Europa League Draw 2015-16: Round-of-32 Fixture Schedule and Dates Released

The draw for the first knockout stage of the Europa League was made on Monday, with Borussia Dortmund vs. Porto arguably the tie of the round of 32. The two European giants have never met competitively before, according to Soccerbase, but you can expect fireworks in February as they look to progress to the next round.

Manchester United avoided taking on Gary Neville's Valencia, as they were drawn against Danish side FC Midtjylland, while Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will return to Germany for his side's clash with Bundesliga outfit Augsburg. Neville himself will be hopeful of negotiating his way through a two-legged affair against Rapid Wien.

Tottenham Hotspur were handed the meatiest tie of the Premier League sides, as they face a tricky-looking double-header against Serie A giants Fiorentina.

Here’s a look at the Europa League draw in full:

Home Team in First Leg	vs.	Away
Valencia	vs.	Rapid Vienna
Fiorentina	vs.	Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund	vs.	Porto
Fenerbahce	vs.	Lokomotiv Moscow
Anderlecht	vs.	Olympiakos
FC Midtjylland	vs.	Manchester United
Augsburg	vs.	Liverpool
Sparta Prague	vs.	Krasnodar
Galatasaray	vs.	Lazio
FC Sion	vs.	Braga
Shakhtar Donetsk	vs.	Schalke
Marseille	vs.	Athletic Bilbao
Sevilla	vs.	Molde
Sporting Lisbon	vs.	Bayer Leverkusen
Villarreal	vs.	Napoli
Saint-Etienne	vs.	Basel

First legs to be played on Thursday, February 18. Second legs to be played on Thursday, 25 February.

All eyes will be on Liverpool manager Klopp when he heads for Ausgburg—a side that caused quite a stir against Klopp's Borussia Dortmund last season. When Dortmund suffered their 11th loss of the 2014/15 campaign at home to 10-man Ausgburg, players conversed with fans to try to keep the peace, reported by BBC Sport.

Klopp will be hoping his Liverpool side have enough about them to see off the German side. And besides that loss, the manager has a good record against Augsburg, as OptaFranz revealed:

Tottenham also have history with their round-of-32 opponents, as Fiorentina knocked Spurs out of the Europa League at this stage last season. 

Goals from Mario Gomez and Mohammed Salah gave the Italian side a 2-0 win in the second leg on home soil, although Tottenham will have the home advantage this time around.

Holders Sevilla came down from the Champions League and will be looking to win the Europa League for the third year on the spin. They'll be hoping for routine progression into the final 16 after being drawn against Norway's Molde FK.

Fellow Champions League failures Shakhtar Donetsk will undoubtedly have their work cut out, however, as they face a tie with German side Schalke.

The teams have met just once in their respective histories, yet it came in this very competition and round back in the 2004/05 season. That year, Shakhtar recorded an impressive 1-0 victory in the second leg in Germany to progress after drawing 1-1 in Ukraine.

Sporting Clube de Portugal take on Bayer Leverkusen in another exciting tie. Villarreal will play against Napoli. 

There are truly exciting ties everywhere you turn in this year's Europa League, and with the prize of Champions League football awaiting the victor, it's set to be fiercely competitive.

Big sides such as Manchester United, Porto, Dortmund and Liverpool have a great incentive for success, which sets up the 16 ties very nicely.