Bayern Leverkusen’s vs Liverpool Xabi Alonso Anfield return becomes possible

Liverpool will be one step closer to discovering their opponents in the Europa League round-of-16 after Thursday’s matches.

The team finished at the top of Group E in the group stages, securing their automatic qualification for the next round.

However, Liverpool will not be participating in European action this week, as the knockout round play-offs commence without them.

The eight runners-up from the Europa League groups will face off against the eight teams that dropped out of the Champions League, having finished third in their respective groups.

The winners of these matches will then progress to the round-of-16.

The second leg of the knockout round play-offs will take place on Thursday, February 22, followed by the round-of-16 draw on Friday, February 23 at 11:00am GMT.

Liverpool will discover their next opponents in the competition during this draw, with the matches scheduled to take place on March 7 and March 14.