Europa League draw: Aston Villa face familiar foes in the round of 16
Aston Villa have learned their next opponents in the 2025-26 UEFA Europa League, courtesy of Friday’s highly tedious draw. Their round of 16 tie will be played in March.
After Thursday’s concluding leg of the play-off round, there were only two possible opponents for Villa. Ligue 1 side Lille were one of those, Celta Vigo of Spain the other.
Villa manager Unai Emery will pit his wits not against fellow Spaniard Claudio Giráldez but against Lille boss Bruno Génésio.
Villa drawn against Lille
Villa will play Lille in the Europa League round of 16, first away and then at home as the top seed in what now becomes the bottom half of the draw.
The first leg will be played at Lille on Thursday 12th March, with the second leg scheduled to take place at Villa Park on Thursday 19th March.
The full bracket has now been drawn. Villa or Lille will play Bologna or Roma in the quarter-finals followed by a semi-final against Stuttgart, Porto, Nottingham Forest or Midtjylland.
Villa knocked Lille out of the Conference League at the quarter-final stage in 2023-24, winning on penalties after the tie ended 3-3 on aggregate.
Emery’s team went on to play Olympiacos in what was ultimately a disappointing semi-final but qualified for the Champions League via their Premier League place in the same season.
How the teams got here
Villa qualified automatically for the round of 16 by finishing in second place behind Lyon in the league phase. They were therefore seeded second, meaning they will have second-leg home advantage for as long as they remain in the competition.
Emery’s team won seven of their eight league phase matches, losing at Go Ahead Eagles but winning away against Feyenoord, Basel and Fenerbahçe. They won their home matches against Bologna, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Young Boys and Red Bull Salzburg.
Lille finished 18th in the league phase and were the unseeded team in their play-off round tie. They won four (SK Brann, Roma, Dinamo Zagreb, Freiburg) and lost four (PAOK, Red Star Belgrade, Young Boys, Celta Vigo) in the league phase before beating Red Star after extra time in the play-off round.
Europa League round of 16 draw in full
The first legs will be as follows, with the reverse fixture played a week later:
- Ferencváros v Braga
- Stuttgart v Porto
- Panathinaikos v Real Betis
- Nottingham Forest v Midtjylland
- Genk v Freiburg
- Bologna v Roma
- Celta Vigo v Lyon
- Lille v ASTON VILLA
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