Chelsea draw Sparta Prague in Europa League
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Reigning European champions Chelsea learned its fate in the Europa League draw on Thursday as the English side was paired with Sparta Prague.
The Blues finished third in their Champions League group to crash out of the competition in favor of Juventus and Shakhtar Donetsk. They will begin their bid to become just the fourth club (along with Juventus, Ajax and Bayern Munich) to win all of the major European trophies.
Elsewhere in the draw, Tottenham was drawn with French side Lyon while Liverpool was given a tough tie against Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Newcastle, also of England, will take on Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv.
Full draw:
BATE Borisov - Fenerbahce Inter Milan - Cluj Levante - Olympiakos Zenit St. Petersburg - Liverpool Dynamo Kiev - Bordeaux Bayer Leverkusen - Benfica Newcastle - Metalist Kharkiv Stuttgart - Genk Atletico Madrid - Rubin Kazan Ajax - Steaua Bucharest FC Basel - Dnipro Anzhi Makhachkala - Hannover Sparta Prague - Chelsea Borussia Monchengladbach - Lazio Tottenham - Lyon Napoli - Plzen
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Last-16 draw:
Napoli/Viktoria Plzen winner - BATE Borisov/Fenerbahce winner Leverkusen/Benfica winner - Dynamo Kiev/Bordeaux winner Anzhi Makhachkala/Hannover winner - Newcastle/Metalist Kharkiv winner Stuttgart/Genk winner - Monchengladbach/Lazio winner Tottenham/Lyon winner - Inter Milan/Cluj winner Levante/Olympiakos winner - Atletico Madrid/Rubin Kazan winner Basel/Dnipro winner - Zenit St. Petersburg/Liverpool winner Ajax/Steaua Bucharest winner - Sparta Prague/Chelsea winner