Fenerbahçe's justly-deserved reward for clinching the Group B summit in the UEFA Europa League group stages is a mouth-watering last-16 tie with Spanish giants Sevilla, while fellow Süper Lig teams Sivasspor and Istanbul Başakşehir will face off against Serie A's Fiorentina and Belgian Gent respectively.
Fenerbahçe's rivals Sevilla, have firmly cemented themselves as the most successful team in the Europa League with an astounding 6 trophies, an impressive record.
In the 2007-2008 UEFA Champions League Round of 16, the Yellow Canaries outshone their La Liga counterparts, ultimately progressing through to the quarterfinals with aplomb.
Oozing with confidence, Fenerbahçe completed the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 as Group B leaders of its group to earn automatic qualification, while Sevilla eliminated Dutch team PSV in the last 16 play-off round.
As the Yellow Canaries soar to new heights in their pursuit of their first Süper Lig title in a decade, their upcoming rivals are faring less favorably in La Liga - languishing in 12th place with 25 points from 6 wins, 7 draws, and 9 losses after 22 games.
Despite their poor run in La Liga this season, Sevilla cannot be underestimated in the European campaigns as they are capable of producing major upsets.
Undoubtedly, Sevilla have been a force to be reckoned with within the world of Spanish football, having won the La Liga championship in the 1945-1946 season and claiming the UEFA Europa League an astonishing six times.
Sevilla made a name for themselves by taking home the UEFA Europa League Cup during the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 consecutively and managed to dominate again 3 seasons in row years in 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016.
Finally, the Spanish representative, Sevilla, completed the UEFA Europa League champion in 2019-2020, taking this coveted trophy to their museum for the 6th time.
In addition, they managed to take home the UEFA Super Cup once in 2006-2007, solidifying their place amongst the European elite.
It is also noteworthy that Sevilla's total squad value is 240 million euros, according to Transfermarkt data.
As the most valuable player of the Spanish team, Lucas Ocampos draws attention with 18 million euros.
In addition to the Argentine football player, Moroccan goalkeeper Bono is the second most valuable player in Sevilla with 15 million Euros.
Sevilla's squad also includes 3 familiar faces who have passed through Türkiye before – Marcao, Fernando and Alex Telles, who previously played for Galatasaray.
The upcoming ties will be the third and fourth as Fenerbahçe have faced Sevilla in 2 official matches before.
The two teams previously competed in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 in the 2007-2008 season. While the Yellow Canaries won 3-2 in the match played in Istanbul, they lost 3-2 away from Spain leading to Fenerbahçe's win in penalties.
United's reward
After overcoming La Liga giants Barcelona in the Europa League playoffs, Manchester United will face another tricky Spanish side in Real Betis, while Premier League powerhouses Arsenal will face Sporting Lisbon of Portugal.
United edged a thrilling playoff with Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate thanks to a 2-1 win at Old Trafford in Thursday's second leg and remain in the hunt for four trophies this season as they continue to improve under coach Erik ten Hag.
The English side are looking to secure their first trophy since their 2017 Europa League triumph under Jose Mourinho, with the Portuguese's current side AS Roma pitted against Real Sociedad in this season's last 16.
Arsenal sailed through the Europa League group stages, winning five of their six group matches and take on Sporting next, who overcame Denmark's FC Midtjylland in their playoff.
Serie A giants Juventus progressed through the playoffs at Nantes' expense thanks to a hat-trick from Argentine forward Angel Di Maria in the second leg in France, and will face Germany's Freiburg next.
The following is the draw for the Europa League last-16 which was held in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday:
Union Berlin vs. Saint-Gilloise
Sevilla vs. Fenerbahçe
Juventus vs. Freiburg
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Ferencvaros
Sporting vs. Arsenal
Manchester United vs. Real Betis
AS Roma vs. Real Sociedad
Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Feyenoord
Conference League
AEK Larnaca vs. West Ham
Fiorentina vs. Sivasspor
Lazio vs. AZ Alkmaar
Lech Poznan vs. Djurgarden
Basel vs. Slovan Bratislava
Sheriff vs. Nice
Anderlecht vs. Villarreal
Gent vs. Istanbul Başakşehir