Champions League draw: Newcastle to face Qarabag in the play-offs; Real Madrid to play former manager Jose Mourinho's Benfica
The draw is for those who finished between 9th and 24th in the league phase
Howe will again have to strike a delicate balance with his changes as he did in Paris midweek, writes our Newcastle reporter
The games to be played on either February 17 or 18 and the second legs a week later
Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea don't find out their opponents until the draw on February 27
Europa League: Newcastle to face Fenerbahce and Celtic to play Stuttgart - and they could meet each other in the quarter-finals
ICYMI: Premier League team news: Saliba & Timber | Frimpong & Konate | Guimaraes, Joelinton & Livramento | Diego Gomez
Transfer lines: Slot tight-lipped | Ayari 'a Brighton player'
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The pathways don't matter. Last season we beat Real Madrid and this year we've already beaten Bayern and Inter, so bring on anyone. This Arsenal squad is the strongest in Europe by a mile!
David
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SO IN THE BLUE PATH, WE COULD HAVE GOONERS, TOTTENHAM, CHELSEA, CITY, AND NEWCASTLE, WHICH WOULD LEAD TO THE LAST 4 IN BLUE SIDE ALL ENGLISH.
JOHN
Do the capital letters tell us anything about your excitement levels John?
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Arsenal may never get a better chance. There are no big beasts lurking across the channel, aside from Bayern. To finally win it their biggest obstacle will likely be a domestic rival.
Dazza
Champions League
Getting ahead of ourselves Anthony?
We haven't got confirmed round-of-16 ties yet - that will be decided on 27 February, when each side's potential path to the final will also become clear.
However, you can now see the potential match-ups starting to take shape.
Here's who each side could face who in the last 16:
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Newcastle's route to glory: Beat Qarabag; Beat Cheslea or Barca; Beat Liverpool, Spurs, Atletico or Brugge; beat Man City, Arsenal, Bayern or Sporting in the semis. Take on whoever in the final. That's pretty simple, hopefully, and a nice route.
Anthony
Champions League
Right, in case you are just joining us, the draw for the knockout play-offs of the Champions League was made a little earlier today.
The ties include a trip to Azerbaijan for Newcastle, where they will face Qarabag, and a rematch of the thrilling Benfica v Real Madrid tie that we saw in the league phase. Not too bad, at all.
The eight ties have been split into two pathways - silver and blue. Sides in each pathway cannot play each other until the final.
Here is the draw for the knockout play-offs in full:
Silver pathway
Blue pathway
Europa League
Aston Villa finished second in the league phase of the Europa League so qualified directly for the last 16.
They will find out who they will play when the draw for the last 16 is made on 27 February.
Villa will either play the winners of the tie between Lille and Crvena Zvezda - if they are placed in the orange pathway - or the victors of PAOK v Celta - if they are drawn in the silver pathway.
Should Villa end up in the orange pathway, they could play either Celtic or Nottingham Forest in the semi-final.
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Villa should be confident of going far in this tournament whatever the draw but that Silver path looks wide open!
Dave
Europa League
If Celtic get past Stuttgart, they will face either Sporting Braga or Porto in the last 16.
Nottingham Forest, meanwhile, will next play either Real Betis or FC Midtjylland if they beat Fenerbahce in the play-offs.
A draw for the last 16 will be made on 27 February.
Remember, Celtic and Forest will play each other in the last eight, should they win their next two ties in the Europa League.
Europa League
Here's the full draw for the Europa League knockout play-offs, including which pathway each team is on.
Silver path:
Orange path:
Europa League
Celtic and Nottingham Forest have been put on the same pathway in the Europa League and could play each other in the quarter-finals, if they can make it through their knockout play-offs and last-16 ties.
Europa League
We have not forgotten the Europa League.
The draw for the knockout play-offs has just been made.
Here is who the two British sides have drawn:
Jose Mourinho's Benfica dramatically defeated Real Madrid on Wednesday to record his first win over his former side.
Mourinho has only played Madrid twice since he managed the Spanish giants from 2010-2013.
Mourinho's record against Real Madrid [Mourinho's sides in bold]:
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty ImagesJose Mourinho has been a serial winner throughout his career and won everything there is to win.
That was no different during his time at Real Madrid, too, where he led the side to the La Liga title and victories in both domestic cup competitions.
The one that escaped him during his time in the Spanish capital, though? The Champions League trophy.
Despite Madrid being the most decorated club in Europe when it comes to Champions League titles - Mourinho never could quite get over the line with the Los Blancos.
He reached the semi-final stage in three consecutive seasons with the club but could never reach the final hurdle.
Mourinho's Real Madrid honours:
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Trubin is absolutely licking his lips.
Harry
Image source, Getty ImagesWell, you just knew it was going to happen.
After the incredible ending to the game in Portugal on Wednesday evening which saw Benfica creep into the final play-off spot - the two will face off again.
Benfica boss Jose Mourinho has already shown he has got the beating of his former side and will fancy his chances of creating more history on the European stage.
The Portuguese coach is a two-time winner of the competition with both Porto and Inter Milan but he hasn't got his hands on the big one since lifting it with Inter back in 2011.
Image source, Getty ImagesSo Newcastle facing Qarabag is one great story from the knockout play-offs draw.
Another is the all-Ligue 1 tie between Monaco and Paris-St Germain.
But the tie of the round has to be Benfica v Real Madrid (parts II & III).
The sequels have a lot to live up to.
No-one could have scripted what happened in their first encounter, which provided a suitably dramatic finale to the league phase.
Goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin headed in a 98th minute goal to seal a 4-2 victory that clinched Benfica's place in the knockout play-offs on goal difference.
Many people may be surprised to see Qarabag still in the competition at this stage, but they've pulled off some impressive wins to get here.
They became the first Azerbaijani side to record back-to-back Champions League wins as they beat Copenhagen 2-0, after winning their opening tie against Benfica.
Since then, they were beaten by Napoli and Liverpool away from home, and were also beaten 4-2 by Ajax in Azerbaijan.
But a surprise draw with Chelsea and a hard-fought victory over Frankfurt ensured their spot in the top 24, and showed that they're more than capable of pulling off an upset in this season's competition.
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There is a huge disparity between the two groups. Clearly blue is easier - imagine now if Arsenal and Liverpool are on the silver pathway too...
Scott
Champions League
Here's the potential match-up for each Premier League side entering the knockout phase.
Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea did not find out their opponents today. As we've been saying, that draw is on February 27.
But here's a reminder of who they may face:
Arsenal will face:
Chelsea will face:
Tottenhamwill face:
Liverpool will face
Manchester City will face:
Newcastle will face:
