The draw for the last 16 of the Europa League takes place today as Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United learn their potential routes to the final in May.
The two Premier League clubs are among the favourites to win the competition despite some poor form domestically, and they are joined in the draw by 14 other clubs including Rangers, Lazio and Athletic Bilbao.
With the play-off matches having concluded, Spurs and United know they will face either AZ Alkmaar or Real Sociedad in the round of 16.
And with the two English clubs being seeded in third and fourth respectively, they cannot meet again until the final, with both sides hoping that they can go far in this competition as they look to salvage a poor league season.
Here’s everything you need to know:
When is the draw for the Europa League last 16?
The draw for the next rounds of the Europa League takes place at 12pm GMT on Friday, 21 February at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.
The draw will follow the conclusion of the Champions League last-16 draw, which begins at around 11am GMT.
How can I watch the Europa League draw?
The draw will be streamed live on Uefa’s website. You can also follow dedicated coverage on The Independent’s live blog on the day.
Which teams are seeded in the Europa League draw?
The teams who finished in the top eight of the competition's new league phase table automatically qualified for the last 16.
Who has qualified from the Europa League play-offs?
How does the last-16 draw work?
According to the new rules, the top-eight sides will be placed into seeded pairs ahead of the round of 16, and will all play the second legs of their last-16 ties at home.
The seeded pairs consist of the teams who finished first and second, third and fourth, fifth and sixth, and seventh and eighth in the league phase – for example, United and Spurs make up one seeded pair as they finished third and fourth respectively. They will then be drawn against teams from the equivalent pair from the play-off ties.
The possible combinations are as follows:
When is the draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals?
From the knockout play-offs onwards the tournament is a bracket, so potential opponents in the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals were also pre-determined by pairings that were set according to league phase positions.
As the bracket was set after the end of the league phase, teams already know their potential opponents.
In this case, the draw is only made to determine the order of the matches (i.e. who plays at home in each leg).
When are the next rounds played?
Round of 16: 6 & 13 March 2025
Quarter-finals: 10 & 17 April 2025
Semi-finals: 1 & 8 May 2025
Final: 21 May 2025 (San Mames, Bilbao)
