Europa League: Barca scheduled for two legged play-offs, draw and fixture date revealed

Barcelona will not automatically drop to the round of 16 in the Europa League, instead, the Blaugrana will be drawn to play a two-legged play-off first.

The group winners of each of the 8 Europa League groups have qualified automatically for the next round.

How the draw works

There are 16 clubs who can be drawn to play the play-offs.

The 8 runner-ups in the Europa League groups will be seeded for the knock-out play-off round.

Barcelona and 7 other teams who failed to qualify for the Champions League round of 16 stage will be unseeded for the Europa League knock-out play-off round.

A club who finished second in their Europa League group must be drawn against a club who finished third in their Champions League group.

Two teams from the same league cannot be paired together.

When will the draw be held?

The draw for all UEFA club competitions will be held on December 13.

When will the fixture be played?

Barcelona will contest in the Europa League knockout play-off on Thursday, February 17, 2022.

The second leg will be played a week later, on Thursday February 24, 2022.

Source: UEFA