Teams that Manchester United may face in Europa League

Manchester United will find out on Monday, December 14 2015 who their opponents will be for the last 32 tie in the Europa League.

The group stages for the competition end this week with a number of teams chasing the remaining slots in the round of 32 on Thursday evening.

Out of the matches to be played, 14 have qualification at stake as a number of sides bid to join the confirmed qualifiers, which include Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, and the eight clubs ending third in the UEFA Champions League group stages.

Four of those eight spots were confirmed on Tuesday evening with United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray and Sevilla joining the fray after missing qualification in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The remaining four places were decided on Wednesday with Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiacos, FC Porto and Gary Neville’s Valencia all being relegated to Europa League from the Champions League.

“There are a number of factors that will affect who the Reds can face in the next round and we will not know for definite who our possible opponents for the two-legged tie will be until the conclusion of the Europa League group stages on Thursday,” read a statement on manutd.com.

The UEFA rules dictate that the 12 Europa League group winners and the four best third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage – one of which is United – will be drawn against the 12 Europa League group runners-up and the remaining third-placed teams from the Champions League.

Clubs from the same country cannot face each other so the Reds will avoid playing Liverpool or Tottenham at this stage (the same rule will apply in the last 16 as well), while the Europa League group winners and the four best third-placed teams from the Champions League will play the return leg at home.

This means Manchester United’s first leg will be played away on Thursday February 18, 2016, with the second leg scheduled for a week later at Old Trafford on Thursday February 25, 2016.

UEFA Europa League – Last 32 possibilities

• Round of 32 draw date: 12:00 GMT, Monday 14 December 2015
• Already qualified: United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray, Sevilla, Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiacos, FC Porto, Valencia (all from Champions League), Molde, Liverpool, Krasnodar, Dortmund, Napoli (confirmed group winners), Villarreal, Rapid Vienna, Braga, Lazio (group winners), St-Etienne (group runners-up), Basel (group winners), Tottenham, Schalke, Sparta Prague, Athletic Club (group winners).
• Can qualify: Fenerbahce, Ajax, Sion, Rubin, Midtjylland, Club Brugge, Legia Warsaw, Marseille, Slovan Liberec, Besiktas, Lokomotiv Moscow, Sporting, Fiorentina, Lech Poznan, Belenenses, Anderlecht, Monaco, Qarabag, Partizan, Augsburg.
• • Round of 32 match dates: first leg – Thursday 18 February 2016, second leg – Thursday 25 February 2016.