Europa League draw: Start time, TV channel, how it works and teams for knockout play-offs today

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Evening Standard

·31 gennaio 2025

Europa League draw: Start time, TV channel, how it works and teams for knockout play-offs today

Tottenham, Manchester United and Rangers are already through to the last 16

The draw for the Europa League knockout phase play-offs follows hot on the heels of the Champions League equivalent today.

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There will be no British interest in this draw however, after Manchester United, Tottenham and Rangers all qualified automatically for the last 16 during Thursday night’s final round of league phase fixtures.

Kobbie Mainoo starred as United beat Romanian side FCSB 2-0 away in Bucharest, while Tottenham saw off Swedish opponents Elfsborg 3-0 at home and Rangers battled to a 2-1 victory over Belgians Union Saint-Gilloise at Ibrox.

None of those sides will have to worry about a two-legged play-off tie to reach the last 16 as a result, having finished third, fourth and eighth respectively in the final long table. But the clubs that ended up ninth to 24th will now have to battle for their place in the latter stages of the competition.

Europa League play-off draw start time

The draw for the Europa League knockout phase play-offs will take place today at 12pm GMT on Friday January 31, 2025.

How to watch Europa League play-off draw

TV channel: TNT Sports 2 will be showing the draw live in the UK from 12pm.

Live stream: The draw will be streamed live on the UEFA.com website, as well as being shown online via the TNT Sports YouTube channel and Discovery+ app and website.

LIVE coverage: You can follow the draw with Standard Sport’s dedicated live blog.

How does the Europa League play-off draw work?

As with the Champions League, the teams that finished in the top eight in the league phase booked their progress straight through to the last 16.

The knockout play-offs involve the teams between ninth and 24th, with a two-legged tie to decide who joins the other eight clubs in the last 16.

Teams between ninth and 16th will be seeded and play their second leg at home, against the sides who finished the league phase in 17th to 24th.

The pairing system in place means that ninth and 10th are together for the draw, 11th and 12th, and so on.

It is designed to reward those who finished higher in the table, so the ninth and 10th seeds will face the clubs in 23rd and 24th, while the 11th and 12th seeds will take on the 21st and 22nd-placed sides.

Clubs can face other teams from the same country, as well as sides that they played in the league phase.

Europa League play-off dates

The first legs will be played on Thursday February 13, with the reverse fixtures taking place a week later on Thursday February 20.

When is the Europa League last-16 draw?

The draw for the last-16 will take place on Friday February 21, 2025.

That will see the eight winners of the knockout play-off ties drawn against the top eight clubs from the league phase.

There is also a pairing system in place for the last-16 draw, which on paper at least should give those who finished higher in the table an easier draw.

The teams in first or second will be handed a last-16 clash against the winners of the play-off tie between the 15th/16th and 17th/18th seeds, for example.