Manchester United will face Spanish side Real Sociedad in the last 16 of the Europa League, while Tottenham will play AZ Alkmaar and Rangers meet Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.
Should United advance, they will play Romanian league leaders FCSB or Lyon in the quarter-finals.
Spurs or Dutch side AZ Alkmaar will face Eintracht Frankfurt or Ajax in the last eight, while Rangers will meet Roma or Athletic Bilbao if they get past Turkish club Fenerbahce.
With Manchester United and Tottenham on opposite halves of the draw, they could – in theory – meet in the final in Bilbao on 21 May, knowing the winner would earn Champions League football next season.
With the Premier League all but guaranteed five places in the Champions League next season, an all-Premier League final would probably mean a sixth English club in Europe’s premier club competition in 2025-26 – as Spurs and United are unlikely to finish in the top five.
Meanwhile, Chelsea will face FC Copenhagen in the last 16 of the Conference League.
United, Spurs and Rangers are all away in the first leg of their last-16 ties on Thursday, 6 March. The return legs take place on 13 March.
Chelsea will travel to Denmark for the first leg against Copenhagen on 6 March, with the return at Stamford Bridge seven days later.
Europa League last-16 draw in full
Bodo/Glimt v Olympiakos
Fenerbahce v Rangers
Ajax v Eintracht Frankfurt
FCSB v Lyon
AZ Alkmaar v Tottenham
Real Sociedad v Manchester United
Viktoria Plzen v Lazio
Roma v Athletic Bilbao
Mourinho heading to Ibrox
Rangers fans will look forward to the visit of former Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham boss Mourinho to Ibrox in three weeks’ time.
His Fenerbahce team sit second in Turkey’s Super Lig table, six points behind leaders Galatasaray with 13 games left.
There is a potential route through the tournament which would mean Mourinho faces former clubs Roma in the quarter-final, Manchester United in the last four, and Tottenham in the final.
Manchester United and Real Sociedad met as recently as the 2022-23 season.
After Sociedad secured a 1-0 win at Old Trafford in the Europa League group stage, United went to the Basque Country two months later and won by the same scoreline thanks to Alejandro Garnacho’s winner.
Spurs have already faced AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League this season.
Richarlison hit the winner from the penalty spot to secure a 1-0 win in a league phase game on 24 October in north London.
Europa Conference League last-16 draw in full
Jagiellonia Białystok v Cercle Brugge
Molde vs Legia Warsaw
Celje vs Lugano
Pafos vs Djurgarden
Panathinaikos vs Fiorentina
Borac Banja Luka v Rapid Vienna
Real Betis vs Vitoria Guimaraes
FC Copenhagen v Chelsea
Fan anger has again been aimed at chairman Daniel Levy – vocalised in persistent ‘Levy out’ calls from supporters both home and away.
Club sources told BBC Sport the protests are “hurting” Levy, who attends almost every game and sits stoically through the criticism.
Tottenham were one of the busiest clubs in the January transfer window, but that has not satisfied some fans who criticise a recruitment policy mainly focused on under-21 players with potential resale value, and who regularly accuse Levy of acting too slowly in the market and putting profits above success on the pitch.
A ‘sit-down’ protest – led by a smaller supporter group called Change for Tottenham (CFT) – is planned against Levy before Sunday’s match against United.
Last week, the main fan group – the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) – released five core principles they want to hold Levy to account on.
Among those principles were demands to “commit to winning” with investment; “attract and retain talent” with competitive wages; “develop elite youth talent”; “lead with integrity” to be “financially sustainable” while “keeping tickets affordable”; and engage with fans.
BBC Sport has spoken to several people on and off the record to try to understand the fuller picture of Levy’s Tottenham regime.
Some of the key points made were:
Levy will step aside when he feels it is right for Spurs and “every option is open” for different future ownership structures
He is “hurt” by protests, “hurt” by results, and has opted to sit through the ‘Levy out’ chants rather than hide away
An acceptance Spurs have not always spent well in the transfer market but belief that recent managers, including Postecoglou, have been backed financially
Club leadership feel they have come closer to winning more than just the 2008 League Cup in the Enic/Levy era having reached 15 semi-finals and six finals
Sources who have worked with Levy say he does not communicate well enough and suggest the executive team are too similar, hence occasional “own goals” on policies.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire says any discussion of Levy’s tenure must be framed by Tottenham becoming the “most profitable club in Premier League history” because of the money their new stadium generates, a historically lower wage structure and a “degree of caution” on transfer spending.
He describes Spurs as a “superb cash-making machine” who have “outperformed any other club in England”.
Maguire outlined:
His figures show that from 2001 to 2023, Tottenham made £171m profit. Burnley were second on £159m, with Arsenal third on £105m
In the past decade, Spurs have the sixth-highest total wage bill in the Premier League (£1.6bn vs Man City’s £2.9bn as the highest); the sixth-highest transfer spend (£1.3bn vs Chelsea’s £2.8bn as the most); with the fifth-highest net spend over a similar period
Tottenham fans pay among the highest season ticket prices and matchday prices in the top flight
Levy has the highest chief executive pay of Premier League clubs that declare such data. In 2023, the most recent figures available, Spurs’ highest-paid director – unnamed but assumed to be Levy – earned £6.6m.
What is it like to work under Levy?
Club insiders describe Levy, 63, as “shy, quiet and hard-working” – and a man who loves the club and is affected by fan criticism. Multiple sources who know him have expressed respect for Tottenham’s progress under his leadership.
One source with knowledge of the inner workings of the club, who wished to remain anonymous, said Levy can be “very ruthless” but “genuinely wants the best for Spurs”.
They claimed some of the “own goals” – such as using the government furlough scheme during Covid in 2020 and more recently phasing out senior concession tickets – are partly because Levy does not “surround himself with the best people”.
They described the executive leadership and club board, which includes operations and finance director Matthew Collecott and executive director Donna-Maria Cullen, as “people too similar to him” who will “sit with their heads in their phones”, rather than “people who make up for [Levy’s] weaknesses”.
The source said Levy does not successfully deliver his messages about caring for the club because he is not a strong public speaker and chooses to avoid it, adding: “One interview or being visible once a year is not a lot.”
While Tottenham’s football structure has changed frequently, including technical directors, managing directors and heads of football operations, sources say the club rigidly sticks to “Levy’s philosophy and recruitment policy – to buy young players with promise who can add value”.
Another source who has worked with Levy in the Spurs hierarchy, also speaking anonymously, backed his passion for the club and said the idea the chairman does not care because he rarely shows emotion is “nonsense”.
They added that Levy is unrelenting – working “crazy” hours which can be tough and tiring for colleagues – and always wants more, something which can grate with people who do not like that style of leadership.
Would Levy ever step aside?
Sources at the club believe Levy will step aside when he feels it is right for Tottenham.
They say he would not be motivated by vanity to stay on if there was an outright takeover – and the club remains open to investment with all future ownership structures on the table.
While Levy may be the focal point of protests, it was stressed that he is a minority shareholder of the club through his own family trust – and Enic, itself mostly owned by the Lewis family trust, remains the majority owner.
That means any change or purchase would need approval from the Lewis family, and there are other minority shareholders with a say.
During the current protests, the THST has expressed frustration but has not called for Levy to leave, unlike CFT, which is a smaller splinter group looking to apply pressure in internal fan politics and towards the club.
Other sources agreed the only realistic way in which Levy would leave Spurs would be on his own terms. He is the Premier League’s highest-paid chief executive – earning an estimated £50m-plus over his 25 years in charge.
This week a Guardian article reported potential interest in Tottenham from an unnamed Qatari consortium, although sources with knowledge of Spurs’ ownership situation played it down.
In 2023, when Paris St-Germain’s owners Qatari Sports Investment (QSI) were exploring the possibility of a minority stake in an English club, Tottenham were one of the teams linked. Levy maintains a close relationship with PSG and QSI chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
One source added that Levy – a renowned negotiator famously described by Sir Alex Ferguson as “more painful [to deal with] than a hip replacement” – will demand a high price for Spurs given their elite facilities, brand, London premium and the revenue the club now generates.
Various reports in recent years have valued Tottenham at between £3.5bn and £4bn.
Chelsea were bought in a deal worth up to £4.25bn from Roman Abramovich in 2022 by a consortium led by American investor Todd Boehly and private equity firm Clearlake Capital. The purchase price was £2.5bn with a commitment to spending £1.75bn over the next 10 years.
Meanwhile, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos bought a 25% stake in Manchester United for £1.03bn in December 2023 in a process which included a rival bid from Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim, reported to be nearer to £5bn for 100% of the club.
Despite those huge sums, both clubs – unlike Tottenham – need major investment in their stadiums to unlock bigger commercial earning potential.
According to the first source, the period when Tottenham were building their new £1.2bn stadium, between 2017 and 2019, meant Levy was “all-consumed” and the board “left everyone to do their jobs”.
Spurs secured Champions League football under Mauricio Pochettino for four successive seasons to 2018-19 – and were beaten in the 2019 final by Liverpool.
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