Arsenal Europa League draw: Unai Emery's side draw BATE Borisov in last 32
Arsenal have been drawn to play against BATE Borisov in the last 32 of the Europa League.
The Premier League side met BATE Borisov in the group stage of the competition last year and beat them 4-2 in Belarus and 6-0 when they met at the Emirates.
The first leg will be played at Borisov Arena in Belarus on Thursday 14 February, with the return leg set to take place on Wednesday 20 February, a day early because Chelsea will play Malmo on Thursday at Stamford Bridge, and the draw for the round of 16 will take place on Friday 22 February.
Arsenal used young players and handed out several first-team debuts as they topped Group E ahead of Sporting, Vorskla and Qarabag.
The Belarus side were drawn in Chelsea's group and qualified ahead of Vidi and PAOK, despite losing 3-1 and 1-0 to the English side.
Unai Emery won the Europa League three consecutive times with Sevilla and has Arsenal supporters excited about their chances of winning European silverware for the first time since lifting the Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994.
Arsenal’s 22-match unbeaten run was ended by Southampton on Sunday, but remain on course to challenge for a Champions League place in next season’s competition through the Premier League.
The Gunners were beaten by Atletico Madrid in the semi-final of last season's competition after beating AC Milan in the quarter-final as they battled for one final trophy under outgoing manager Arsene Wenger.
The final will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan on Wednesday 29 May, which means Henrikh Mkhitaryan may not be able to play given the tensions between the host country and the 29-year-old's native Armenia. The midfielder as ‘saved’ from a hostile and left at home by Emery when Arsenal travelled to Azerbaijan to play Qarabag.
Draw in full
Viktoria Plzen vs Dinamo Zagreb
Brugge vs RB Salzburg
Rapid Vienna vs Inter Milan
Slavia Prague vs Genk
Krasnodar vs Bayer Leverkusen
Zurich vs Napoli
Malmo vs Chelsea
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Frankfurt
Celtic vs Valencia
Stade Rennais vs Real Betis
Olympiakos vs Dynamo Kiev
Lazio vs Sevilla
Fenerbahce vs Zenit St Petersburg
Sporting vs Villarreal
BATE Borisov vs Arsenal
Galatasaray vs Benfica
