Europa League draw recap: Liverpool, West Ham, Brighton and Rangers find out last 16 opponents
Topics:Â Europa League, Football, Liverpool, West Ham United, Brighton And Hove Albion, UEFA, Rangers
Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics:Â Europa League, Football, Liverpool, West Ham United, Brighton And Hove Albion, UEFA, Rangers
The draw for the last 16 of the Europa League has taken place on Friday morning in Nyon, Switzerland, with Liverpool among the teams to find out their opponents.
There were three Premier League teams in the pot; three-time winners Liverpool, last season's UEFA Conference League champions West Ham and Brighton, who are competing in Europe for the first time this season.
Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen were also in the draw, as are Italian side AC Milan and Scottish club Rangers.
Liverpool will take on Czech side Sparta Prague in the last 16, with Jurgen Klopp's side travelling away for the first leg before returning to Anfield for the second leg.
Brighton, meanwhile, will face Daniele De Rossi's Roma in perhaps the tie of the round.
Rangers were handed a major test against Portuguese giants Benfica, while West Ham drew German side Freiburg.
Live updates from the draw can be seen below.
Liverpool learn opponents
Rangers learn opponents
The draw in full
West Ham learn opponents
Brighton learn opponents
That's all from us for the 2023/24 Europa League last 16 draw.
Thanks for joining us this morning, and have a great rest of the day.
And that's the end of the Europa League last 16 draw.
We'll have a full recap of the draw shortly.
Qarabag vs Bayer Leverkusen
AC Milan vs Slavia Prague
Sporting Lisbon vs Atalanta
Freiburg vs West Ham
Benfica vs Rangers
Roma vs Brighton and Hove Albion
Marseille vs Villarreal
Sparta Prague vs Liverpool
Here we go...
And with the final in Dublin, Ireland this year, former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland defender John O'Shea is also involved with proceedings in Nyon.
UEFA deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti here now as well.
We are live in UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland - with Pedro Pinto taking us through the pre-draw routine. Not long to wait now.
Italy, Germany and England are currently at the forefront of the race to secure an additional Champions League qualification spot via league position next season.
With the tournament opening up from 32 teams to 36, UEFA are granting two extra places to the nations that have the best performances this season in European competition.
Italy and Germany currently occupy those top two spots, but England are not far behind. And with three teams representing England and Italy still in the Europa League - Germany have two - the Europa League could be a deciding factor in which country wins out.
Tight… but… pic.twitter.com/2J5Gxn8srh
— John Cross (@johncrossmirror) February 20, 2024
Speaking before the draw, the new Roma head coach has given an indication of who he'd prefer not to face in the last 16.
"Because of their physical condition and style of play, Brighton and Leverkusen will be the teams that are most uncomfortable to play against," he tells UEFA.
"Liverpool will 'kill' you another way, with their intensity and with the great players they have. Every team is strong."
The draw is scheduled to get underway at 11am UK time, although that will likely take into consideration the traditional pleasantries that UEFA will complete before proceedings begin.
There hasn't been any word yet on who will host proceedings - but it isn't really a European draw without Giorgio Marchetti and Pedro Pinto, is it?
This is a seeded draw, with each of the eight group winners drawing a team that won in the play-off round.
There is still a ban on teams from the same nation drawing each other at this stage - meaning we won't see AC Milan face Atalanta, for instance.
Here are all the 16 teams involved in the draw:
Group winners
Play-off round winners
Good morning and welcome to our live blog of today's Europa League last 16 draw.
The eight group winners - including Liverpool, West Ham, Brighton and Rangers - are joined by the eight teams that won their play-off round ties yesterday evening. And there's some big names involved.
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