Harambee Stars defender Joseph Okumu will have a chance to face former Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil after Gent was paired with Istanbul Basaksehir in the last 16 of this season’s UEFA Europa Conference League.
Gent made it to the stage after seeing off Qarabag 5-3 on post-match penalties following a 1-1 aggregate draw in regular time; Okumu not featuring for Gent in the second leg that was hosted in Belgium.
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The Turkish side weren’t involved in the knockout stage of the competition after finishing top of Group A with 14 points with Fiorentina finishing second. Ozil joined the Turkish side from rivals Fenerbahce in July after falling out with former manager Ismail Kartal.
Ozil scored nine goals in 37 appearances for Fenerbahce after joining from Arsenal in January 2021, but fell out of favour after clashing with Kartal over his fitness; he has only made eight appearances for his current club.
UEFA Konferans Ligi Son 16 Turu rakibimiz Belçika temsilcisi KAA Gent oldu. İlk maçı 9 Mart Perşembe günü deplasmanda oynayacak ekibimiz, rövanş maçını 15 Mart Çarşamba günü evimizde oynayacak. pic.twitter.com/XC6KqRa4Jc
— İstanbul Başakşehir (@ibfk2014) February 24, 2023
Apart from the Gent tie, Premier League side West Ham landed AEK Lamaca with the likes of Fiorentina and Lazio still in the competition with the aim of replacing AS Roma as the Champions.
The first legs will be played on March 9 with the return matches a week later.
The draw in full
AEK Larnaca v West Ham
Fiorentina v Sivasspor
Lazio v AZ Alkmaar
Lech Poznan v Djurgardens
Basel v Slovan Bratislava
Sheriff Tiraspol v Nice
Anderlecht v Villarreal
Gent v Istanbul Basaksehir
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