- Your guide for the Europa League last-16 – including when and where the draw will take place
- There are three English clubs still involved in Liverpool, Brighton and West Ham
- David Moyes doesn’t deserve the negativity towards him at West Ham. It’s ridiculous and shameful for the job he’s done – It’s All Kicking Off podcast
The Champions League is the cherry on top of European football but the Europa League is just as entertaining.
Excitement has only grown for Europe’s second-best club competition after an amazing competitive group stage and the first leg off the play-offs being played earlier this month.
The second legs of the Europa League play-off’s games will be played tonight, meaning Liverpool, Brighton and West Ham fans only have one more sleep till their fate is decided and they know who their team will face in the last-16 of the competition.
The three English clubs as well as Rangers all secured their place in the round of 16 after finishing top of their respective groups.
Liverpool have their eyes set on European glory as they look to give manager Jurgen Klopp a legendary send-off
Brighton will look to make further club history by making it to the quarter-final stage of a European competition for the very first time
West Ham will be hoping they can build on the European glory they experienced last year winning the Conference League
When is the Europa League round of 16 draw?
The round of 16 draw takes place on Friday, February 23 at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
What time is the Europa League draw?
The draw will start at 11am (GMT), 6am (ET), 10pm (ACT).
Where can I watch the draw?
The UEFA Europa League draw will be available to watch free on UEFA’s official website.
The stream will begin at 11am (GMT) and you can watch it here.
How does the draw work, who can Liverpool and Co play?
The draw is as follows…
There are eight seeded teams and eight unseeded teams. The eight seeded teams will be put into one bowl for the draw, while there will be a second bowl consisting of the eight unseeded teams (the winners from each play-off round game).
The play-off teams consist of the runners-up of this year’s Europa League and the teams that placed their in their group in this year’s Champions League.
| Seeded teams | Unseeded teams |
|---|---|
| 1. Atalanta (ITA) | 1. SC Freiburg (GER) or Lens (FRA) |
| 2. Brighton (ENG) | 2. Rennes (FRA) or AC Milan (ITA) |
| 3. Leverkusen (GER) | 3. Toulouse (FRA) or Benfica (POR) |
| 4. Liverpool (ENG) | 4. Qarabağ (AZE) or Braga (POR) |
| 5. Rangers (Scotland) | 5. Sparta Praha (CZE) or Galatasaray (TUR) |
| 6. Slavia Praha (CZE) | 6. Sporting CP (POR) or Young Boys (SUI) |
| 7. Villarreal (ESP) | 7. Marseille (FRA) or Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) |
| 8. West Ham (ENG) | 8. Roma (ITA) vs Feyenoord (NED) |
No seeded team will be drawn against each other (i.e. Liverpool can’t play Brighton), just like no play-off winning team will be (i.e. Milan can’t play Sporting)
Each round of 16 tie will consist of one of this season’s Europa League group winners and one of the play-off winners.
The draw for Liverpool, Brighton and West Ham is essentially wide open.
The one rule which could of been a problem is now irrelevant to the English clubs as they are all in the seeded category and won’t play each other.
Draw rules
One of the main rules for the draw relates to where the team is from. No team from the same country is allowed to play each other.
For example Milan are currently 3-0 up against Rennes with the second leg left to play.
If Milan manage to hold off Rennes and progress they can not be drawn against Atalanta because they are both Italian clubs.
Due to Europa League rules AC Milan and Atalanta can not be drawn against each other in the round of 16 draw because they both play in Italy
The only other rule is teams who were in the same Europa League group this season can not play each other again.
This means for the English clubs Liverpool can’t play Toulouse, Brighton can’t play Marseille and West Ham can’t play Freiburg.
Rangers aren’t able to play Sparta Praha as they both finished first and second in Group C.
Teams Liverpool can play
- SC Freiburg (GER) or Lens (FRA)
- Rennes (FRA) or AC Milan (ITA)
- Qarabag (AZE) or Braga (POR)
- Sparta Praha (CZE) or Galatasaray (TUR)
- Sporting CP (POR) or Young Boys (SUI)
- Marseille (FRA) or Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
- Roma (ITA) vs Feyenoord (NED)
- Benfica (POR) – if they win against Toulouse
Teams West Ham can play
- Rennes (FRA) or AC Milan (ITA)
- Qarabag (AZE) or Braga (POR)
- Sparta Praha (CZE) or Galatasaray (TUR)
- Sporting CP (POR) or Young Boys (SUI)
- Marseille (FRA) or Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
- Roma (ITA) vs Feyenoord (NED)
- Toulouse or Benfica (POR)
- Lens (FRA) – if they win against Freiburg
Teams Brighton can play
- SC Freiburg (GER) or Lens (FRA)
- Rennes (FRA) or AC Milan (ITA)
- Qarabag (AZE) or Braga (POR)
- Sparta Praha (CZE) or Galatasaray (TUR)
- Sporting CP (POR) or Young Boys (SUI)
- Roma (ITA) vs Feyenoord (NED)
- Toulouse or Benfica (POR)
- Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) – if they win against Marseille
