Liverpool will take on Sparta Prague in the Europa League last-16 while West Ham face familiar foe – with Brighton and Rangers handed tough draws
- The Reds are favourites to win the competition and have a favourable draw
- All four British sides were seeded having won their respective groups last year
- If Jurgen Klopp had said 12 months ago that he was leaving then Mauricio Pochettino would have been a good fit at Liverpool – It’s All Kicking Off podcast
Liverpool have been drawn against Sparta Prague in the round of 16 in this season’s Europa League.
The draw took place at UEFA’s headquarters in Switzerland on Friday morning on the back of the second legs of the play-off rounds concluding on Wednesday.
The Reds were one of four seeded British teams in the draw, alongside West Ham, Brighton and Rangers, who all won their groups.
West Ham will play Freiburg in the last 16, while Brighton face a tough task as they take on Roma and Rangers play Benfica.
Liverpool were handed a favourable tie, with the other sides also finding out their fates for the next round of the competition.
Liverpool were drawn against Sparta Prague in the last 16 of the Europa League on Friday
Brighton, meanwhile, were handed a lucrative draw against Daniele De Rossi’s Roma side
West Ham will face familiar foes Freiburg having beaten the German side twice in group stage
Jurgen Klopp’s side will travel to Czechia for the first leg of the tie on the week of March 7, with the returns to be held a week later.
West Ham will take on a familiar foe in the last-16, with David Moyes’ side to face Freiburg in a rematch of their group stage contests.
The Hammers won 2-1 in Germany in October in their second game of the competition, with Lucas Paqueta and Nayef Aguerd on the scoresheet.
Two months later at the London Stadium, West Ham cruised to a 2-0 victory thanks to strikes from Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez as they ensured they topped the group ahead of their opponents.
Brighton, meanwhile, have been handed a tough draw against Italian side Roma, managed by Daniele De Rossi after sacking Jose Mourinho last month.
The Seagulls will hope their fairytale run in this year’s competition continues in their first year competing in Europe.
Rangers, meanwhile, will head to Portugal and will be up against it when they face Benfica.
AC Milan, who will have hopes of succeeding in the competition after they edged their way through the play-off round, were drawn against Slavia Prague, while undefeated Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen, managed by Xabi Alonso, will tackle Qarabag.
Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen will take on Qarabag, with the Spaniard eyeing up another trophy
Philippe Clement and Rangers will try their hands in a difficult match-up versus Benfica
Sporting against Atalanta and Marseille versus Villarreal round off the draw, which saw eight seeded teams – the group winners – pitted against the eight sides who progressed from the play-offs.
Teams from the same country remained unable to face each other, but there was no rule preventing clubs in the same group from being drawn together.
West Ham’s tie with Freiburg is one of three ties involving teams who clashed in the group stage, the others being Sporting’s tie with Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen against Qarabag.
