Europa League Preview: Napoli hoping to get back to winning ways

Napoli will look to bounce back from rare domestic woes when they travel to Spain to take on Villarreal as the Europa League resumes with the round of 32.

Maurizio Sarri’s men gave up top spot in the Serie A after a narrow 1-0 loss to Juventus on Saturday but the coach was pleased with what he saw and will be hopeful a similar performance will secure an important away result at the Camp El Madrigal.

Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain has been lethal this season with two goals in three Europa League appearances adding to his 24 league goals.

Villarreal’s form has been indifferent of late, with the fourth-placed La Liga side having won just two of their last six games.

Primeira Liga leaders Sporting CP welcome Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen as they look to extend their fine run of form which has seen them win four of their last five games.

Lisbon’s fierce rivals Porto are also in action against German opponents as they travel to Borussia Dortmund in hopes of taking a good result back to Portugal next week, while Premier League giants Liverpool will also travel to Germany to take on Augsburg.

Manchester United’s best route to Champions League qualification could be through a Europa League triumph and they will look to kick-start their campaign with a win away to Midtjylland of Denmark, while Premier League contenders Tottenham will hope to carry their form from a 2-1 win over Manchester City into their away leg against Serie A title hopefuls Fiorentina.

Anderlecht welcome Greece’s Olympiacos, Spain’s Sevilla will host Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Molde who boast recently signed Champions League winner Eidur Gudjohnsen, as Athletic Bilbao head to France where Olympique Marseille await them.

Turkey’s Fenerbahce welcome Lokomotiv Moscow on Tuesday, while compatriots Galatasaray are at home to Italy’s Lazio, as Swiss champions Basel travel to Ligue 1’s Saint-Etienne and Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk welcome Germany’s Schalke.

Sparta Prague take on Russia’s Krasnodar, Sion will play Sporting Braga and Rapid Vienna travel to Spain to take on Gary Neville’s Valencia fresh off the coach’s first La Liga win.