Aston Villa drawn against Ajax in the last 16 of the Europa Conference League – as Jordan Henderson faces an English club for the first time since leaving Liverpool
Aston Villa will face Ajax in the last 16 of the Europa Conference League, seeing Jordan Henderson play an English club for the first time since leaving Liverpool.
Henderson will face Villa after Ajax squeezed through the play-off round against Bodo/Glimt with two late shows, while Unai Emery‘s team qualified directly for this stage after topping their group.
He left Liverpool for Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq in the summer but moved to the Dutch side in January after being unsettled in the Middle East.
Ajax will welcome Villa on March 7 before taking a trip to the Midlands on the 14th.
It will be a clash of arguably the two biggest sides left in the competition, although last year’s finalists Fiorentina are still left, as are Lille and Fenerbahce.
Aston Villa have been drawn against Ajax in the last 16 of the Europa Conference League
Unai Emery’s side will face Jordan Henderson’s new club on March 7 and at home on March 14
Villans are seen as the favourites for the competition but Ajax, Fiorentina, Lille, and Fenerbahce are other big clubs
Henderson, who has been installed as Ajax’s captain, has faced Villa 22 times in his career, winning 13 games, losing five, and drawing four.
However, he is yet to win after four games in the Netherlands and was recently slammed by Rafael van der Vaart as bringing ‘no quality’ to the side.
‘Ajax have brought in players with zero quality. The club will now have to see out the rest of the season,’ he said on Dutch TV.
‘They have brought in Jordan Henderson. All he does is to play a little pass out wide, or a little pass back. ‘But nobody will be happy with that.’
Meanwhile, Villans are fourth in the Premier League and qualified for the last 16 with four wins, a draw, and a defeat, the latter being a 3-2 loss at Legia Warsaw.
It has not been smooth sailing as of late as they have picked up just two wins in seven games in all competition.
In other ties, Lille face a favourable draw against Sturm Graz, Fiorentina are favourites against Maccabi Haifa, and Fenerbache meet Union Saint-Gilloise, who beat Liverpool 2-1 in Belgium in the Europa League group stages.
A newly resurgent Olympiacos, buoyed by fresh manager Jose Luis Mendilibar, face Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Last year’s finalists Fiorentina will play against Maccabi Haifa in the last 16 in March
In the Europa League, Liverpool have been handed a favourable draw against Sparta Prague
Elsewhere, Molde take on Club Brugge, Servette have been drawn against Viktoria Plzen, and Dinamo Zagreb battle PAOK.
West Ham gained £16m for winning the Europa Conference League last season, beating Fiorentina 2-1 in the final.
Said Benrahma scored a penalty before Giacamo Bonventura equalised, but Jarrod Bowen scored in the 90th minute to give the Hammers a first European trophy.
While Villa are the only British side left in the Europa Conference League, there are four still standing in the Europa League.
Liverpool, Henderson’s former club, were drawn against Sparta Prague in the last 16 of the Europa League earlier today.
Meanwhile, West Ham will lock horns with Freiburg, Brighton will dance with Roma, and Rangers will look to thwart Portuguese league leaders Benfica.
In the other Europa League clashes, Marseille face Villarreal, Sporting CP play Atalanta, AC Milan meet Slavia Prague, and Qarabag face a daunting test against Bayer Leverkusen.
