The draw for the knockout rounds of 32 and 16 of the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League will take place on Friday 17 December at 12 noon (after the Champions League Draw) and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports News - Channel 405 or 455 for HD version. Also live on ESPN - Channel 417 and 442 for HD version.
Ties will be played on Thurs 17th and Thurs 24th February 2011.
As an unseeded team, we will be placed in Pot B and our first leg will be played at Ibrox.
In yet another example of wonderful fixture planning by the SPL, we will visit Parkhead for a League match on Sunday 20th Feb, directly in between our 1st and 2nd leg Europa League ties.
Our 16 Potential Opponents
Manchester City - Winners of Europa League Group A with 11 points. Group included Lech Poznan, Juventus and Salzburg. Currently sit 3rd in the English Premiership with 32 pts from 17 games.
Bayer Leverkusen - Winners of Group B with 12 points. Group included Aris Thessaloniki, Atletico Madrid and Rosenborg. Currently sit 2nd in the German Bundesliga with 32 pts from 16 games.
Sporting Lisbon - Winners of Group C with 12 points. Group included Lille, Gent and Levski Sofia. Currently sit 3rd in the Portugese League with 22 points from 13 games.
Villareal - Winners of Group D with 12 points. Group included PAOK, Dinamo Zagreb and Club Brugge. Currently sit 3rd in the Spanish Liga with 30 points from 15 games.
Dynamo Kiev - Winners of Group E with 11 points. Group included BATE Borisov, AZ Alkmaar and Sheriff. Finished 7th in the Russian League with 40 points from 30 games.
CSKA Moscow - Winners of Group F with 16 points. Group included Sparta Prague, Palermo and Lausanne. Finished 2nd in the Russian League with 62 points from 30 games.
Zenit St Petersburg - Winners of Group G with a maximum 18 points. Group included Anderlecht, AEK Athens and Hajduk Split. Have just won the Russian League with 68 points from 30 games.
vfb Stuttgart - Winners of Group H with 15 points. Group included Young Boys, Getafe and Odense Currently sit 17th (2nd Bottom) in the German Bundesliga with 12 points from 16 games.
PSV Eindhoven - Winners of Group I with 14 points. Group included Metalist Kharkiv, Sampdoria and Debreceni. Currently sit top of the Dutch Eredivisie with 38 points from 18 games.
Paris Saint-Germain - Winners of Group J with 12 points. Group included Seville, Borussia Dortmund and Karpaty Lviv. Currently sit 2nd in the French Ligue with 30 points from 17 games.
Liverpool - Winners of Group K with 10 points. Group included Napoli, Steaua Bucharest and Utrecht. Currently sit 9th in the English Premiership with 22 points from 17 games.
Porto - Winners of Group L with 16 points. Group included Besiktas, Rapid Vienna and CSKA Sofia. Currently sit top of the Portugese League with 35 points from 13 games.
Spartak Moscow - Finished 3rd in Champions League Group F with 9 points. Group included Chelsea, Marseille and MSK Zilina. Finished 4th in the Russian League with 49 pts from 30 games.
Braga - Finished 3rd in Champions League Group H with 9 points. Group included Shakhtar Donetsk, Arsenal and Partisan Belgrade. Currently sit 8th in the Portuguese League with 17 pts from 13 games.
Ajax - Finished 3rd in Champions League Group G with 7 points. Group included Real Madrid, AC Milan and Auxerre. Currently sit 4th in the Dutch Eredivisie with 35 pts from 18 games.
FC Twente - Finished 3rd in Champions League Group A with 6 points. Group included Spurs, Inter Milan and Werder Bremen. Currently sit second in the Dutch Eredivisie with 37 pts from 18 games.
The other 15 unseeded teams in the Europa League, whom we can't play in this round, but could face in the Round of 16 are: Lech Poznan, Aris Thessaloniki, Lille, PAOK Salonika, BATE Borisov, Sparta Prague, Anderlecht, Young Boys, Metalist Kharkiv, Seville, Napoli, Besiktas, Rubin Kazan, Basle and Benfica.
Factors To Be Considered
With teams from the same Association prevented from playing each other at this stage, a big factor is where teams come from: Russia has 4 teams, Portugal 3, Holland 3, Germany 2, England 2, Spain 1 and France 1, so a trip to Russia, Portugal or Holland, due to them having most representatives, is a fair possibility.
With 2 of the seeded teams being based in Moscow, UEFA rules will prevent both of them playing their 2nd leg ties at home on Thursday 24th February. The liklihood being that the games in Moscow will be played on Wednesday and Thursday of that week.
Who Do We Want To Face Or Avoid?
Many people will have their own reasons for wanting to face a particular team, be it ease of travel or happy memories of a previous visit to a particular city.
However, based purely on League form vfb Stuttgart, who are fighting relegation from the Bundesliga, Braga or Liverpool would appear to be a good draw for us.
I'd reckon our chances would be at least 50/50 against any of the Dutch sides, though PSV are the strongest of the 3, but I wouldn't be too disappointed with a trip to Holland.
Travel problems and the fact that Russian teams are formidable opponents at present, mean that we will be happy to avoid a trip to the eastern corner of Europe. Villareal sit 3rd in La Liga behind Barcelona and Real Madrid, so would be another team to avoid if we want to progress one step further towards the final in Dublin on Wednesday 18 May 2011.