The Europa League group stage has now come to an end, and the draw for the next round is just around the corner.
We now know who will compete in the Europa League knockout stage, and the draw will take place as early as next week.
The draw will consist of the teams who progressed via the Europa League group stage, as well as the teams who finished third in the Champions League group stage.
That will include Barcelona and Sevilla, while fellow La Liga duo Real Betis and Real Sociedad progressed through the conventional method.
Ahead of the draw, we have rounded up all you need to know, including this season’s new rules. Take a look below.
When is the draw?
The Europa League draw will take place on Monday, December 12, following the conclusion of the Champions League draw, which takes place at 12pm local time.
Where is the draw?
The draw will take place at UEFA’s headquarters, in Nyon, Switzerland.
Is it on TV?
The draw will be shown live on UEFA.com, while TV broadcasts will vary by country.
The rules
There has been a change in the Europa League rules for this season.
From this season, the Round of 32 has been replaced by a play-off round.
That means the Europa League group stage winners have progressed straight through to the round of 16, skipping the next round altogether.
In the next round, the eight teams dropping out of the Champions League will be drawn against the eight teams who finished as runners-up in their Europa League group.
The Europa League teams will be seeded and will play the second game away from home.
No team from the same country can be drawn against each other.
Who is involved?
Here are the teams involved in the draw.
Europa League runners-up (seeded)
Rangers, Real Betis, Real Sociedad, Napoli, Olympiakos, Lazio, Braga, Dinamo Zagreb.
Champions League dropouts (unseeded)
RB Leipzig, Porto, Borussia Dortmund, Sheriff, Barcelona, Sevilla, Zenit, Atalanta.
Who is already through to the following round?
Lyon, Monaco, West Ham, Bayer Leverkusen, Crvena Zvezda, Galatasaray, Eintracht Frankfurt, Spartak Moscow.
