishing first in their preliminary group, having won all six group-stage matches.
- Shakhtar Donetsk, currently playing their international home games in Hamburg, will host Olympique Marseille in the Europa League clash at the Volksparkstadion on February 15, due to the war in Ukraine.
- Shakhtar, who finished third in their Champions League group, will face Marseille, coached by Italian world champion Gennaro Gattuso, in the Europa League play-offs for a spot in the round of 16.
- Gattuso's Marseille, who have lost Europa League and UEFA Cup finals in 1999, 2004, and 2018 respectively, will be looking to secure a spot in the competition's latter stages with a victory against Donetsk.
Source: www.stern.de
