Arsenal draw Sporting in Europa League last-16

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Arsenal will play Sporting in the Europa League next up, having topped their group before Christmas

Arsenal draw Sporting in Europa League last-16: Kieran Tierney of Arsenal celebrates scoring the opening goal with Gabriel Magalhaes, Aaron Ramsdale and Mohamed Elneny during the UEFA Europa League group A match between Arsenal FC and FC Zurich at Emirates Stadium on November 3, 2022 in London, United Kingdom.
(Image credit: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Arsenal are set to play Sporting in the Europa League round of 16.

The first leg will take place on March 9 2023, with the return fixture scheduled for a week later on March 16. The Gunners have made it through to the last-16 of the competition without having to slog it out in the play-off round, having topped their group.

Arsenal have never won the competition – having lost two finals – but perhaps fancy their chances as one of the in-form sides in Europe right now, topping the Premier League. All in all, Mikel Arteta's side are one of the favourites for the trophy – and now might be their best shot at a European pot… ever.

Arsenal have only ever won a single Cup Winners' Cup, now defunct, having lost the UEFA Cup final to Galatasaray in 2000, the Champions League final to Barcelona six years later and the Europa League final in 2019, under Unai Emery. With Arteta's side doing so well in the Premier League and expected to qualify for the Champions League, adding a Europa title could be a huge boost to their hopes in UEFA's main competition next season.

Arsenal can thank Manchester United, too, for dumping Barcelona from the tournament – a team who the north Londoners have struggled against in European competition, most notably in 2006.

Sporting, meanwhile, dropped to the Europa League after facing Arsenal's rivals, Tottenham in the Champions League this season. Sporting beat Midtjylland 5-1 on aggregate to reach this stage.

Europa League Round of 16 in full: Arsenal will play Sporting

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta during a training session at London Colney on February 14, 2023 in St Albans, England.

Mikel Arteta is targeting European glory (Image credit: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

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Mark White
Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.