Europa League draw LIVE: Manchester United, Tottenham and Rangers learn last-16 opponents

The three British sides have learned their last-16 opponents, as well as who they may face in the quarter-finals and semi-finals

Ruben Amorim shares Man Utd's target in Europa League

The Europa League knockout stage draw has taken place with Manchester United, Tottenham and Rangers learning their last-16 opponents.

The three British representatives are among the strongest sides left in an intriguing competition that feels wide open given the Premier League’s pair respective travails.

Manchester United take on Real Sociedad with both clubs struggling domestically this season, while Tottenham face Dutch opposition in the form of AZ Alkmaar.

Rangers, meanwhile, face a long trip to Turkey and a meeting with Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.

The Europa Conference League draw, which includes Chelsea, follows the second-tier proceedings.

Follow all the latest updates from Nyon below:

Europa League draw LIVE

• The draw for the last 16 of the Europa League is set to take place
• Man Utd, Spurs and Rangers will all learn their opponents for the round of 16
• One of Man Utd or Spurs will play Real Sociedad, the other facing AZ Alkmaar
• Clubs will also learn their exact route to the final as potential quarter-final and semi-finals become clear
• Tournament tree means teams already have rough idea of possible opponents in each round

[21 February 2025 11:39 · Luke Baker]

Man Utd’s mistakes have plunged them into the red – and it’s about to get worse

Getting sacked by Manchester United can be a lucrative business. For a select few, anyway. Not for the 250 staff who were laid off by Sir Jim Ratcliffe last year or, in all probability, for those fearing for their jobs now.

United insist another redundancy program is merely one of the options being considered as a club that has invariably been loss-making since Covid seeks to cut costs and break even.

But if the financial results of a club that still – with a projected income of up to £670m for the current year – can be a money-making machine often make for grim reading, there tends to be a telling detail in the small print.

“Exceptional items” tends to cover pay-offs. As United announced a loss of £27.7m for the second quarter of the financial year, and the last three months of 2024, exceptional items came to £14.5m; more than half of that loss, as even those with a rudimentary grasp of maths may work out.

Read Richard Jolly’s full analysis of the situation at Old Trafford:

[21 February 2025 11:25 · Luke Baker]

Champions League draw

The Champions League draw has just been made in Switzerland.

You can find out who Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa will face in our live blog here:

[21 February 2025 11:10 · Chris Wilson]

Who are the favourites for the Europa League?

Despite some embarrassing defeats of late, Manchester United are still the bookies’s favourites to win the competition.

United are languishing in 15th in the league and have even lost three times to Tottenham so far this season, but Ange Postecoglou’s side are second in the list of favourites at present (though some odds are offered as roughly the same as United’s).

Spanish side Athletic Bilbao, whose home stadium will host May’s final, are third-favourites, with the Basque side currently just six points behind leaders Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

And league phase ‘winners’ Lazio are the next in line, with the Italian side currently sitting in fifth in Serie A and 10 points adrift of leaders Napoli.

[21 February 2025 11:00 · Chris Wilson]

Who Rangers could face in Europa League last-16 draw

After finishing the league phase seeded 8th, Rangers are paired with Olympiacos in the bracket for the knockouts.

The ninth, 10th, 23rd and 24th seeds will now face off with the two winners to play the seeds, which will be finalised in next month’s draw.

Those knockout play-off ties are Bodo/Glimt vs Twente and Anderlecht vs Fenerbahce. After the first legs, Twente lead Bodo 2-1 and Fenerbahce hold a strong 3-0 lead over Anderlecht.

[21 February 2025 10:44 · Chris Wilson]

Who Tottenham could face in Europa League last-16 draw

After finishing as the fourth seeds in the league phase, Spurs are paired with third seeds Manchester United in the knockout bracket.

The knockout play-off ties were drawn on Friday with the 13th, 14th, 19th and 20th seeds now facing off for a right to make it into next month’s draw. The winners will they face United or Spurs.

Those ties are Real Sociedad vs Midtjylland, which stands at 2-1 to La Real after the first leg, and Galatasaray vs AZ Alkmaar, which the Dutch team lead 4-1.

[21 February 2025 10:23 · Chris Wilson]

Who Manchester United could face in Europa League last-16 draw

After finishing as the third seeds in the league phase, United are paired with fourth seeds Tottenham in the knockout bracket.

The knockout play-off ties were drawn on Friday with the 13th, 14th, 19th and 20th seeds now facing off for a right to make it into next month’s draw. The winners will then face United or Spurs.

Those ties are Real Sociedad vs Midtjylland and Galatasaray vs AZ Alkmaar, which sit at 2-1 to Sociedad and 4-1 to AZ after the first legs.

[21 February 2025 10:10 · Chris Wilson]

How did the British teams qualify?

All three British sides involved in the competition qualified automatically for the last 16, having all finished in the top eight in the league phase.

Manchester United make a shaky start with three successive draws against FC Twente, Porto and Fenerbahce, though successive wins against PAOK, Bodo/Glimt, Viktoria Plzen, Rangers and FCSB meant that Rube Amorim’s side eventually qualified unbeaten in third place.

Spurs started off their campaign with three successive wins – against Qarabag, Ferencvaros and Alkmaar – before losing to Galatasaray in November. They followed that with draws against Roma and Rangers, before two wins in their last two saw them finish in fourth.

It was a little more dramatic for Rangers, who beat Nice 4-1 away from home and held Tottenham to a 1-1 draw at Ibrox. Despite suffering a 2-1 loss to United at Old Trafford, the Scottish side finished in eighth thanks to a final-day 2-1 victory over Union Saint-Gilloise.

[21 February 2025 10:00 · Chris Wilson]

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)

[21 February 2025 09:50 · Chris Wilson]

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).

[21 February 2025 09:35 · Chris Wilson]

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:

• Viktoria Plzen - to play Lazio or Athletic Club
• Bodo/Glimt - to play Olympiacos or Rangers
• Ajax - to play Eintracht Frankfurt or Lyon
• AZ - to play Man Utd or Tottenham
• Real Sociedad - to play Man Utd or Tottenham
• FSCB - to play Eintracht Frankfurt or Lyon
• Fenerbahce - to play Olympiacos or Rangers
• Roma - to play Lazio or Athletic Club