A fresh look to the Europa League has provided it with added gloss but the action throughout the competition has been as exciting as ever.
The new inclusion of a play-off round prior to the last-16 has also seen some familiar European names fall away at an early stage in the competition.
However, Premier League giants Manchester United and Tottenham haven’t had to worry, having secured an automatic spot in the last-16 by virtue of finishing in the top eight of the initial group phase.
After Thursday’s results, it’s now confirmed that the Premier League sides will face either AZ Alkmaar or Real Sociedad in the next round of the competition.
The draw to confirm every team’s route to the final will be held on Friday February 21, which is where things may become somewhat confusing.
United and Spurs finished third and fourth in the league table format, meaning they will make up one seeded pair in the draw.
Manchester United have discovered their potential Europa League last 16 opponents
United and Spurs finished third and fourth in the league format to make up one seeded pair
Ties for the last-16 are scheduled to be played on Thursday March 6, with the return legs a week later on Thursday March 13.
UEFA state that clubs are paired based on their positions at the end of the league phase to form four seeded pairs (clubs in positions 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, and 7 and 8).
The clubs in each seeded pair are drawn into one of two positions in the round of 16 against the relevant winner of the knockout phase play-offs, whose position was determined by the knockout phase play-off draw.
Four bowls are prepared for this draw, two for the silver side of the bracket and two for the orange side of the bracket.
Each bowl contains two balls representing the winners of the round of 16 matches from one rung of the relevant side of the bracket, with the first silver bowl containing slips of paper marked ‘Winners R16 1’ and ‘Winners R16 2’ and the second silver bowl ‘Winners R16 3’ and ‘Winners R16 4’.
The first bowl on the orange side will contain slips of paper marked ‘Winners R16 5’ and ‘Winners R16 6’ and, finally, ‘Winners R16 7’ and ‘Winners R16 8’ in the second bowl on the orange side.
The draw starts by shuffling and then drawing the balls placed in the first bowl of the silver side of the bracket.
The first ball drawn from this bowl indicates the team which will play the first match of the quarter-final at home, and the second ball the team which will play the return leg at home.
The draw to confirm every team’s route to the final will be held on Friday February 21
The procedure is repeated with the remaining bowls to complete the quarter-final pairings.
A similar process will be undertaken for the semi-final draw with two bowls – one for the silver bracket and one for the blue.
If that all sounds too confusing to map out, an illustration of each team’s potential route can be seen above.
It is worth keeping in mind that teams from the same domestic league can face each other in the round of 16, which was not always the case in previous years.
They can also be drawn against teams they previously faced in the league phase.
As part of the draw, every team’s potential route to the final – which will be held in Bilbao on May 28 – will also be revealed.
