The Round of 16 of the Europa League will conclude today. Only three teams have an greater advantage than one goal.
Inter Milan have the biggest deficit to overcome as they conceded three goals at White Hart Lane from a Tottenham side that is still unbeaten in this season’s competition.
VfB Stuttgart, having never won in Italy, head to Olimpico to overcome a 2-0 deficit against Lazio. However, thanks to an impressive home record, Zenit St Petersburg have more hope to go through – they are currently trailing FC Basel 2-0.
Europa League Round of 16 Overview
Lets look at the current standing of all the eight ties in the Round of 16:
Rubin Kazan v Levante
Aggregate: 0-0
European debutants Levante are unbeaten in seven games, including three on the road. Rubin have only lost three of their last 21 European home game and all those defeats came in Moscow, where they have yet to score.
Zenit St Petersburg v FC Basel
Aggregate: 0-2
Group stage onwards, Zenit have won all six of their home fixtures since the advent of the Europa League by a two-goal margin. Basel are in the Round of 16 for the first time since 2005/06, when they were knocked out from the quarterfinal by Middlesbrough.
Inter Milan v Tottenham Hotspur
Aggregate: 0-3
Inter and Spurs met in the 2010/11 Champions League group stage at the San Siro, which the Nerazzurri won 4-3. Inter’s 27 matches against English clubs have ended W12 D4 L11 (W8 D3 L2 at home). Spurs, along with Lazio, are unbeaten in this year’s Europa League.
Chelsea v Steaua Bucuresti
Aggregate: 0-1
Chelsea are on the way to become the first team to win UEFA’s top two club competitions in reverse order in successive seasons. They are fighting for a Champions League spot in the Premier League and face Manchester United in the FA Cup quarterfinal replay. Steaua’s best European campaign was the 2005/06 UEFA Cup – 1-0 up from the first leg against Middlesbrough in the semifinal and 3-0 up on aggregate after 24 minutes of the return leg but they ended up losing 4-3.
Fenerbahce v Viktoria Plzen
Aggregate: 1-0
Plzen are playing in the last 16 of a UEFA competition for the first time and they head to Istanbul having conceded an away goal. Fenerbahce have won two of their last three European home games without conceding but they are far from invulnerable, having lost the other match 3-0 against Borussia Monchengladbach.
Girondins de Bordeaux v SL Benfica
Aggregate: 0-1
Bordeaux eliminated Benfica in the second round of the 1986/87 European Cup Winner’s Cup in the teams’ only previous official encounter – they drew 1-1 in Lisbon before a 1-0 home win for the Ligue 1 side.
Newcastle United 0-0 Anzhi Makhachkala
Aggregate: 0-0
Newcastle United’s defence is unbreached in three European games since the start of the year and they are unbeaten in 12 UEFA home fixtures (W8 D4) since a 2-1 reverse against Deportivo La Coruna in the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup semifinal. This is the fifth time Newcastle have reached the last 16 of a European tournament while Anzhi are at this stage for the first time.
Lazio v VfB Stuttgart
Aggregate: 2-0
Lazio knocked out another Bundesliga outfit in the Round of 32, Borussia Monchengladbach. After a 3-3 draw in Germany, the Serie A side won 2-0 at home. Stuttgart have yet to win on Italian soil (W0 D2 L3) and their overall record in ten match against Italian opposition W2 D3 L5.
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