UEL knockout stages: Man Utd & Spurs have the same 4 possible last-16 opponents

The newly-introduced league phase of the Europa League came to a close on Thursday night with 18 matches taking place at the same time.

Serie A side Lazio finished top of the 36-team table after going through the group phase with just one loss from their eight matches.

The Italian side were joined by Manchester United, Tottenham, Eintracht Frankfurt, Athletic Club, Lyon, Olympiacos and Rangers in finishing in the top eight of the competition.

The top eight sides secured automatic passage through to the round of 16, which is scheduled to take place in March.

United and Spurs - the only English sides in the competition - ensured a stress-free evening by comfortably beating FCSB and Elfsborg respectively.

Mail Sport explains how the knock-out stage draw will work ahead of it taking place on Friday afternoon.

How does the Europa League draw work?

By choosing to scrap the traditional format of a four team group stage and bring in the single league phase, UEFA also needed to tweak the knock-out stages of the Europa League as a result.

While eight teams automatically booked spots in the last-16, the teams ranked between ninth and 24th need to compete in an additional play-off round to seal their places.

Last year, UEFA last opted to adopt a tennis-style seeding for the knockout stages - after the governing body worked out it would take 'three or four hours' to stage the draw manually under the competition's new format.

UEFA estimated the Champions League draw alone could last 'three or four hours' and feature around 900 balls had it been conducted in the same style as before.

Where teams finished in the table ultimately formed the competition bracket, with teams earning seedings for the knock-out stage based on their position.

Teams have been paired together, with Lazio and Athletic Club earning the top two seedings after finishing first and second. It means the only way the teams can meet in the competition this year is if they both advance to the final in Bilbao.

Similarly they can only face United and Spurs – who finished third and fourth respectively – at the semi-final stage.

The top eight sides, having earned a seeding, will be drawn against the winners of the play-off round ties in the last-16.

Who will Manchester United and Tottenham play in the last-16?

Victory for Manchester United in Bucharest means they finished in 3rd spot in the table, lining up a round of 16 match against one of Real Sociedad, Galatasaray, AZ Alkmaar or FC Midtjylland.

A win for Tottenham in north London sees them have the same possible four opponents, having finished just one spot below United.

Rangers - who finished in eighth - will face one of Bodo/Glimt, Anderlecht, FC Twente or Fenerbahce.

The round of 16 matches will be held on March 6 and March 13, with the quarter-finals to follow on April 10 and April 17.

Semi-finals will be held on May 1 and May 8, with both United and Spurs hoping to be in the final, which will take place at Athletic Club's San Mames Stadium on May 21.