Europa League: Borussia Monchengladbach look for second victory over Schalke in a week

WINNER: Gladbach top scorer Lars Stindl helps his team to victory

 By Steven Oldham

German heavyweights Schalke 04 and Borussia Monchengladbach meet tonight in the Europa League round of 16.

Both sides are having under-par seasons in the Bundesliga but still have to be considered major threats in knockout competition.

Gladbach travel to Schalke on the back of a mini revival in domestic terms - with four wins in their last five - including a 4-2 victory over tonight's opposition last weekend.

Manager Dieter Hecking - in charge since January and overseeing consistent improvement in his team's fortunes - will be without the suspended Christoph Kramer.  

Having again being drawn into a tough Champion's League group, Monchengladbach improved on last season and avoided finishing last to qualify for the final 32 of this competition, where they knocked out Fiorentina despite losing the first leg at home 1-0.

Top scorer Lars Stindl scored an impressive hat trick in that second leg victory, and almost half of his tally so far this season have come since the winter break. 

OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS VS AS ROMA PREVIEW

The hosts meanwhile have only won one in the same time frame and while they have quality, they remain only four points above the relegation playoff places.

S04 made light work of their Europa League group, picking up 15 points from 18, only losing their last game against Red Bull Salzburg having already long qualified. They then eliminated PAOK of Greece in the first knockout round.

Their performances in Europe have been the highlight of a poor season to date, littered with inconsistency that shouldn't afflict a team including Benedikt Howedes, Coke and Matija Nastasic. Creditable results (victory over Herta Berlin, an away draw at Bayern Munich) are often followed by defeat.

With teams like Roma, Lyon, Manchester United and Besiktas still involved, both these German giants know tough challenges still await the winner in the next round. 

LOOKING FOR IMPROVEMENT: Schalke captain Benedikt Howedes

Europa League: Lyon vs Roma - battle of the big scoring marksmen Lacazette and Dzeko

KEY MAN: Olympique Lyonnais's leading scorer Alexandre Lacazette

By Steven Oldham 

LYON vs AS ROMA

This eye-catching fixture in the round of 16 sees Lyon take on Roma with the French team looking to add some much-needed consistency to their season.

They are well off the title pace in Ligue 1, 18 points behind leaders Monaco having played only one game less.  

When on form not many teams can live with them - handing Metz a 5-0 thrashing, outclassing Nancy 4-0 and crushing AZ in this competition 11-2 on aggregate, all since the start of the year. 

The goals of Alexandre Lacazette have been crucial in what has been good about Lyon's game this season - the marksman has 27 already this campaign - and he could be the difference between Lyon's season ending as a damp squib or a success.

However, out-of-sync defeats to Caen and Lille in the same timeframe, coupled with five defeats in their first ten league matches, leave them somewhere short of where they want to be.  

Victory in this competition is now pretty much their only way into the Champion's League next season barring a miracle run. 

SCHALKE 04 vs BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH PREVIEW

Roma meanwhile, continue to perform strongly. Despite a narrow defeat to Napoli at the weekend, they have eight wins in ten and continue to chase Juventus at the top of Serie A.

The return of Luciano Spalletti just over a year ago to the dugout has reinvigorated Roma's fortunes despite some of his decisions not being universally accepted. The results though - a 64% win rate in 14 months - can not be argued with. 

Edin Dzeko is enjoying a purple patch this season  - the ex-Manchester City man has 29 for the season including eight in this competition - including a hat trick against Villareal in the last round. 

The mercurial form of Radja Nainggolan since the start of 2017 has been a big part of their success - he's scored six times in six games over two months - and the midfielder will surely be a key player in this fixture.

Centre back Antonio Rudiger misses out through suspension.

Both teams are not short of goals so regardless of the winner, it should be an entertaining pair of fixtures. Roma will head into the game as favourites but a lot depends on whether Lyon show up - if they do, they can cause real problems.

PURPLE PATCH: Roma striker Edin Dzeko is in lethal form

Europa League early kick-offs: Manchester United pitch winning credentials in Russia as FC Rostov await

AVAILABLE: Manchester United's Ibrahimovic can play despite ban

 By Steven Oldham

Manchester United's away clash at Russian Premier League runners-up FC Rostov leads the early kick-offs in tonight's Europa League round of 16 first leg games. 

Jose Mourinho's side will look to return to winning ways after Saturday's fiery draw with Bournemouth at Old Trafford, which saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic pick up a retrospective three-match ban after accepting violent conduct charges for his clashes with Tyrone Mings.

The state of Rostov's threadbare pitch is a more pressing concern for United with Mourinho critical of the playing surface- described by UEFA as 'not perfect, but playable'.

He said: "It's hard for me to believe we are going to play on that field - if you can call it a field. I don't know which team to play." 

United will definitely be without Eric Bailly with the Frenchman suspended after a red card in the last round against Saint-Etienne, while Wayne Rooney and Luke Shaw have not made the trip. 

The returning Henrikh Mkhitaryan may now not be risked due to the pitch conditions. The Armeninan midfielder has been missing with a hamstring injury in recent fixtures. 

United should still have enough to overcome Rostov but need to be wary of complacency against a team that handed Bayern Munich a shock 3-2 defeat in the Champion's League group stages. 

The Russians performed solidly in their debut Champion's League campaign, picking up five points, finishing above seasoned European campaigners PSV Eindhoven to secure a place in this competition. They knocked Sparta Prague out 5-1 on aggregate in the previous round, winning the home leg 4-0. 

BARE: The under-fire pitch at Rostov's Olimp-2 stadium

FC COPENHAGEN vs AJAX

Reigning national champions FC Copenhagen head into this fixture on the back of an unbeaten season so far in the Danish Superliga, twelve points clear of nearest challengers Brondby ahead of the league split next month. A crushing 5-0 defeat of Horsens at the weekend extended this run to 24 games. 

The Danes narrowly missed out on qualification for the last 16 of the Champion's League and were unbeaten at home in the group stage without conceding a goal.  They eliminated Bulgarian side Ludogorets in the last round.

Ajax, meanwhile, are on a nine-match unbeaten run of their own in the Eredivisie, but their momentum suffered a slight blow at the weekend, only drawing 1-1 with mid-table Groningen. 

After comfortably winning their group ahead of fellow round of 16 qualifiers Celta Vigo, the Dutch team narrowly came through the last round, defeating Legia Warsaw 1-0 on aggregate thanks to Nick Viergever's home goal in the second leg. Defenders Joel Veltman and Davinson Sanchez both miss out through suspension. 
 

SUSPENDED: Ajax defender Joel Veltman is banned for the first leg

  APOEL NICOSIA vs ANDERLECHT 

Cypriot champions APOEL continue to punch above their weight in European competition, knocking out Spanish giants Athletic Bilbao in the previous round 4-3 on aggregate.

An impressive all-round performance saw them narrowly lose the first leg 3-2 before turning their opponents over at home, with Giannis Gianniotas scoring in both fixtures including the decisive penalty that took them through.

A morale-boosting 2-0 victory over Omonia in the Nicosia derby at the weekend will leave head coach Thomas Christiansen quietly confident ahead of this evening's game. 

Anderlecht, meanwhile, failed to live up to top billing in their group, finishing as runners-up to Saint-Etienne, but recovered to eliminate Zenit St Petersburg in the last round (albeit on away goals).

Domestically, they are joint top with Club Brugge but lost their most recent fixture 3-2 at Mechelen - their first league defeat since November. 

Anderlecht have no fewer than seven players one yellow card away from missing the return leg, so the likes of top scorer Youri Tielemans and double goalscorer from the Zenit victory Frank Acheampong need to be careful tonight.

IN FORM: Anderlecht's top scorer Youri Tielemans

Europa League needs to change...but is still a competition worth winning

By Steven Oldham

Tomorrow's Europa League round of sixteen includes many ties which bely the tournament's widely-regarded status as a poor relation of the Champions League.

UEFA's secondary competition offers €5m prize money to the winners, less than half of the team winning the more prestigious cup.  But this is still a substantial sum of money for any club with ambitions of a successful future.

There is no denying there are problems with the competition in its current form.  It's long and overdrawn - four qualifying rounds for a second tier tournament is far too many.

It's also unfair that teams who have slogged through the qualification process are likely to be knocked out by a team getting a second chance at European glory after being eliminated in the Champions League group stages.

Most of the teams in the initial qualification rounds have no chance of making the group stages of the competition, never mind the knock out rounds - obviously every country should be represented in continental competition - but the likes of Drogheda United and Sliema Wanderers are unlikely to ever make their mark on this competition.

A reorganisation of the Europa League could give the smaller, less powerful nations a chance to see their teams be successful.  A reintroduction of the Cup Winners Cup, also to include the 15 lowest ranked national champions, would be a step in the right direction - a shorter, higher quality Europa League and a more realistic competition for the smaller sides to enter.

Sadly, I think this is unlikely to happen, though a positive step has been made in that future Europa League winners will automatically be entered in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League.  A chance to improve and fight for the really big honours and money is just reward for teams winning this competition.  There are some very big clubs left in the last sixteen.

Clubs with real Champions League pedigree including Juventus, Valencia, Lyon and Benfica are among the sixteen teams fighting to reach the quarter finals.  Some have suggested the Europa is considered a distraction - an annoyance almost to these teams - but the additional games don't seem to be affecting Juve or Benfica who sit well clear atop of their respective leagues.
 
Juventus take on Fiorentina as hot favourites in an all Italian clash having beaten their rivals in domestic competition at the weekend.  The league leaders are in a rich vein of form and have won 8 of their last 10, while the Viola have slumped in recent weeks, collecting just 1 point from 12.
 
Sevilla and Real Betis clash in the round's only other same-nation tie with the hosts favourites - they've won their past three while their relegation threatened opponents look unlikely to be hosting continental football next season.  Betis are enduring a torrid season in La Liga and sit rock bottom, eight points from safety.

Last 32 action between Tottenham and Dnipro

 
Tottenham will look to recover from a morale-sapping 4-0 defeat at Chelsea at the weekend in a tough-looking tie against Benfica.  Comments from Spurs manager Tim Sherwood about his players fighting for their futures could encourage them to a good performance, but equally, could go the other way and further deplete their confidence.  Spurs laboured to a narrow victory over Dnipro in the last round, and such a performance will not be enough against the stronger Portuguese side.
 
Porto and Napoli are both seasoned European campaigners and it is a shame to see them paired together at this stage. However, Porto are having a tough season and recently sacked boss Paulo Fonseca.  They lie third in the league but have not won in four games, and struggled to put away a determined Eintracht Frankfurt team in the last round - having to rely on the away goals ruling.  Napoli are going well in Serie A and will be quietly confident.
 
Basel, Lyon, Anzhi and Valencia will head into their respective ties as favourites, but Red Bull Salzburg, Viktoria Plzen, AZ and Hungarian minnows Ludogorets Razgrad will be doing their best to grab the headlines.

What's the right thing to do with the Europa League? Disagree with my thoughts on the competition's future or tomorrow's games? Let me know here or on Twitter - @spoldham

Don't forget to vote in the poll at the bottom of the page!

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Thanks to Getty Images, AFP and UEFA for the photograph.