The draw for the Europa League play-offs takes place today as the match-ups for the new format’s first knockout round are decided.
The three British sides in this season’s Europa League – Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Rangers FC – are already through to the last-16 after claiming one of the top-eight spots in the inaugural league phase, and they will have to wait for next month’s last-16 draw to find out their possible path to May’s final in Bilbao.
United and Spurs finished third and fourth in the league standings respectively, and will face one of either Real Sociedad, Galatasaray, AZ Alkmaar or Midtjylland in the last-16, while Rangers, who came eighth in the league standings, will play one of Bodo/Glimt, Anderlecht, Twente or Fenerbahce.
Today’s Europa League draw in Nyon determine the play-offs and you can follow all the updates in the live blog below. The Champions League draw takes place at the earlier time of 11am GMT.
Who can draw who in play-offs?
As explained below, each play-off side can be drawn against one of two possible opponents. So:
Bodo/Glimt and Anderlecht (9th and 10th) will each play one of Twente and Fenerbahce (23rd and 24th).
FSCB and Ajax (11th and 12th) will each play one of Union SG and PAOK (21st and 22nd).
Real Sociedad and Galatasaray (13th and 14th) will each play one of AZ Alkmaar and Midtjylland (19th and 20th).
Roma and Viktoria Plzen (15th and 16th) will each play one of Ferencvaros and Porto (17th and 18th).
Lawrence Ostlere31 January 2025 10:18
Who is already through to the last-16?
An addendum: there will be another draw on 21 February to decide not only the last-16 ties but the rest of the pathway through to May’s final in Bilbao, so United, Spurs and Rangers fans might want to put that date in the diary.
Lawrence Ostlere31 January 2025 10:02
Who is already through to the last-16?
The top eight in the league standings are automatically through to the round of 16, so that means they won’t feature in this play-off draw, and have managed to avoid an extra two fixtures in the calendar.
- Lazio
- Athletic Club
- Manchester United
- Tottenham Hotspur
- Eintracht Frankfurt
- Lyon
- Olympiacos
- Rangers
Lawrence Ostlere31 January 2025 09:50
How does today’s Europa League draw work?
The teams that finished between ninth and 16th in the league standings will be seeded for the play-offs draw, and they will each be drawn against an unseeded team that finished between 17th and 24th in the table.
The seeded team will have the slight advantage of playing the second leg at home.
Teams will be paired together in the draw, so the two sides who finished ninth and 10th will be drawn against either the 23rd or 24th placed sides; the teams who finished 11th and 12th will be drawn against either the 21st or 22nd-placed sides, and so on.
The eight winners from the play-offs will meet the top eight from the league phase in the last-16, where straight knockout rounds will run all the way to the final.
Lawrence Ostlere31 January 2025 09:23
Europa League play-offs draw
So, the top eight teams in the final Europa League league-phase table are automatically through to the last-16, and they will be joined by the winners of the play-offs after a set of eight two-legged ties between those clubs who finished from ninth to 24th in the league standings.
Lawrence Ostlere31 January 2025 09:11
Europa League play-offs draw
Hello and welcome along to live coverage of today’s Europa League play-offs draw, as those teams who finished between 9th and 24th in the league-phase standings are paired up to decide who reaches the last-16. If it sounds a little convoluted, well it is, but all will be explained…
Lawrence Ostlere31 January 2025 08:58
