Liverpool v Sparta, Brighton v Roma in Europa League last 16

Chosen by us to get you up to speed at a glance
Liverpool were drawn against Sparta Prague in the last 16 of the Europa League, while Brighton face another tough test in their first season in Europe, with a tie against Roma.
West Ham will face their pool-stage opponents Freiburg again, while Rangers will take on Benfica.
All four British teams have the advantage of playing their second legs at home, courtesy of topping their groups. 
They will travel to play their first legs on March 7, with the second legs to be played a week later on March 14.
Liverpool will be pleased to have avoided the more dangerous-looking sides, especially Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who face a long trip to Azerbaijan to play Qarabag, and AC Milan, who face Slavia Prague.
Jurgen Klopp will also be pleased to have sidestepped Roma, who Brighton will take on in the next chapter of their memorable maiden European journey. 
West Ham will be confident, having done the double over Freiburg in the group stages, winning 2-1 in Germany and 2-0 in London.
Rangers, high on confidence as they top the Scottish Premiership, will fancy their chances of bloddying the nose of another European big gun in Benfica.
Aston Villa will discover their last-16 opponents in the Europa Conference League when the draw for that competition takes place at midday on Friday.
Sparta Prague vs Liverpool 
Marseille vs Villarreal 
Roma vs Brighton 
Benfica vs Rangers 
Freiburg vs West Ham 
Sporting Lisbon vs Atalanta 
AC Milan vs Slavia Prague 
Qarabag vs Bayer Leverkusen
Liverpool and West Ham will be happy to have avoided the more dangerous looking sides, but Brighton have been handed another very tough assignment after coming through a group including Marseille, Ajax and AEK Athens.
Roma are one of the sides with the richest pedigree left in the tournament, and some sections of their travelling support will provide concern for Sussex Police.  
Rangers face a big test against a storied club in Benfica, but the Glasgow side tend to the rise to the occasion.
Everyone will be relieved to have avoided in-form Leverkusen and the long trip to Qarabag (Azerbaijan).
A reminder, all the British teams, because they were group winners, will be away for the first leg on Thursday, March 7 and at home for the second leg on March 14.
The last three fixtures drawn were:
Sporting Lisbon vs Atalanta
AC Milan vs Slavia Prague
Qarabag vs Bayer Leverkusen
Freiburg vs West Ham, a repeat of the pool stage
Benfica vs Rangers
Roma vs Brighton
Marseille vs Villarreal is next out
Sparta Prague vs Liverpool is the first fixture drawn
A Uefa official called Tobias explains that group winners will be drawn against a play-off winner from a different nation with the play-off winners being drawn first.
Qarabag get some praise for being Azebaijan’s first team to reach the knockouts and then they roll out the red carpet for former Man Utd and Ireland defender John O’Shea – because the final is in Dublin
UEFA deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti has taken to the stage to big up the upcoming draw…
The eight group stage winners from the Europa League group stage are seeded, and will face the knockout round play-off winners.
Seeded teamsAtalanta (ITA)Brighton (ENG)Leverkusen (GER)Liverpool (ENG)Rangers (SCO)Slavia Praha (CZE)Villarreal (ESP)West Ham (ENG)
Unseeded teamsAC Milan (ITA)Benfica (POR)Freiburg (GER)Marseille (FRA)Qarabağ (AZE)Roma (ITA)Sparta Praha (CZE)Sporting CP (POR)
The broadcast is under way from Nyon and they have quickly gone to a montage of the teams battling for glory in Europe’s second-tier competition with inappropriately dramatic music…
The play-off phase, which included teams who had fallen out of the Champions League, was completed last night.
Here are the results:
Bodo Glimt 1-2 Ajax (Agg 3-4)
Dinamo Zagreb 1-1 Real Betis (Agg 2-1)
Ludogorets Razgrad 0-1 Servette (Agg 0-1)
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 Union Saint-Gilloise (Agg 3-4)
Ferencvaros 0-1 Olympiakos (Agg 0-2)
Legia Warsaw 0-3 Molde (Agg 2-6)
Slovan Bratislava 0-1 Sturm Graz (Agg 1-5)
Group winners 🤩#UELdraw pic.twitter.com/ed2jXxudob
A quick recap of the group stages…
Liverpool topped Group E despite losing two matches, the 3-2 reverse in Toulouse and a final-round 2-1 defeat at Union SG.
West Ham, last year’s Europa Conference League winners, won Group A ahead of Freiburg thanks to five wins and just one defeat. 
Brighton recovered from an opening home defeat by AEK Athens with fours win and a draw to top Group B, ahead of Marseille and Ajax.
Rangers won Group C by one point from Sparta Prague, despite drawing two and losing one.
Four British teams will learn their  Europa League last-16 opponents today, when the draw takes place in Nyon, Switzerland.
Liverpool, Brighton, West Ham and Rangers are all seeded after topping their groups.
That means they will be away for the first leg on Thursday, March 7 and at home for the second leg on March 14.
The draw is set to begin at 11am UK time, although we can no doubt expect a fair bit of preamble before the balls are plucked.
Aston Villa, meanwhile, are in the Europa Conference League draw, which is due later, from midday.