The draw for the intermediate round of the Conference League has been made. AZ will meet the winner of one of these meetings in the eighth final of the third European club tournament. The most beautiful meeting on paper is the one between SC Braga and Fiorentina. The games will be played on Thursday 16 and Thursday 23 February, after which AZ will play against a winner from the intermediate round on Thursday 9 and Thursday 16 March.
The most interesting encounter is between Braga and Fiorentina. The Portuguese come in from the Europa League and take on la Viola, which FC Twente previously eliminated in the play-offs for the Conference League. Another meeting to keep an eye on is the one between Trabzonspor and FC Basel. That means a meeting between Naci Ünüvar on the Turkish side and Wouter Burger on the Swiss side. Lazio, which was in the Europa League group with Feyenoord, plays against Cluj and former PSV opponent FK Bodø/Glimt meets the Lech Poznan of trainer John van den Brom.
AZ finished first in a Conference League group with SK Dnipro-1, Apollon Limassol and FC Vaduz. The last group match was won 2-1 by the formation of Pascal Jansen against the formation from Ukraine and partly because of this, the Alkmaarders skip the intermediate round. Dnipro will report as number two in the group in the intermediate round and will compete against AEK Larnaca, which will enter the Europa League as number three.
The matches will be played on Thursday 16 and Thursday 23 February. The teams entering the Europa League will play the first game at home and will visit their opponents a week later. The eight winners report in the eighth final, in which AZ is therefore a possible opponent. The Alkmaarders will then be placed anyway and will therefore first play an away game on Thursday 9 March. The return in the AFAS Stadium is scheduled for Thursday 16 March.
The full draw:
Qarabag (Aze) – KAA Gent (Bel)
Trabzonspor (Tur) – FC Basel (Switzerland)
Lazio (Ita) – CFR Cluj (Roe)
FK Bodø/Glimt (Noo) – Lech Poznan (Pol)
SC Braga (Por) – Fiorentina (Ita)
AEK Larnaca (Cyp) – Dnipro-1 (Uk)
Sheriff Tiraspol (Mol) – Partizan (Ser)
Ludogorets (Bul) – Anderlecht (Bel)
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