Europa League Draw 2015-16: Date, Seeds, Live Stream, TV Info for Round of 32
Although it’s European football’s second-tier competition, the Europa League is a tournament stacked with quality this term. Consequently, Monday’s draw should make for very intriguing viewing indeed.
With names such as Manchester United, Porto, Sevilla and Valencia dropping down from the Champions League, there is some major pedigree in the round of 32. Add those to the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Dortmund, and we could get some truly elite contests in the latter stages of the competition.
The last 32 is never easy, though, as even with the seeding system concocted by UEFA, the two pots of teams look balanced. Here are the key viewing details for Monday’s draw, the pots in which each team will be plucked from and a closer examination of a couple of teams among the favourites to win this year’s competition.
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| Athletic Club | Anderlecht |
| Basel | Augsburg |
| Braga | Borussia Dortmund |
| Krasnodar | Fenerbahce |
| Lazio | Fiorentina |
| Bayer Leverkusen | Galatasaray |
| Liverpool | Marseille |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | Midtjylland |
| Manchester United | Sevilla |
| Molde | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| Napoli | Sion |
| Olympiakos | Sparta Prague |
| Porto | Sporting Club |
| Rapid Vienna | St-Etienne |
| Schalke | Valencia |
| Tottenham | Villarreal |
Date: Monday, Dec. 14
Time: 12 p.m. (GMT), 7 a.m. (ET)
TV Info: Sky Sports News HQ (UK)
Borussia Dortmund
Despite not being seeded for the upcoming draw, Thomas Tuchel’s brilliant Borussia Dortmund are the favourites in the eyes of many to go on and lift this trophy.
BVB are definitely a Champions League-standard team. After a disappointing final season for Jurgen Klopp at the club in 2014-15, they were well below par and only just scraped into this competition. But Tuchel has revitalised this group, and with Mats Hummels, Ilkay Gundogan, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marco Reus still at the Westfalenstadion, there is world-class pedigree to call upon.
In Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Dortmund arguably have the hottest forward in European football at the moment too. As WhoScored.com noted recently, the Gabon international is ruthless in front of goal:
Admittedly, the group stages didn’t quite go as planned for Dortmund, with defeats in their last two games meaning they missed out on top spot. As a result, some potentially tricky ties could be on the cards for Tuchel’s men in the last 32, although there are few who would like to draw the Bundesliga giants.
One of those teams could be Klopp’s Liverpool, but the former Dortmund boss didn’t seem too concerned when quizzed on the prospect, per BT Sport:
Even so, Dortmund have the quality to go toe-to-toe with any of the teams remaining in the competition. The loss in their last Europa League outing was partly due to poor fortune, but with some critical games to come in the Bundesliga, they did take their foot off the gas a little. Aside from that slip-up, the signs have been that Tuchel is taking this competition extremely seriously.
Tottenham Hotspur
They may not be among the out-and-out favourites for glory, but Tottenham are a team worth keeping a very close eye on in this competition.
Spurs have been brilliant in the Premier League so far this season, with some tipping them as potential dark horses for the title. However, qualifying for the Champions League by finishing in the top four and going a long way in the Europa League will surely be the priority for manager Mauricio Pochettino.
In their final group game, Tottenham swatted aside a decent Monaco team 4-1, with Erik Lamela playing a starring role, as we can see here, courtesy of Squawka:
The winger loves this competition, but so too do plenty more of Tottenham’s star turns. The technical, energetic style of play they’ve crafted under Pochettino will serve them well in the latter stages of the Europa League, and while Spurs are renowned for coming up just short, there’s been something a little more steely about them in recent weeks.
Indeed, former manager Harry Redknapp stated on social media that he’s expecting some big things from this group of players:
Having topped their group, Tottenham will be hoping for a favourable team in the first set of knockout fixtures, and this is a group of young players that’ll be hoping to cap their potential with a trophy. In a competition that has huge relevance to Spurs, having won it two times, the Europa League would be a fitting first piece of silverware for a lot of these players.
