Europa League draw, round of 32: Arsenal to face Ostersund, Celtic up against Zenit
What awaits Arsenal
Östersunds’ 8,466 capacity Jämtkraft Arena. pic.twitter.com/jGGwDGh3u0
— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) December 11, 2017
The draw in full
The official result of the Round of 32 #UELdraw!
Most exciting tie? �� pic.twitter.com/166NCzW7wq— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) December 11, 2017
That concludes the draw
What a brilliant story this is. The Englishman Graham Potter, will get the chance to test his side out against Arsenal, who will be pretty content with a trip to Sweden. You can read our interview with Potter from July here.
Celtic meanwhile have a tricky looking tie against the Russian side FC Zenit, who were the top scorers in the Europa League group stage.
And finally...
Marseille vs Braga.
A trip to Sweden for Wenger
Ostersund, managed by Englishman Graham Potter, vs Arsenal.
The trip to Kazakhstan that nobody wanted goes to...
FC Astana vs Sporting CP.
The fourth and final Italian team is out
Ludogorets vs AC Milan.
Trip to Romania for Lazio
Steaua Bucharest vs Lazio.
Just five matches to go now...
Partizan Belgrade vs Plzen.
The fourth and final Spanish team is out
Real Sociedad vs Salzburg.
Tricky draw for the final host Lyon
Lyon vs Villarreal.
Another all-Eastern European affair
Red Star Belgrade vs CSKA Moskow.
The toughest potential opponents for Arsenal are out of the hat
Napoli vs Leipzig.
Tough draw for Celtic
Celtic vs Zenit (the top scorers in the group stage).
Eastern European 'derby'
AEK Athens vs Dynamo Kiev.
Just one Spanish side left
Spartak Moskow vs Athletic Bilbao.
Two of the big guns now out of the way
FC Copenhagen vs Atletico Madrid.
Next up
Nice vs Lokomotiv Moskow.
First up
Borussia Dortmund vs Atalanta.
We're ready
The draw is about to get under way. A remeinder of the teams in the hat (there's no hat).
Seeded: AC Milan (ITA), Arsenal (ENG), Atalanta (ITA), Athletic Bilbao (ESP), Atletico Madrid* (ESP), Braga (POR), CSKA Moskow* (RUS), Dynamo Kiev (UKR), Lazio (ITA), Leipzig* (GER), Lokomotiv Moskow (RUS), Plzeň (CZE), Salzburg (AUT), Sporting CP* (POR), Villarreal (ESP), Zenit (RUS)
Unseeded: AEK Athens (GRE), Astana (KAZ), Borussia Dortmund* (GER), Celtic* (SCO), Copenhagen (DEN), Red Star Belgrade (SRB), Steaua Bucharest (ROU), Ludogorets (BUL), Lyon (FRA), Marseille (FRA), Napoli* (ITA), Nice (FRA), Östersund (SWE), Partizan Belgrade (SRB), Real Sociedad (ESP), Spartak Moskow* (RUS)
* Transferred from Champions League
Geopolitics
Uefa have made the decision that teams from Ukraine and Russia can't be drawn against each other.
Looking for Eric
Former Barcelona, Lyon and France defender Eric Abidal enters the stage to assist with the draw. He talks about who good it would be if Olympique Lyonnais made this year's Europa League final in Lyon.
Nearly there
Uefa's deputy general secretary Girogio Marchetti is on stage to make the draw.
Heading to Nyon
The draw (or at least the pre-draw chatter) is about to begin. Pedro Pinto, UEFA's director of communications, welcomes the assembled group in one of those generic vaguely American sounding continental European accents that is compulsory for Uefa staff.
All to play for
Owen Hargreaves says of Arsenal: "Surely the Europa League must be a priority. They're not going to win the league and the top four is by no means a priority."
Jermaine Jenas adds that he expects Arsenal to start prioritising the competition in the second half of the season.
Who could face who?
In microscopic detail, below are all the possible permutations.
The main things to know are that the worst possible draw for Arsenal would be Napoli, Borussia Dortmund or Real Sociedad. They could also face Celtic, but can't be drawn against fellow top seeds Atletico Madrid.
Second seeds Celtic meanwhile could draw Atletico, as well as other major European sides like AC Milan and Athletic Bilbao.
Here the #draw#probabilities for the round of 32 of the #EuropaLeague. Not many constraints, so probabilities don't vary much: from 5.5% (Celtic-Sporting, the only 2 teams who can play 16 opponents) to 8.8% (some matches of Real Soc & Spartak M, the 2 most constrained teams) pic.twitter.com/CoGLyZcM7A
— Julien Guyon (@julienguyon1977) December 11, 2017
Greetings
Hi everyone, the Champions League draw is done and dusted - reaction to that can be found here - so attention moves to the Europa League. Arsenal and Celtic are the only British sides left in the draw, which is given a bit of added glamour by the arrival of Champions League drop-outs Atletico Madrid, Napoli and Borussia Dortmund.
The matches will be played in mid to late February, by which time Arsenal could be lagging in the top four race and decide to play their 'A' team for Europa League games if winning the competition looks like their most likely route to Champions League qualification. Manchester United did something similar last season of course.
Preview
What is it?
This is the draw for the last-32 stage of the Europa League.
When is it?
The draw will take place on Monday, December 11, 2017.
What time is kick-off?
The balls will be drawn at 12pm (GMT) in Nyon, Switzerland. You can follow all the action right here when this page turns into our live blog.
Which British teams are involved?
Arsenal and Everton were the only two British sides to contest the Europa League group stage, with the former advancing as group winners and the Merseyside club failing to progress.
Arsenal will be one of the seeded sides in Monday's draw, while Celtic - who dropped into the competition after failing to progress from their Champions League group - are unseeded.
Seeded: AC Milan (ITA), Arsenal (ENG), Atalanta (ITA), Athletic Bilbao (ESP), Atletico Madrid* (ESP), Braga (POR), CSKA Moskow* (RUS), Dynamo Kiev (UKR), Lazio (ITA), Leipzig* (GER), Lokomotiv Moskow (RUS), Plzeň (CZE), Salzburg (AUT), Sporting CP* (POR), Villarreal (ESP), Zenit (RUS)
Unseeded: AEK Athens (GRE), Astana (KAZ), Borussia Dortmund* (GER), Celtic* (SCO), Copenhagen (DEN), Red Star Belgrade (SRB), Steaua Bucharest (ROU), Ludogorets (BUL), Lyon (FRA), Marseille (FRA), Napoli* (ITA), Nice (FRA), Östersund (SWE), Partizan Belgrade (SRB), Real Sociedad (ESP), Spartak Moskow* (RUS)
* Transferred from Champions League
How does the draw work?
There will be two pots of clubs for the round of 32 draw: the 12 group winners and the four best third-ranked teams in the Champions League group stage are seeded.
The group winners and four best third-placed teams in the Champions League will be drawn against the 12 group runners-up and the remaining third-placed Champions League sides.
The seeded teams will be at home in the second leg.
No team can play a club from their Europa League group or a side from the same country. Additionally, teams from Russia and Ukraine cannot be drawn together.
Games will be played in principle on Thursdays 15 and 22 February with the exact schedule released after the draw.
Who can the British sides face?
Arsenal: AEK Athens, Astana, Borussia Dortmund, Celtic, Copenhagen, Steaua Bucharest, Ludogorets, Lyon, Marseille, Napoli, Nice, Östersund, Partizan Belgrade, Real Sociedad, Spartak Moscow
Celtic: AC Milan, Arsenal, Atalanta, Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid, Braga, CSKA Moskow, Dynamo Kiev, Lazio, Leipzig, Lokomotiv Moskow, Plzeň, Salzburg, Sporting CP, Villarreal, Zenit