Europa League draw: Man Utd, Spurs and Rangers learn opponents for round of 16

The Europa League draw for the round of 16 was made on Friday afternoon as the likes of Manchester United, Spurs and Rangers learned their potential routes to the final in Bilbao, Spain.

As we all know, the teams who finished in the top eight of the league phase table – Lazio, Athletic Bilbao, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Eintracht Frankfurt, Lyon, Olympiakos and Rangers – automatically qualified for the last 16.

The above were joined in the draw by the eight winners of the knockout play-offs, which are AS Roma, FCSB, AZ Alkmaar, Bodo/Glimt, Ajax, Plzen, Fenerbahce and Real Sociedad.

From the knockout phase play-offs onwards, the tournament is a bracket, so potential opponents in the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals are pre-defined by pairings that were set by league phase positions.

Manchester United and Spurs, for example, are one seeded pair as they finished third and fourth respectively.

As the bracket was set after the end of the league phase, teams were already aware of their potential opponents. Manchester United and Spurs knew they would face either AZ Alkmaar or Real Sociedad in the round of 16, and so on.

Europa League round of 16 draw in full:

Olympiacos vs Bodo/Glimt

Fenerbahce vs Rangers

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Ajax

Lyon vs FCSB

Tottenham Hotspur vs AZ Alkmaar

Manchester United vs Real Sociedad

Lazio vs Viktoria Plzen

Athletic Club vs AS Roma

Amorim is hopeful of United's chances in the Europa League. Image credit: Getty

Despite their poor form in the Premier League this season, Manchester United are one of the favourites to win the Europa League.

In the aftermath of their 2-0 win over Steaua Bucharest last month, Ruben Amorim was convinced his side could go on and win the competition.

“I think we can go game by game and we can win it," he said. "Then you have the responsibility, no matter the context, because you are in Manchester United so you must fight for winning trophies. So we will see.

“When you get to this stage of any competition, anything is possible and they can prove, on a good day, that they can win against anybody. So we can think about that [winning the competition.]"

Amorim added: “I didn’t see a big difference in the way we play, but today we had more time to think and now you can see, in some movements, that the idea is there, because we have more time to play and understand the game.”

For those unaware, the top-eight sides were placed into seeded pairs ahead of the round of 16, and will all play the second legs of their last-16 ties at home.

Let us know your thoughts on Friday's draw in the comments.