Arsenal have qualified for the knockout stage of the Europa League, with other teams dropping to the Conference League after final group stage matches.
Manchester United failed to make it straight to the round of 16 after they could only manage a narrow 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad in Spain.
The Red Devils needed to win by at least two goals margin if they must qualify to the round of 16 of the competition and escape the playoffs. Hence, United will have to go through the play-offs.
Also, Jose Mourinho’s Conference League champions Roma are subjected to progress in the competition by featuring in the play-offs.
Arsenal, on the hand, topped their groups with 15 points and make it direct to the round of 16, escaping the playoffs.
Other Europa League teams who finished top of their group and are through to the round of 16 of the competition includes;
Arsenal
Fenerbahce
Real Betis
Union Saint-Gilloise
Real Sociedad
Feyenoord
Freiburg
Ferencvaros
Second-placed teams in the second-tier awaiting the unseeded Champions League dropouts include:
Manchester United
Midtjylland
Nantes
Monaco
PSV Eindhoven
Rennes
Roma
FC Union Berlin
The second-placed team are awaiting the unseeded teams to be fixed in the playoffs for final Europa League round of 16 fixtures.
The unseeded teams (Champions League third-placed teams) include;
Ajax
Barcelona
Bayer Leverkusen
Juventus
RB Salzburg
Sevilla
Shakhtar Donetsk
Sporting Lisbon
Meanwhile, down teams finished third in the Europa League and not entirely knocked out of the European club competition for the season.
They will join Conference League in the playoffs and will be seeded against teams that finished second place in each group.
The third-placed team’s dropped to the second-tier include;
Bodo/Glimt
AEK Larnaca
Ludogorets
Braga
Sheriff
Lazio
Qarabag
Trabzonspor
When is the Europa League play-off draw?
The draw will be held at 12pm on Monday November 7, at the House of European Football at UEFA’s headquarters in Switzerland.
How is the draw conducted?
The eight group runners-up from the Europa League will be seeded to face any of the eight third-placed sides from the Champions League group stages.
When will the matches be played?
The first legs of the last play-off round will be played on February 16, 2023, before the return legs a week later
When will round of 16 draws be conducted?
Arsenal’s automatic progression to the last 16 of this season’s Europa League means they will have to wait for the conclusion of the play-off round before learning who they will face next in the competition.
The draw for the last 16 of the second tier will take place on February 24, 2023, a day after the play-off second legs, with the last-16 ties held on March 9 and March 16, respectively.
Europa League Winner
The winner of the Europa League secures automatic qualification to the Champions Group Stage next year.
