Europa League games on Thursday and potential pairings before the draw on Friday

These are the potential duels in Europa League round of 16 to decide Friday's draw.
Text: Javier Escribano
Published 2026-02-25

The second leg games of the Europa League knockout play-offs are played on Thursday, February 26, with some teams enjoying a good advantage from last week. The following day, the draw will be made, to decided the rivals for the round of 16.

Aston Villa, Braga, Freiburg, Lyon, Midtjylland, Porto, Real Betis, and Roma will know their rivals for round of 16 tomorrow, and due to how the table is made, divided in two halves, each team only has two options:


Ludogorets or Ferencvaros vs. Porto or Braga
Celtic or Stuttgart vs. Porto or Braga


Panathinaikos or Viktoria Plzen vs. Midtjylland or Betis
Fenerbahçe or Nottingham Forest vs. Midtjylland or Betis


GNK Dinamo or Genk vs. Freiburg or Roma
Brann or Bologna vs. Freiburg or Roma


PAOK or Celta vs. Lyon or Aston Villa
Lille or Crvena Zvezda vs. Lyon or Aston Villa


Europa League games on Thursday, February 26:


Ferencváros vs Ludogorets Razgrad: 18:45 CET, 17:45 GMT
VfB Stuttgart vs Celtic: 18:45 CET, 17:45 GMT
Viktoria Plzeň vs Panathinaikos : 18:45 CET, 17:45 GMT
Crvena Zvezda vs Lille: 18:45 CET, 17:45 GMT
Bologna vs Brann: 21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT
Celta Vigo vs PAOK: 21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT
Nottingham Forest vs Fenerbahçe: 21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT
Genk vs Dinamo Zagreb: 21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT

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