Europa League Draw: europa league draw — Round of 16 draw for Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace
The europa league draw for the last 16 takes place on Friday, with Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace among the three Premier League clubs still involved. The Europa League draw kicks off at 12pm, followed by the Conference League at 1pm, with 16 teams left in each competition.
Europa League Draw details
Every team’s potential opponents for the next round has already been narrowed down to two possibilities. For the last 16 ties the sides that did not require a play-off will be seeded — seeded teams finished in the top eight in the league phase — meaning those seeded sides get to play the second leg of their last-16 ties at home. Teams can be drawn against opponents from their own country and opponents they have already faced in the competition.
Potential last-16 pairings
The specific paired possibilities are: Aston Villa will face Celta Vigo or Lille; Nottingham Forest will be drawn against Real Betis or Midtjylland; Crystal Palace will get Mainz or AEK Larnaca. With the midweek play-offs concluding, the English teams know they will face one of two opponents but do not know their individual pathways until the draw is made.
Seeding and match order
Sides that avoided play-offs are seeded and will play the second leg at home. The round-of-16 match schedule will be available on Friday evening. The quarter-final match schedule will be confirmed on March 19, while the semi-final schedule will be communicated on April 16.
Play-off outcomes and results
The midweek play-offs produced the final qualifiers and the outcomes that set the two-option lists. Celta Vigo beat PAOK 3-1 on aggregate, winning 1-0 in their Europa League play-off second leg. Lille bounced back from losing the first leg to win 2-0 at Red Star Belgrade. Robbie Keane's Ferencvaros overturned a one-goal first-leg deficit to win 2-0 at home and knock out Ludogorets Razgrad. Despite losing 1-0 at home to Celtic, Stuttgart also went through 4-2 on aggregate.
Domestic matchups and schedule
The earliest two English teams could meet is in the quarter-finals of the Europa League between Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest. Crystal Palace do not have any potential English opponents in the Conference League. Live coverage of the draw will be available on the website and app on Friday, and follow-up updates can be received on WhatsApp for the latest sports news, videos, features, analysis and much more.
The draws take place on Friday with the Europa League draw at 12pm and the Conference League draw at 1pm, each resolving the two-option paths produced by the play-offs and setting the field for the round of 16 onward.
