10 March 2011
The UEFA Europa League Round of 16 begins this evening, with eight first leg matches spread across the continent.
Liverpool, after their impressive 3-1 destruction of Manchester United in the Premier League, head into their away match against Portugals Braga without captain Steven Gerrard, defender Daniel Agger and utility player Fabio Aurelio.
However, striker Any Carroll is likely to make his European debut for the Reds at the Estadio Municipal de Braga and coach Kenny Daglish believes the former Newcastle striker will prove to be a key player for the club.
He is a massive player and I suppose the fact we put him on the (Europa League squad) list at the beginning of February when we had to put names forward shows we had great faith in him being fit and great faith in Andy,” said Daglish.
Manchester City face a tough first leg away to Dynamo Kyiv and midfielder David Silva, who scored against the Ukrainian team while still playing for Valencia in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup, believes it will be a challenging game for the English side.
Silva recalled: “It’s a difficult place to go to. We (Valencia in 2008/09) got a 1-1 draw so we didn’t do too badly.
“They’re a difficult team and at their stadium it’s very tough but we’re excited about our chances of going through.”
There are no less than three games in the Netherlands, with PSV Eindhoven hosting Scottish side Rangers, while FC Twente and Ajax have home matches against Russian opponents Zenit St. Petersburg and Spartak Moscow respectively. A third Russian side, CSKA, is at home to Porto.
The remaining matches see Benfica host Paris Saint-Germain, while Villareal travel to Germany to face Bayer Leverkusen.
UEFA Europa League, Round of 16 first leg fixtures:
Thursday, March 10
CSKA Moscow v Porto
PSV Eindhoven v Rangers
Bayer Leverkusen v Villareal
Braga v Liverpool
Benfica v Paris Saint-Germain
Dynamo Kyiv v Manchester City
FC Twente v Zenit St. Petersburg
Ajax v Spartak Moscow
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