Real Sociedad – United, Villarreal – Salzburg and Granada – Naples

Real Sociedad will face Manchester United, Villarreal, Salzburg, and Granada against Naples in the round of 32 of the Europa League. Three qualifiers that will not be easy for any of the three Spanish teams, especially for Real and Granada, who failed to avoid two of the great coconuts of the draw and favorites to win the competition.

The first leg matches of these Europa League round of 32 will be played on Thursday, February 18, while the return matches will be played a week later, on the 25th. The draw for the second round will be held the day after the playoffs end, on February 26, in Nyon.

Real Sociedad-United

Imanol's team will face a United that, despite having been eliminated from the Champions League and which has been quite irregular in the Premier, has a set of stars at the level of Bruno Fernandes, Cavani, Maguire, De Gea, Rashford or Pogba, among others, which inevitably make the 'Red Devils' one of the favorite teams for the title. The irregularity and defensive fragility of the Old Trafford team are its main weaknesses.

Villarreal-Salzburg

Villarreal has been the best-standing Spanish team that has come out of the round of 32 draw and even so it is difficult. Salzburg have grown a lot in the last decade, becoming a tyrant of the Austrian Bundesliga, in which they have won the last seven titles and are already a regular in the Champions League. Szoboszlai, who has shown interest in several European greats, including Real Madrid, is the great threat to the Red Bull team, which in recent years has discovered players like Halland and Minamino.

Granada-Naples

A priori, it seems the most unequal tie in which a Spaniard is involved. Granada will have to face a Naples that, at the hands of Gattuso, has recovered the feelings lost a season ago, when Ancelotti had to leave the team after a very long crisis of results that made the Neapolitan team not even have options to qualify to the Champions. This year, the old San Paolo's team, renamed the Maradona Stadium, is third in Serie A and is fighting for the scudetto again. The Spanish Fabian is the great leader in the center of the field while Insigne is the offensive flag.

Round of 32 of the Europa League

Wolfsberger-Tottenham
Dynamo Kiev-Bruges
Real society-Manchester United
Benfica-Arsenal
Red Star-Milan
Antwerp-Rangers
Slavia Prague-Leicester
Salzburg-Villarreal
Sporting Braga- Roma
Krasnodar- Dinamo Zagreb
Young Boys-Leverkusen
Mold-Hoffenheim
Pomegranate-Naples
Maccabi-Shakhtar
Lille-Ajax
Olympiacos-PSV