The Europa League Last 32 – all you need to know!

While the first legs of the Champions League have commenced this week, it is now the time for the Europa League to reconvene as we enter the knock out stages good and proper. English hopes rest with Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle, who will all be looking to take comfortable leads going into their second legs next week. The good people of UEFA have culminated a list of 20 facts ahead of the last 32 showdowns for your viewing pleasure: 1. The round of 32 participants come from 16 countries, with representation split as follows: 4 clubs – England, Germany 3 clubs – Italy, Russia, Ukraine 2 clubs – Czech Republic, France, Romania, Spain 1 club – Belarus, Belgium, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey 2. Four of the seven countries with just one participant are represented by clubs that transferred from the UEFA Champions League: FC BATE Borisov (Belarus), Olympiacos FC (Greece), AFC Ajax (Netherlands) and SL Benfica (Portugal). 3. Twelve clubs are competing in the UEFA Europa League knockout phase for the first time – Chelsea FC, CFR 1907 Cluj, Newcastle United FC, FC Anji Makhachkala, ... Read More