Arsenal face reunion with Alexander Hleb after drawing BATE Borisov in Europa League in Round of 32

Familiar face | Former Arsenal man Alexander Hleb now plays for BATE Borisov
AFP/Getty Images/Glynn Kirk
James Benge17 December 2018

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.

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.

Here’s the Europa League draw in full for the Round of 32

Viktoria Plzen vs Dinamo Zagreb
Club Brugge vs Salzburg
Rapid Vienna vs Inter Milan
Slavia Prague vs Genk
Krasnador vs Bayer Leverkusen
FC Zurich vs Napoli
Malmo vs Chelsea
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Eintracht Frankfurt
Celtic vs Valencia
Rennes vs Real Betis
Olympiacos vs Dynamo Kiev
Lazio vs Sevilla
Fenerbahce vs Zenit
Sporting Lisbon vs Villarreal
BATE Borisov vs Arsenal
Galatasaray vs Benfica

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

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