Barcelona and Manchester United will face each other in the Europa League knockout round play-offs following Monday’s draw.
Europa League Draw : What time is | who did Arsenal
With Barcelona, Juventus, Ajax and Sevilla potential opponents, here’s all you need to know as Manchester United await the draw for the Europa League play-offs.
The play-off draw only affects the sides who finish second in their Europa League groups, pitting them each against one of the eight teams who finish third in their Champions League groups.
It means each Europa League group winner gets a round off – and will head straight through to the last 16, meaning no more European football to worry about until March 9.
Both English sides in this season’s Europa League, Arsenal and Manchester United, have qualified from the group stages.
However, United could only finish second to Real Sociedad in their group, meaning they face a play-off, while Arsenal beat Zurich on Thursday to claim top spot in Group A and automatic progression to the last-16.
What time is Europa League draw
The draw will be held at 12pm on Monday November 7, at the House of European Football at UEFA’s headquarters in Switzerland.
The eight group runners-up from the Europa League will be seeded to face any of the eight third-placed sides from the Champions League group stages.
The only restriction involves national associations – no two sides from the same territory can be drawn against each other at this stage.
They miss out on the draw and receive a bye to the round of 16. On February 24, they will be seeded and drawn against one of the eight winners from this play-off round.
Again, teams from the same association will not be able to be drawn together.
Who did Arsenal draw
The Europa League knockout round play-off draw was completed today as the likes of Manchester United, Barcelona and Arsenal’s group rivals PSV Eindhoven discovered their fate.
Mikel Arteta’s side were not involved in the draw after topping their group and will rejoin the competition for the round of 16 in March. However, first up is the knockout round play-off that will take place on February 16, 2023 and the second legs a week later on February 23.
The eight runners-up from the Europa League group stage will face the eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage to determine who joins the competition group winners.
This means that the Gunners face the possibility of facing Barcelona, Juventus, Ajax or Sevilla in future ties – the draw for the round of 16 comes on February 24.
Premier League rivals Manchester United, unlike Arsenal, will have to progress through the play-off round after failing to replace Spanish side Real Sociedad at the top of their group. Also Erik ten Hag’s side will face possibly the toughest opponents in FC Barcelona.
But with the group stage completed last week, in record time ahead of the mid-season break for the World Cup, the second-tier European club competition is already looking ahead to the first knockout round. Arsenal won five of six games to top Group A ahead of PSV.
Given the number of teams involved in the Europa League, the first knockout round used to be called the round of 32, and eight group winners along with eight runners-up were joined by eight teams who finished third in their Champions League group to decide who made it through to the last-16 stage.