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23.02.2024Europa League

UEFA Europa League: Werkself face Qarabag in last 16

The draw for the round of 16 of the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League was made on Friday, pairing Bayer 04 with Azerbaijani club Qarabag FK, who the Werkself already met in the group stage.
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Fernando Carro, CEO of Bayer 04, said on the draw: "It's a long journey but we're looking forward to the round of 16. We have a good and close relationship with Qarabag and the club's management. They played well in the play-off against Braga. We'll have to take them very seriously and remain as focused as we have been to date."

Simon Rolfes, managing director for sport: "It a familiar opponent for us but certainly not an easy one. Qarabag are a strong side, as they proved in the group stage just gone. The way they turned it around late on in the play-off against Braga deserves great respect. We'll approach this task with a high level of concentration in order to qualify for the quarter-finals over two  challenging legs."

Qarabag finished second in Group H behind Bayer 04 and qualified for the round of 16 by beating Portuguese side Braga in the knockout round play-offs. It's the first time Qarabag have reached the last 16 of a UEFA competition.

The first leg will be played in Baku on Thursday 7 March, with the return leg a week later at the BayArena on Thursday 14 March. The exact kick-off times will be announced on the club's channels as soon as they're confirmed. Ticket information for both games will also follow in due course.

The Europa League quarter-finals take place on 11 and 18 April, the semi-finals on 2 and 9 May. The final in Dublin takes place on 22 May.

The round of 16 draw in full

Sparta Praha vs. Liverpool

Olympique Marseille vs. Villarreal CF

AS Roma vs. Brighton & Hove Albion

Benfica vs. Rangers

SC Freiburg vs. West Ham United

Sporting Lisbon vs. Atalanta

AC Milan vs. Slavia Praha

Qarabag vs. Bayer 04 Leverkusen

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