When is the Europa League last-16 draw and who could Arsenal and Man Utd play?

The Europa League play-off round came to an end on Thursday evening, with the draw for the round of 16 set to take place on Friday afternoon. 

Arsenal have been patiently waiting for the conclusion of the play-off round to find out their last-16 opponents, having automatically qualified for the next round after topping their group.

Manchester United, who finished second in their group before being handed a tough play-off encounter against Barcelona, finished the job at Old Trafford with a 2-1 win to send them through, after drawing 2-2 with the European giants in Spain. 

The Red Devils will be unseeded in Friday’s draw and would therefore come up against a group winner in the next round. However, as we’ll touch on shortly, this could actually benefit Erik ten Hag’s side. 

Sportsmail takes you through all the last-16 details below, including how it will work, when it’s taking place and who the English teams could potentially face. 

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal secured a spot in the Europa League last-16 after winning their group

Erik ten Hag (left) and Xavi (right) squared off as Man United beat Barcelona 2-1 to progress

When is the draw and how to watch it?

The draw for the Europa League last-16 will take place on Friday, February 24. 

As usual, the draw will take place at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland. 

The Europa League draw is scheduled to begin at 12pm UK time. 

It will be available to stream on UEFA’s official website, while Sportsmail will also be covering it live, so you can keep up-to-date with us.  

How will the draw work?

The last-16 draw will consist of eight seeded teams, being those who finished first in their group.

The seeded teams will be drawn against one of the eight play-off round winners. 

Manchester United cannot be drawn against Arsenal in the last-16 due to the draw rules

Ironically, the teams that dropped down from the Champions League were then placed into the play-off round, meaning initially progressing to the round of 16 as a group winner may actually end up being a disadvantage. 

The seeded team will have the benefit of playing their away leg first, with the second leg on home soil, however. 

Sides from the same country will not be able to play each other at this stage of the tournament.

Who is involved?

Seeded sides

• Union Saint-Gilloise
• Arsenal
• SC Freiburg
• Ferencvaros
• Feyenoord
• Real Betis
• Real Sociedad
• Fenerbahce

Unseeded teams (Europa League play-off winners) 

• Manchester United
• Juventus
• Sporting Lisbon
• Shakhtar Donetsk
• Union Berlin
• Bayer Leverkusen
• Sevilla
• Roma

Who could Arsenal and Manchester United play?

As stated, seeded sides will be drawn against unseeded sides in the last-16, meaning Manchester United will avoid Juventus, Roma and Sevilla in the next round. 

The Red Devils meanwhile cannot be drawn against Arsenal, with no sides from the same country able to play each other at this stage. 

United avoid any of the Champions League teams when the draw is made for the round of 16

It means Ten Hag’s side could come up against either: Union Saint-Gilloise, SC Freiburg, Ferencvaros, Feyenoord, Real Betis, Real Sociedad or Fenerbahce. 

Arsenal, meanwhile can be drawn against any of the unseeded sides listed above, aside from United, of course.  

Europa League key dates

• Round of 16: March 9 and 16
• Quarter and semi-final draw: March 17
• Quarter-finals: April 13 and 20
• Semi-finals: May 11 and 18
• Final: May 31