Europa League: Werkself face Atalanta in Round of 16

Bayer 04 meet Italian club Atalanta in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16. That was the outcome of the draw held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon on Friday afternoon, 25 February.

The former goalkeeper Andrés Palop, in the Werkself squad in 2013/14, helped draw out the clubs. The first leg will be played on 10 March and the return match is a week later on 17 March. Bayer 04 are away first.

Rolfes: "one of the top matches"

Fernando Carro, Bayer 04 CEO, commented on the draw: "Atalanta are a good opponent, it's always difficult to play against Italian teams." However, the 57-year-old is confident. Carro continued: "I'm optimistic we will successfully master this hurdle and put ourselves in a good position in the first leg away from home."

Sporting director Simon Rolfes added: "Atalanta are one of the best teams in Italy and have developed really well in recent years. They like to get forward and they score lots of goals. For me, this tie is one of the top matches in this round." The future Leverkusen sporting managing director set out the target: "Our aim is to go through. We are at home in the second leg and I'm hoping we can fill the stadium by that time."

ticket information

Away tickets for the first leg of the Round of 16 in Bergamo (10 March) go on sale on Monday 7 March. Tickets for the second leg at the BayArena (17 March) are available from Tuesday 8 March.

Round of 16:

Rangers vs Red Star Belgrade

Sporting Braga vs AS Monaco

FC Porto vs Lyon

Atalanta vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen

FC Sevilla vs West Ham United

FC Barcelona vs Galatasaray

RB Leipzig vs Spartak Moscow

Real Betis vs Eintracht Frankfurt