Europa League group winners Liverpool, Brighton, and West Ham can sit back and watch the playoff round, and they’ll have some tasty viewing in mid-February.
The playoff round pits second-place teams from the Europa League group stage with third-place teams from the UEFA Champions League.
[ MORE: 10 things we learned from Premier League Week 17 ]
It won’t feature any Premier League teams after Manchester United and Newcastle United finished last in their UCL groups, but there are some very good games on the menu.
Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Rangers, Villarreal, and Slavia Prague are the other five group winners awaiting the teams who emerge from the playoffs.
When is the Europa League playoff round? When is the Round of 16 draw?
The first legs of the playoff round will go off February 15 and the return legs are February 22.
The draw will be held the next day, February 23, before the Round of 16 hits Europe on March 7 and 14.
Europa League playoff round draw
There are two Champions League caliber match-ups hitting our screens in February.
Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma will tangle with Arne Slot’s Feyenoord, while USMNT duo Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah don’t get a cake walk to the next round as tournament-savvy Stade Rennes are on their docket.
Elsewhere, Lens gets Freiburg, Marseille tangles with Shakhtar Donetsk, and Galatasaray meet Sparta Prague.
Portugal’s the story of the remaining fixtures, as Sporting Lisbon drew Young Boys, Benfica fights Toulouse, and Braga goes to Qarabag.
