With the Europa League’s new league phase now over at long, long last, we can work out quite a few things from the finishing positions.
Most straightforwardly, we know which eight teams have gone straight through to the last 16, which 16 teams are heading for the play-offs, and which 12 teams have been eliminated altogether.
But for those teams who have made it through one way or another, we also now have some idea of their potential paths to the final.
The play-off draw on Friday was a paired, seeded draw. What this means is that the team who finished ninth was drawn against a team who finished 23rd or 24th. The team finishing 10th got the other one. Eleventh and 12th paired with 21st and 22nd, and so on until you get to 15th and 16th against 17th and 18th.
We can even throw things slightly further, because while we don’t yet know which side of the final last-16 bracket anyone is going to end up on, we do know, for instance, that the teams who finished first and second in the table – Lazio and Athletic Club – will play teams that emerge from the 15th/16th/17th/18th section of the play-off round.
You can see all this same info for the Champions League here if you’re more of a Tuesday/Wednesday kind of guy than a Thursday. No judgement.
The Europa League play-off draw
(23) Twente v (9) Bodo/Glimt
(24) Fenerbahce v (10) Anderlecht
(22) PAOK v (11) FCSB
(21) Union SG v (12) Ajax
(20) Midtjylland v (13) Real Sociedad
(19) AZ Alkmaar v (14) Galatasaray
(18) Porto v (15) Roma
(17) Ferencvaros v (16) Viktoria Plzen
There is no restriction in any of the knockout rounds on clubs meeting other clubs from their country, and also no restriction on clubs who have already played each other in the league stage meeting again.
The first legs of the play-offs will be played on February 13, and the second legs – with the seeded teams at home – on February 20.
Now, let’s have a bit of fun and map out some possible routes to the final for the Brits, yeah? Obviously this gets sketchier and sketchier the deeper you go, but we’re going to assume – obviously wrongly – that the seedings from the league phase finishing positions hold true and the ‘better’ or at least higher-ranked teams always prevail…
Man United’s potential route to the Europa League final
Finishing third secures them a favourable seeding and means avoiding the top two until the semis at least. With Spurs right behind United in fourth, the two English clubs are also now certain to be on opposite sides of the knockout bracket and cannot meet until the final. Think of it like a tennis tournament and you’ll get the idea.
Last 16: Real Sociedad/Galatasaray/AZ/Midtjylland
Quarter-final: Eintracht Frankfurt/Lille
Semi-final: Lazio/Athletic Club
Final: Lazio/Athletic Club
Tottenham’s potential route to the Europa League final
Find themselves joining United in the second pair of seeds and thus facing the same potential route. Could face Galatasaray – the only side to beat them in the league phase – in the last 16.
Last 16: Real Sociedad/Galatasaray/AZ/Midtjylland
Quarter-final: Eintracht Frankfurt/Lille
Semi-final: Lazio/Athletic Club
Final: Lazio/Athletic Club
Rangers’ potential route to the Europa League final
Rangers cannot now meet either of the English clubs again – having played both in the league phase – until at least the semi-final.
Last 16: Bodo/Anderlecht/Twente/Fenerbahce
Quarter-final: Lazio/Athletic Club
Semi-final: Man United/Tottenham
Final: Lazio/Athletic Club
