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Round of 16 1st leg

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Previews

THU 10.03.2016 | Previews

Sevilla, Villarreal, Athletic and Valencia kick off their Europa League last-16 ties

The four Liga BBVA teams competing in the Europa League made it through to the round of 16 and will be keen to stamp their authority on the continent once again.

Previews

THU 10.03.2016

FC Basel v Sevilla FC (19:00 CET)

The first Liga BBVA team to play the first leg of their last-16 tie will be Sevilla, who travel to Switzerland to face a tough Basel side, as they search for a positive result to give them the edge in the return match. Sevilla enter the game off the back of a draw against Getafe at the Coliseum and they will be keen to put an end to their poor away form with a win on the road. Basel, meanwhile, are top of the Swiss league on 53 points, 14 clear of second place. The opposing manager, Urs Fischer, will be without his suspended star player, Beel Embolo. The injured Manuel Akanji, Jean-Paul Boetius, Andraz Sporar, Birkir Bjarnason and Tomas Vaclik are doubtful. Sevilla, meanwhile, travel without the injured Marco Andreolli, Nicolas Pareja and Grzegorz Krychowiak.

Villarreal CF v Bayer 04 Leverkusen (21:05 CET)

Villarreal begin their round-of-16 tie at home, meaning that they will have the roar of the fans behind them in their bid for a victory in Europe. Marcelino Garcia Toral’s team had a tough nut to crack in the form of Napoli in the round of 32, but they managed to beat them at home and draw away. After knocking out the Italians, they now face another difficult team: Bayer Leverkusen. The Germans have an excellent attacking force, with Hakan Calhanoglu and Chicharito Hernandez leading the line. Marcelino will be without the injured Jonathan Dos Santos and Samu Garcia, whilst Mateo Muscacchio and Jaume Costa are doubtful with muscle problems.

Athletic Club v Valencia CF (21:05 CET)

There will be no chance of all of the Spanish sides making it through to the next round, with two old foes doing battle: Athletic and Valencia are set to face each other in Europe. Gary Neville’s team are unbeaten in the competition after knocking out SK Rapid Wien with staggering 11-0 aggregate win and their hopes of European glory remain intact. They face an Athletic side who dispatched the mighty Olympique de Marseille. Valencia head into the game without Denis Cheryshev, whose expected month-long absence will also see him miss out on the return leg. Ernesto Valverde also has injuries to deal with: Iñaki Williams has yet to recover and Aritz Aduriz is sidelined after withdrawing from the last Liga BBVA game against R. Sporting following a knock to his back.

© LALIGA - 2016