Manchester United welcome Barcelona to Old Trafford for the first time in almost four years as the Europa League knockout round play-off concludes on Thursday.
The tie between two former Champions League winners is one of seven that remains finely poised ahead of the return leg taking place. Perennial champions of UEFA's second-tier competition, Sevilla, are the only side that seems assured of success by taking a 3-0 aggregate lead over PSV Eindhoven into their second leg.
European giants Ajax, Juventus and Sporting all drew their first legs against Union Berlin, Midtjylland and Nantes, respectively, while three other sides (Monaco, Roma and Shakhtar Donetsk) only won their initial encounters by a one-goal margin, but what happens to the sides that do come out on top in their play-off ties?
READ MORE: When is Europa League last 16 draw? Date, live stream and who United could play
What are the knockout round play-offs?
They were introduced to the Europa League last season to replace the round of 32 as the first stage following the groups. Previously, all 12 group winners and the other dozen runner-ups were joined by the eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage.
Now, though, following the inception of the Europa Conference League and subsequent reduction in total teams reaching the tournament proper from 48 to 32, the group winners effectively receive a bye to the round of 16. The eight teams that finished second in their group are joined by the eight teams dropping down from the Champions League to compete in what could be described as a pre-round of 16.
What happens to the winners?
Those that advance through the play-offs will join the eight group winners. They are Arsenal, Fenerbahçe, Ferencváros, Feyenoord, Freiburg, Real Betis, Real Sociedad and Union Saint-Gilloise.
That octet are also the eight seeded sides in the draw. So, were United to beat Barcelona at Old Trafford and continue their campaign in the competition, they would face one of the group winners.
Well, all but one of them. Clubs from the same national association cannot meet in the round of 16, so Arsenal and United will not be paired together - just yet.
When is the round of 16 draw?
Tomorrow! UEFA aren't waiting around as the draw is due to take place on Friday, 24 February, with the ceremony scheduled to start at noon CET (11am GMT; 6am ET), less than 24 hours after the second leg at Old Trafford and the other seven knockout round play-offs are set to have been decided.
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