Dynamo Kiev next up for Toffees in Europa League
EVERTON will be delighted at avoiding a number of the big
guns in the last 16 of the Europa League after England’s remaining participants were drawn to play Dynamo Kiev.
It’s far from a gimme for Roberto Martinez’s side, but it could have been far tougher and Everton are rated 4-6 favourites to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Dynamo are the unbeaten leaders in Ukraine and eliminated relative French minnows Guingamp in the previous round.
That game was suspended for ten minutes on Thursday and Uefa announced they were opening disciplinary proceedings following the trouble in Kiev.
The long trek to Ukraine is one of the negatives and Martinez was hoping to be drawn away for the first leg which won’t be the case with the opener at Goodison Park.
Martinez told Everton’s official website: “In the draw you always prefer to play at home in the second leg and unfortunately that is not the case and there is nothing we can do in that respect.”
Everton are 12-1 to win the Europa League and with that claim a spot in next season’s Champions League, but there are still many hurdles to clear before that dream becomes reality.
It’s a wide-open tournament at 13-2 the field with Napoli and Wolfsburg jostling for favouritism at the top of the betting.
Napoli face Dinamo Moscow in the last 16, while Wolfsburg were picked out alongside
Inter in one of the mouthwatering fixtures. Villarreal take on
Seville and Fiorentina meet Roma in the other highlights of the last 16.
Europa League draw: Everton v Dynamo Kiev, Dnipro v Ajax, Zenit v Torino, Wolfsburg v Inter, Villarreal v Seville, Napoli v D Moscow, Club Brugge v Besiktas, Fiorentina v Roma.