In the Europa League 2017/2018 season, the group stage has ended, the draw for the games of the 1/16 finals has taken place. Four Russian clubs will participate at this stage. What teams did they get as rivals?
The 1/16 finals of the Europa League will take place on 15 and 22 February 2018. Russian teams will take part in them: Spartak, CSKA, Zenit and Lokomotiv. In general, all those clubs that this season represent a truly formidable force and are in the first positions in the Russian Football Championship.
The draw was quite good for our teams and did not provide impassable options.
Spartak will play with the Spanish Athletic, who plays very poorly in his championship, but the group stage of the Europa League went well. A few years ago, this team played with another Moscow club Lokomotiv and was able to go further after two meetings.
CSKA got the team from Serbia Crvena Zvezda. The Serbs are very friendly with Moscow Spartak, so the confrontation should turn out to be very spectacular and irreconcilable.
Zenith will be opposed by a club that has taken off from the Champions League - Scottish Celtic. Undoubtedly, a team with a rich history and a good selection of players. The matches should be of good quality and the fans will have a lot of positive impressions.
Lokomotiv will play in the 1/16 finals of the Europa League with French Nice. Many interesting players play for this team, but Mario Balotelli stands out against their background.
CSKA, Zenit and Lokomotiv will play their first games away, but Spartak will not have the advantage of the return home match, as they will play the return match away.
