The Europa League Round of 32 draw is upon us!
13:48 - That concludes our Live Europa League draw! What fixtures are you most looking forward to seeing? Comment below and let us know!
13:46 - Ajax/Steaua V Sparta Praha/Chelsea
13:45 - Basel/Dnipro V Zenit/Liverpool
13:44 - Levante/Olympiacos V Atletico/Rubin
13:43 - Tottenham/Lyon V Inter/Cluj
13:42 - Stuttgart/Genk V Monchengladbach/Lazio
13:41 - Anzhi/Hannover V Newcastle/Metalist
13:40 - Leverkusen/Benfica V Dynamo Kyiv/Bordeaux
13:39 - Napoli/Plzen V BATE/Fenerbahce
13:18 - Here comes the round of 16 draw.
13:36 - Thats it for the round of 32 draw, some tasty fixtures to look forward to!
13:35 - Napoli V Plzen
13:34 - Tottenham V Lyon
13:34 - Borussia Monchengladbach V Lazio
13:33 - Sparta Praha V Chelsea
13:32 - Anzhi Makhachkala V Hannover 96
13:31 - Basel V Dnipro
13:28 - Ajax V Steaua Bucharest
13:27 - Atletico V Rubin Kazan
13:26 - Stuttgart V Genk
13:26 - Newcastle V Metalist
13:25 - Leverkusen V Benfica
13:23 - Dynamo Kyiv V Bordeaux
13:21 - Zenit V Liverpool
13:21 - Levante V Olympiacos
13:20 - Inter Milan V CFR Cluj
13:18 - BATE Borisov V Fenerbahce
13:15 - ROUND OF 32 DRAW
13:04 - Here goes. Good luck everyone!
12:54 - Not long to go now...
12:53 - Club Atletico de Madrids Falcao is the joint-second highest scorer in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League, he and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar having racked up 30 goals each. They need ten more if they are to match the competitions all-time top scorer, Henrik Larsson.
Falcao has won back-to-back UEFA Europa League titles, with FC Porto and then Atletico, finishing top scorer both seasons (with a record 17 goals for Porto in 2010/11 and 12 more for Atlético in 2011/12). He is bidding to become the first player to win the competition (in this guise and as the UEFA Cup before) three times in a row.
12:47 - A tale of woe from Germany.
VfB Stuttgart have yet to make it through the round of 32 since the advent of the UEFA Cup group stage in 2004/05, having fallen at this stage on four occasions (2004/05, 2005/06, 2008/09 and 2010/11). Indeed, they have not won a two-legged springtime European tie in eight attempts since losing the 1997/98 UEFA Cup Winners Cup final, with their record in those 16 games reading W2 D4 L10.
12:46 - Prior to this season, FC Internazionale Milano had not played in this competition since 2003/04, when they reached the quarter-finals, losing out to Olympique de Marseille. Inter are one of three sides – along with Juventus and Liverpool FC – who have won the UEFA Cup a record three times.
12:31 - Some potential milestones for the round of 32...
VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach’s next European goal will be their 300th in UEFA club competition – the round of 32 first leg will be their 136th UEFA game.
AC Sparta Praha are within three goals of their 100th in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League – the round of 32 opener will be their 71st game in the two competitions.
In total, 16 nations are represented in the UEFA Europa League round of 32, with England and Germany boasting the largest contingents – four teams each – while Russia, Ukraine and Italy have three participants.
The final is being played at AFC Ajax’s Amsterdam ArenA, on 15 May. The last team to play in a UEFA Cup final at their home stadium was Sporting Clube de Portugal, who lost 3-1 to PFC CSKA Moskva in the 2004/05 decider. However, the last Dutch side to win the UEFA Cup did so at their own stadium, Feyenoord beating Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in Rotterdam in 2001/02.
European champions Chelsea FC are featuring in this competition for the first time since it became the UEFA Europa League, having played only eight games in its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. Of the sides in the round of 32. only debutants Levante UD have played as few games in the two competitons.
The Blues may not have planned to be in this tournament, but Rafael Benítez’s side would become the first English club to complete a clean sweep of all the major UEFA club competitions if they win in the final at the Amsterdam ArenA, having won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup twice (in 1970/71 and 1997/98) and the UEFA Champions League last season.
They would be only the fourth side to have won all three trophies, joining Juventus, AFC Ajax and FC Bayern München.
Should they win, they would also be the first side to win UEFA’s two top club competitions in reverse order in successive seasons.
Round of 32 draw pots
Seeded teams: Liverpool FC, FC Viktoria Plzeň, Fenerbahçe SK, FC Girondins de Bordeaux, FC Steaua Bucureşti, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, KRC Genk, FC Rubin Kazan, Olympique Lyonnais, S.S. Lazio, FC Metalist Kharkiv, Hannover 96, Chelsea FC*, CFR 1907 Cluj*, Olympiacos FC*, SL Benfica*.
Unseeded teams: FC Anji Makhachkala, Club Atlético de Madrid, VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, Newcastle United FC, VfB Stuttgart, SSC Napoli, FC Basel 1893, FC Internazionale Milano, AC Sparta Praha, Tottenham Hotspur FC, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Levante UD, FC Dynamo Kyiv*, FC Zenit St Petersburg*, AFC Ajax*, FC BATE Borisov*.
*Transferred from the UEFA Champions League
Source: DSG
