On Friday, the Europa League last-16 draw is set to unveil the upcoming opponents for Liverpool, West Ham, Brighton, and Rangers, while Aston Villa eagerly awaits to discover their Conference League counterparts.
All four British teams in the Europa League, as well as Aston Villa in the Conference League, concluded at the top of their groups, thereby securing a seeded position for the last-16 draws. This achievement enabled them to avoid the play-off round that concluded on Thursday.
The last-16 ties are scheduled for March 7 and March 14, with the unseeded teams hosting the first leg at home and the British sides hosting the second leg on March 14.
Among the seeded teams in the Europa League draw are several high-profile clubs, such as Bayer Leverkusen, Villareal, Atalanta, and Slavia Prague. Consequently, the British teams will not encounter these formidable opponents in the last 16.
Furthermore, Aston Villa will soon discover their Europa Conference League rivals, as they are among the seeded teams alongside Club Brugge, Fenerbahce, Fiorentina, Lille, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, PAOK Salonika, and Viktoria Plzen.
It is worth noting that teams from the same country are prohibited from facing each other in the last-16 draw, although this rule does not apply in subsequent rounds.
The upcoming schedule for the Europa League and Conference League is as follows:
– March 7: Europa League and Conference League last-16 first legs
– March 14: Europa League and Conference League last-16 second legs
– March 15: Europa League and Conference League quarter-final and semi-final draws
– April 11: Europa League and Conference League quarter-final first legs
– April 18: Europa League and Conference League quarter-final second legs
– May 2: Europa League and Conference League semi-final first legs
– May 9: Europa League and Conference League semi-final second legs
– May 22: Europa League final – Dublin, Ireland
– June 7: Europa Conference League final – Athens, Greece
Football enthusiasts can look forward to an action-packed series of matches as these prestigious tournaments progress towards their thrilling conclusions in May and June.
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