9/2 Gunners set French test in Europe - (2021)

Arsenal will face French Ligue 1 side Rennes in the last 16 of the Europa League, while Premier League rivals Chelsea (7/2 – Outright) have been paired with Ukranian outfit Dynamo Kiev.

Unai Emery’s Gunners (9/2 Outright) overturned a one-goal first-leg deficit to beat BATE Borisov 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday evening to seal a 3-1 aggregate victory.

Their reward is a game against a Rennes side which currently sits down in 11th place in Ligue 1 but took the scalp of Spanish side Real Betis to reach the last 16.

The tie is particularly special for Arsenal’s veteran goalkeeper Petr Cech as he will look to face his former club who he spent two years with before joining Chelsea on summer 2004.

Fellow shot-stopper Andres Palop made the draw and 36-year-old Cech tweeted: “When a goalkeeper makes the draw good things happen!”

The Gunners were due to be at home in the first leg on March 7, but as Chelsea were drawn at home on the same night, they will travel to Roazhon Park that night instead for a 5.55pm kick-off .

Chelsea must overcome Dynamo Kiev to reach the quarter-finals having comfortably reached this stage with a 5-1 aggregate win against Malmo.

Kiev edged out Olympiakos to reach the last 16 but Maurizio Sarri’s side should be confident of coming out on top as they face the Ukrainian side at Stamford Bridge in the first leg (Chelsea 3/10, Dynamo Kiev 17/2, Draw 4/1, 1st leg Match Result).

Meanwhile, Valencia, who knocked out Celtic, have been pitted against Russian club Krasnodar, while Emery’s former team and five-times winners Sevilla face Slavia Prague.

Serie A side Inter Milan will face German Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt, fellow Italian side Napoli will go up against Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb will play Benfica, and Zenit St Petersburg will face Villarreal.

Odds subject to change.