‘You can lift the trophy’
EX-ENGLAND STAR TIPS CITY TO BEAT SLAVIA PRAGUE ON WAY TO WINNING EUROPA LEAGUE
LEICESTER City will face Slavia Prague in the Europa League round of 32 after the draw yesterday afternoon, writes Jordan Blackwell
The fixtures will take place next year, with the first leg in the Czech Republic on February 18, and the second leg on February 25 at the King Power Stadium.
Slavia are the reigning Czech champions and current league leaders, with an unbeaten record domestically after 11 games this season, having scored 33 goals and conceded just three. In Europe, they were knocked out by Midtjylland in the Champions League qualifying round, and so entered the Europa League group stages.
They finished runners-up to Bayer Leverkusen in Group C, winning four of their fixtures to finish above Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Nice.
They reached the quarterfinals of the competition two seasons ago, where they were knocked out by Chelsea.
City were seeded for the draw after winning Group G, and avoided some of the tougher clubs or the longer trips. Manchester United were drawn against La Liga leaders Real Sociedad and Arsenal take on Benfica.
But two-time Champions League winner Owen Hargreaves believes City can win the Europa League.
The ex-England, Bayern Munich and Manchester United midfielder was asked on BT Sport if City could go all the way in the competition.
Hargreaves said: “Yeah, I think so. Brendan Rodgers, technically and tactically, he’s up there with some of the best managers.
“If Brendan has his full squad and with his tactics on the day, they could easily beat anyone. I really believe that.”
City are fifth favourites to win the competition, behind Spurs, Manchester United, Arsenal, and AC Milan.
The Europa League draw: Wolfsberger v Tottenham Dynamo Kiev v Club Brugge Real Sociedad v Manchester United Benfica v Arsenal
Red Star Belgrade v AC Milan Antwerp v Rangers
Slavia Prague v Leicester City
RB Salzburg v Villarreal
Braga v Roma
Krasnodar v Dinamo Zagreb Young Boys v Bayer Leverkusen Molde v Hoffenheim Granada v Napoli
Maccabi Tel Aviv v Shakhtar Donetsk Lille v Ajax
Olympiacos v PSV Eindhoven