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Europa League round of 32 draw: all you need to know

When is the draw for the first Europa League knockout round? Who is involved? How does it work?

The Europa League round of 32 draw takes place on Monday 16 December
The Europa League round of 32 draw takes place on Monday 16 December ©Getty Images

When is it?

The draw takes place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, on Monday 14 December. The live stream will begin here at 13:00 CET.

Who is involved?

The draw features the 12 group winners and 12 runners-up, plus eight teams transferring from the UEFA Champions League after finishing third in their sections (the four such teams with the best record are seeded along with the UEFA Europa League group winners).

Seeded teams

Europa League seeding pots
Europa League seeding pots©Getty Images

AC Milan (ITA, winners Group H)
Arsenal (ENG, B)
Ajax (NED*)
Club Brugge (BEL*)
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO, K)
Hoffenheim (GER, L)
Leicester (ENG, G)
Leverkusen (GER, C)
Manchester United (ENG*)
Napoli (ITA, F)
PSV Eindhoven (NED, E)
Rangers (SCO, D)
Roma (ITA, A)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR*)
Tottenham (ENG, J)
Villarreal (ESP, I)

Unseeded teams

Antwerp (BEL, runners-up Group J)
Benfica (POR, D)
Braga (POR, G)
Crvena zvezda (SRB, L)
Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)*
Granada (ESP, E)
Krasnodar (RUS)*
LOSC Lille (FRA, H)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR, I)
Molde (NOR, B)
Olympiacos (GRE)*
Real Sociedad (ESP, F)
Salzburg (AUT)*
Slavia Praha (CZE, C)
Wolfsberg (AUT, K)
Young Boys (SUI, A)

*Transferring from UEFA Champions League

How does the draw work?

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  • The seeded teams play at home in the second legs.
  • No team can play a club from their UEFA Europa League group or a side from the same national association.
  • Based on the decision taken by the UEFA Executive Committee, teams from Russia and Ukraine cannot be drawn together.

When do ties take place?

The round of 32 first legs are scheduled for Thursday 18 February, with the second legs on 25 February. Kick-off times are split between 18:55 CET and 21:00 CET, as they were in the group stage. The round of 16 draw is on 26 February.