Arsenal set for reunion with Hleb in the Europa League Round of 32 Fixtures

Arsenal will face BATE Borisov in the Europa League round of 32 as they bid to go better than last season and lift their first piece of continental silverware in a quarter of a century.

The tie will see them face a reunion with former midfielder, Alexander Hleb.

Unai Emery’s side topped Group E at a canter, their only dropped points coming in a 0-0 home draw against Sevilla as a string of reserves and young prospects earned their spurs, most notably Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka.

Arsenal will play their first leg away from home on February 14. Because Chelsea also topped their group the Gunners will play their home game at the Emirates a day earlier than their capital rivals, on Wednesday, February 20.

The two sides met in the group stages of last year’s competition. Arsenal won the away match 4-2 and a reserve side won 6-0 at home.

Under Arsene Wenger Arsenal made the semi-finals of the Europa League last season, losing 2-1 to Atletico Madrid on aggregate. The Gunners have never won the competition, though they did win its predecessor the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in  1970, but head coach Emery has three titles to his name from his spell at Sevilla.

The Round of 32 Fixtures in Full:

Viktoria PlzenvsDinamo Zagreb
Club BruggevsSalzburg
Rapid ViennavsInter Milan
Slavia PraguevsGenk
KrasnadorvsBayer Leverkusen
FC ZurichvsNapoli
MalmovsChelsea
Shakhtar DonetskvsEintracht Frankfurt
CelticvsValencia
RennesvsReal Betis
OlympiacosvsDynamo Kiev
LaziovsSevilla
FenerbahcevsZenit
Sporting LisbonvsVillarreal
BATE BorisovvsArsenal
GalatasarayvsBenfica

The Round of 32 first leg matches will take place on February 14th, while the second leg ties will be played on February 21st.