The draws for the Europa League and Europa Conference League, scheduled for Friday, will reveal the last-16 opponents for five British teams.
Liverpool, West Ham, Brighton, and Rangers anticipate their fate in the League draw at 11:00 GMT, while Aston Villa awaits the Europa Conference League draw at 12:00.
Seeded in both competitions, these clubs will play away for the first leg on March 7 and host the second leg on March 14. The draws, held at UEFA’s Nyon headquarters in Switzerland, feature group-stage winners and knockout round play-off winners from each competition.
The quarter-finalists will emerge from the eight ties in April. Notably, teams from the same country cannot face each other, and ties level after the second leg will proceed to extra time and penalties, with no away goals rule applied.
Liverpool, despite two away losses in Group E, against Toulouse and Union Saint-Gilloise, still topped the table. West Ham, The Conference League winners last season, dropped just three points in Group A while Brighton – who are playing in Europe for the first time – beat Ajax home and away to top Group B.
Rangers leading Group C after wins over Real Betis (home and away) and Sparta Prague and Aston Villa triumphing in the Europa Conference League Group E with 13 points from six games.
Liverpool, West Ham, Brighton, and Rangers have potential matchups against notable clubs such as AC Milan, Roma, and Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League. AC Milan, after finishing third in their Champions League group, advanced from the knockout round play-off tie against Rennes.
They currently stand third in Serie A and boast a squad featuring former Chelsea players Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fikayo Tomori, Olivier Giroud, and Christian Pulisic. Sporting Lisbon, on par with leaders Benfica in the Portuguese League, includes former Tottenham forward Marcus Edwards in their lineup.
Marseille, featuring former Arsenal and Chelsea forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Roma, who advanced on penalties against Feyenoord, also await potential matchups.
Seeded teams for Europa League draw: West Ham, Brighton, Rangers, Liverpool, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Villarreal, Slavia Prague.
Unseeded teams for Europa League draw: Roma, Marseille, Sparta Prague, Sporting Lisbon, AC Milan, Qarabag, Benfica, Freiburg.
Seeded teams for Europa Conference League draw: Aston Villa, Lille, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Viktoria Plzen, Club Bruges, Fiorentina, PAOK, Fenerbahce.
Unseeded teams for Europa Conference League draw: Sturm Graz, Servette, Union Saint-Gilloise, Dinamo Zagreb, Olympiakos, Ajax, Molde, Maccabi Haifa.
The prospect of a journey to Azerbaijan looms for Liverpool, West Ham, Brighton, or Rangers for the Europa League fixture on March 7th.
Qarabag secured a spot in the last 16 by overcoming Portuguese side Sporting Braga with a 6-5 aggregate victory in the knockout round play-offs.
With Liverpool facing Manchester City in a pivotal Premier League clash on March 10, Jurgen Klopp may find logistical challenges with a lengthy journey of six hours each way preceding such a crucial domestic fixture. Similarly, West Ham and Brighton have home games scheduled for the same day, making the prospect of extended travel less than ideal.
The Europa League final is scheduled to be held at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on May 22nd, while the Europa Conference League final will take place at the Agia Sophia Stadium in Athens, Greece, on May 29th.
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