Pots confirmed for last-32 Europa League draw: Beer-Sheva joins United

The Europa League is about to get interesting.

Teams finally completed the tournament's clunky group stage on Thursday, one that proved to be more about quantity than quality over the past few months. Now eight Champions League dropouts will join the Europa League's 24 group winners and runners-up to contest two-legged ties in February.

In the match of the night, Israeli fairy tale side Hapoel Beer-Sheva squeaked out a 1-1 draw at Southampton to knock off the disappointing Premier League outfit. Away goals alone allowed Beer-Sheva to finish second in Group K.

Manchester United waited until the final matchday to book its ticket to the next round, scoring a routine 2-0 win over Ukrainian club Zorya. But it had to settle for second in Group A behind Fenerbahce, leaving open the possibility of facing one of Roma, Lyon, or Zenit St Petersburg in February.

Related: United defrosts in 2nd stanza to confirm last-32 progression at Zorya

Villarreal is in a similar position after failing to usurp Turkish leader Osmanlispor in a tight Group L.

And Roma, Ajax, and Fiorentina all topped their respective factions to secure a more favourable draw and avoid the better crop of the Champions League teams that finished third.

Copenhagen, Tottenham, Lyon, and Besiktas round out Pot 1 as seeded teams, while Rostov, Monchengladbach, Legia Warsaw, and Ludogorets remain unseeded in Pot 2.

Teams from the same country and group cannot be paired together.

With all that in mind, here's a breakdown of the last 32:

Pot 1 (Group winners, seeded UCL dropouts)

• Copenhagen
• Lyon
• Tottenham
• Besiktas
• Fenerbahce
• APOEL
• Saint-Etienne
• Zenit
• Roma
• Ajax
• Shakhtar Donetsk
• Schalke
• Fiorentina
• Sparta Prague
• Osmanlispor

Pot 2 (Group runners-up, unseeded UCL dropouts)

• Rostov
• Monchengladbach
• Legia Warsaw
• Ludogorets
• Manchester United
• Olympiacos
• Anderlecht
• AZ Alkmaar
• Astra Giurgiu
• Gent
• Celta Vigo
• Krasnodar
• PAOK
• Hapoel Beer-Sheva
• Villarreal

Athletic Bilbao and Genk are also through to the next stage, although the Belgian outfit could still finish atop Group F with a point from its rescheduled match against Sassuolo on Friday.

The main draw takes place next Monday in Nyon after the Champions League decides the last-16 fixtures.

The first legs will be played on Feb. 16, and the second on Feb. 23. The higher seeds will host the reverse fixture.