Europa League Round of 16: 5th August Preview

The Europa League finally resumes on Wednesday after a nearly five-month enforced break.
Three of Wednesday’s ties will be second leg fixtures with the home sides hosting the fixtures, while Inter Milan will face Getafe in a straight knockout tie on neutral territory at the home of Schalke, as their first leg fixture was also postponed.

Copenhagen v Istanbul (AGG: 0-1)

Istanbul Basaksehir visit Copenhagen, holding on to a slender one-goal advantage from their home leg back in March. Both teams ended their domestic season on 26 July and so should be well rested for this crucial tie.
Expect the experienced heads of Gael Clichy, Edin Visca, Martin Skrtel, Demba Ba and Robinho to prove crucial to Istanbul’s hopes of progression.
Our verdict: Istanbul to progress

Manchester United v LASK (AGG: 5-0)

It would take a shock on monumental proportions to see Austria’s LASK to overturn a five-goal deficit at Old Trafford.
The only question here is how will Ole Gunnar Solskjaer use his squad, with another game against Istanbul or Copenhagen following just five days later?
Our verdict: Man Utd to progress

Shakhtar Donetsk v Wolfsburg (AGG: 2-1)

Wolfsburg will have their work cut out if they want to overturn a 2-1 deficit when they visit Ukrainian champions, Shakhtar Donetsk.
Shakhtar haven’t lost at home since Atalanta beat them in December, and they’ve been in imperious form since the restart, winning seven and drawing two of their nine games (including home and away wins over Dynamo Kyiv) as they won the Ukrainian Premier League by a massive 23 points.
Our verdict: Shakhtar to progress

Inter Milan v Getafe (single leg tie)

One of two “single” leg games in the round of 16, Inter Milan will face Getafe on neutral turf in Germany.
Getafe had an awful restart to the season, though, winning just one out of 11 La Liga games, which saw them drop out of the European places and down to eighth.
With the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Lautaro Martinez in attack, you’d fancy Inter to ease into the next round, where the winner will face Rangers or Bayer Leverkusen.
Our verdict: Inter to progress