Napoli draw RB Salzburg in Europa League round of 16

Napoli will face Austrian champions RB Salzburg in the next round of the Europa League. While Ancelotti and company will be glad to have avoided the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, and Sevilla, they shouldn’t underestimate the 12-time Austrian champions. Salzburg have won the Austrian league the past 5 seasons and made it to the semifinals of last year’s Europa League knocking out Dortmund and Lazio along the way. Salzburg also impressively beat their sister club, RB Leipzig, twice in the group stage of this seasons competition. They currently sit 14 points ahead of 2nd place in Austria which means this competition will be the clear priority for them going forward.

Salzburg manager Marco Rose has been targeted by multiple Bundesliga clubs and it’s clear why when watching his side play. They have scored more goals then any team in the Europa League this season with 22 goals (averaging 2.75 goals per match) and their attacking style of play will be a real test for the Partenopei’s defense.

Napoli will face Parma and Juventus in Serie A before their meeting with Salzburg on March 7 at the San Paolo.