When is the Europa League last 16 draw & who could Liverpool face?

With European competition starting back up this week following the winter recess, many Liverpool fans are anxiously awaiting their side's return to continental action. However, Jurgen Klopp's side still don't know who they'll be facing in the Europa League last 16.

This is because, in the Europa League, unlike the Champions League, an extra knockout play-off round takes place before the last 16.

Luckily for Liverpool, however, having run out as group winners ahead of Toulouse, Union Saint-Gilloise and LASK, they secured a bye, thus avoiding the play-offs altogether.

Champions League drop-outs

In the knockout play-off round, taking place across two legs this week and next, Europa League teams who finished second in their groups will take on sides who finished dropped out of the Champions League but finished in third place.

The victor of these matchups will then progress to the last-16 stage, where they will take on the group winners, among which are all four British teams: West Ham, Liverpool, Brighton and Rangers.

When is the draw for the Europa League last 16?

The draw for last 16 of the Europa League is scheduled to take place after all of the play-off games have concluded, on Friday 23 February at 11am GMT. The ceremony will be held at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon.

Teams that are already in the hat for the next round are group winners Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool, Villarreal, Slavia Prague, West Ham, Brighton and Rangers.

Who can Liverpool draw in the Europa League?

For Liverpool, they can draw any team that wins in the play-offs - but not a fellow group winner. This means that Jurgen Klopp's team can draw the winner of any of these match-ups:

• Feyenoord / Roma
• Galatasaray / Sparta Prague
• Shakhtar Donetsk / Marseille
• Young Boys / Sporting CP
• AC Milan / Rennes
• Benfica / Toulouse
• Braga / Qarabag
• Lens /Freiburg

When does the Europa League last 16 take place?

The last 16 of the Europa League is due to take place on 7 and 14 March, with the Reds playing at home in the second leg.

After that, the quarter-finals will be on 11 and 18 April and the semi-finals on 2 and 9 May. All of these games are on Thursdays.

The competition will then conclude with the final in Dublin on Wednesday 22 May.