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Premier League clubs learn last-16 European opponents

21 Feb 2025
Europe new lead Man Utd, Liverpool Chelsea

Premier League clubs have discovered who they will face in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League

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The six Premier League clubs still in European competitions found out their last-16 opponents on Friday after the draws were made.

Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa will face Paris Saint-Germain, PSV Eindhoven and Club Brugge respectively in the UEFA Champions League round of 16. 

In the UEFA Europa League, Manchester United have been drawn against Real Sociedad, while Tottenham Hotspur take on AZ Alkmaar.

Meanwhile, Chelsea will come up against Copenhagen next month in the UEFA Conference League, having won all of their group stage matches in the competition. 

UEFA Champions League draw

Liverpool, who finished top of the league phase, have been drawn against the French champions, who beat Brest 10-0 on aggregate in the knockout phase. PSG are currently 10 points clear at the top of France's Ligue 1. 

Arsenal will play PSV Eindhoven, who qualified for the last 16 after defeating Juventus in extra-time on Wednesday. PSV are currently second in the Eredivisie.

Aston Villa will play Club Brugge, who knocked out Atalanta in midweek and beat Villa in Belgium 1-0 in the league phase. Club Brugge are second in the Belgian Pro League. 

Champions League last-16 ties

First legs
Tuesday 4 March 
Club Brugge v Aston Villa
Borussia Dortmund v Lille
PSV v Arsenal
Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid

Wednesday 5 March 
Feyenoord v Inter
Bayern Munich v Bayer Leverkusen
Benfica v Barcelona
PSG v Liverpool

Second legs
Tuesday 11 March
Barcelona v Benfica
Inter v Feyenoord
Bayer Leverkusen v Bayern Munich
Liverpool v PSG

Wednesday 12 March
Lille v Borussia Dortmund
Arsenal v PSV
Aston Villa v Club Brugge
Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid

All three PL clubs on same side of draw

Liverpool, Arsenal and Villa are on the same side of the draw, meaning an all-English Champions League final is not possible. 

Liverpool will face Villa in the quarter-finals if both teams progress, while if Arsenal beat PSV, they will meet the winners of Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid. 

You can see the route to the final below. 

UCL bracket
What the managers said 

Arne Slot, Liverpool head coach: "At this stage of the competition, the quality of opponent is only going to be of a very high standard and in PSG we have drawn a team and a club with real European pedigree.

"They qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League in style earlier this week with a big win against Brest and they had some really good results in the league phase, defeating Stuttgart, Manchester City, Girona and Salzburg.

"As is the case with ourselves, PSG are top of their domestic league and are enjoying a long unbeaten run. This tells us all that we need to know about the challenge that we will face but it is also a challenge that we will look forward to."

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal manager: "We've played against them [in the past] and they are a really good team. We have experienced it and it will be really difficult.

"We know what we are facing. When you are at this stage every team is really really good. When the time comes we will be ready for it."

Unai Emery, Aston Villa head coach: "We're happy we are in the last 16, and happy with the draw. Every team they are in the last 16 deserve to be there. Of course, we played against Brugge and we knew their capacity to compete like they are doing usually. 

"Losing there 1-0 is good information for us, how we have to compete, to respect, to prepare, to try to avoid the mistakes we made."

Europa League draw

Man Utd have been drawn to play Spanish side Real Sociedad, who defeated FC Midtjylland 7-3 on aggregate in midweek but are having a tough season domestically, sitting 11th in LaLiga.

Spurs will face Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, who booked their last-16 place by beating Galatasaray 6-3 on aggregate. AZ Alkmaar are fifth in the Eredivisie. Spurs faced AZ Alkmaar in the league phase at home, winning 1-0. 

Europa League last-16 ties

First legs
Thursday 6 March
Bodo/Glimt v Olympiacos
Fenerbahce v Rangers
Ajax v Eintracht Frankfurt
FCSB v Lyon
AZ Alkmaar v Spurs
Real Sociedad v Man Utd
Viktoria Plzen v Lazio
Roma v Athletic Bilbao

Second legs
Thursday 13 March
Olympiacos v Bodo/Glimt
Rangers v Fenerbahce
Eintracht Frankfurt v Ajax 
Lyon v FCSB
Spurs v AZ Alkmaar
Man Utd v Real Sociedad
Lazio v Viktoria Plzen 
Athletic Bilbao v Roma

Man Utd and Spurs are on opposite sides of the draw so could meet in an all-English final. 

Should Man Utd defeat Sociedad, they will play a quarter-final against either FCSB or Lyon.

If Spurs overcome AZ Alkmaar, they will meet the winners of Ajax v Frankfurt. Spurs famously beat Ajax 3-2 in a Champions League semi-final in 2018/19, with Lucas Moura scoring a second-half hat-trick, so a repeat of that match could be on the cards. 

Europa League draw
What the managers said 

Ange Postecoglou, Spurs head coach: "They're a familiar opponent, we played them here at home. We knew they were likely opponents. They did really well against Galatasaray. We played them away and they're a tough opponent."

Ruben Amorim, Man Utd head coach: "We are in a difficult situation in the Premier League and we have a lot of issues to solve in every game. If I see our performances, and focus on Real Sociedad or think about trophies in the moment, it is not the right way to do my job. I just want to win against Everton [in the Premier League]."

Conference League draw

Chelsea have discovered their opponents, being drawn against Copenhagen in the last 16.

Conference League last-16 ties

First legs
Thursday 6 March
Jagiellonia Bialystok v Cercle Brugge
Molde v Legia Warsaw
Celje v Lugano
Pafos v Djurgarden
Panathinaikos v Fiorentina
Borac v Rapid Vienna
Real Betis v Vitoria Guimaraes
Copenhagen v Chelsea

Second legs
Thursday 13 March
Cercle Brugge v Jagiellonia Bialystok 
Legia Warsaw v Molde
Lugano v Celje
Djurgarden v Pafos
Fiorentina v Panathinaikos
Rapid Vienna v Borac
Vitoria Guimaraes v Real Betis
Chelsea v Copenhagen 

The Danish club overcame Heidenheim 4-3 in the playoff round, while they are enjoy a strong season domestically, sitting top of the Superliga after 18 matches. 

Should Chelsea overcome Copenhagen, then they will meet either Molde or Legia Warsaw in the quarter-finals.

Europa Conference League

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