Europa League Knockout round play-off stage: Meet the 16 teams

The UEFA Europa League format will follow a new knockout phase this season's group stage. The eight group winners advance directly to the round of 16, while the eight runners-up have to take another step to advance to the next round. These teams will now join the new Europa League knockout round playoffs, where they will join the eight sides coming from the UEFA Champions League after finishing third in their group stages.

All the contenders for the Europa League Knockout Stages:

Seeded Teams	Unseeded Teams
Real Betis	Atalanta
Braga	Barcelona
Dinamo Zagreb	Borussia Dortmund
Lazio	RB Leipzig
Napoli	Porto FC
Olympiacos	Sevilla
Rangers	Sheriff
Real Sociedad	Zenit

Let's Meet the Knockout contenders:

Atalanta

UEFA ranking: 25
How they qualified: third in Champions League Group F (W1 D3 L2 F12 A13)
Last season: Champions League round of 16 (L 4-1agg vs Real Madrid)
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: quarter-finals (1990/91)

Barcelona

UEFA ranking: 7
How they qualified: third in Champions League Group E (W2 D1 L3 F2 A9)
Last season: Champions League round of 16 (L 5-2agg vs Paris)
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: semi-finals (1975/76, 1977/78, 1995/96, 2000/01)

Real Betis

UEFA ranking: 87
How they qualified: Group G runners-up (W3 D1 L2 F12 A12)
Last season: did not feature in UEFA club competition
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: round of 16 (1998/99, 2005/06, 2013/14)

Braga

UEFA ranking: 44
How they qualified: Group F runners-up (W3 D1 L2 F12 A9)
Last season: round of 32 (L 5-1agg vs Roma)
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: runners-up (2010/11)

Dinamo Zagreb

UEFA ranking: 32
How they qualified: Group H runners-up (W3 D1 L2 F9 A6)
Last season: quarter-finals (L 3-1agg vs Villarreal)
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: quarter-finals (2020/21)

Borussia Dortmund

UEFA ranking: 16
How they qualified: third in Champions League Group C (W3 D0 L3 F10 A11)
Last season: Champions League quarter-finals (L 4-2agg vs Man City)
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: runners-up (1992/93, 2001/02)

Lazio

UEFA ranking: 29
How they qualified: Group E runners-up (W2 D3 L1 F7 A3)
Last season: Champions League round of 16 (L 6-2agg vs Bayern München)
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: runners-up (1997/98)

RB Leipzig

UEFA ranking: 18
How they qualified: third in Champions League Group A (W2 D1 L3 F15 A14)
Last season: Champions League round of 16 (L 4-0agg vs Liverpool)
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: quarter-finals (2017/18)

Napoli

UEFA ranking: 24
How they qualified: Group C runners-up (W3 D1 L2 F15 A10)
Last season: round of 32 (L 3-2agg vs Granada)
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: winners (1988/89)

Olympiacos

UEFA ranking: 38
How they qualified: Group D runners-up (W3 D0 L3 F8 A7)
Last season: round of 16 (L 3-2agg vs Arsenal)
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: round of 16 (1989/90, 2004/05, 2011/12, 2016/17, 2019/20, 2020/21)

Porto

UEFA ranking: 17
How they qualified: third in Champions League Group B (W1 D2 L3 F4 A11)
Last season: Champions League quarter-finals (L 2-1agg vs Chelsea)
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: winners (2002/03, 2010/11)

Rangers

UEFA ranking: 42
How they qualified: Group A runners-up (W2 D2 L2 F6 A5)
Last season: round of 16 (L 3-1agg vs Slavia Praha)
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: runners-up (2007/08)

Real Sociedad

UEFA ranking: 63
How they qualified: Group B runners-up (W2 D3 L1 F9 A6)
Last season: round of 32 (L 4-0agg vs Man. United)
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: quarter-finals (1988/89)

Sevilla

UEFA ranking: 11
How they qualified: third in Champions League Group G (W1 D3 L2 F5 A5)
Last season: Champions League round of 16 (L 5-4agg vs Dortmund)
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: winners (2005/06, 2006/07, 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2019/20)

Sheriff

UEFA ranking: 68
How they qualified: third in Champions League Group D (W2 D1 L3 F7 A11)
Last season: third qualifying round (L 1-1agg, 5-3p vs Dundalk)
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: knockout round play-offs (2021/22)

Zenit

UEFA ranking: 33
How they qualified: third in Champions League Group H (W1 D2 L3 F10 A10)
Last season: Champions League group stage
UEFA Cup/Europa League best: winners (2007/08)

When and When will the Europa League Knockout draw take place?

The Europa League knockout playoff stage first leg matches are scheduled for February 17, with the second leg games from February 24. The UEFA Europa League knockout round playoff draw will take place in Nyon, Switzerland, on Monday, December 13.

Teams that already qualified for the Round of 16

The directly qualified teams for the Round of 16 in the Europa League are West Ham United, Lyon, Monaco, Spartak Moscow, Frankfurt, Galatasaray, Bayer Leverkusen, and FK Crvena Zvezda.