Liverpool will play at Sparta Prague in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16 on March 7, three days before a huge Premier League match against Manchester City.

Jurgen Klopp's team learned its opponent in Friday's draw made at UEFA headquarters. Liverpool and the other seven teams that topped their groups will host the second-leg matches a week after their openers away from home.

Avoiding a long round-trip journey to Azerbaijan to face Qarabag in midweek will be a relief for Liverpool, which hosts City on Sunday, March 10.

At this stage, teams from the same national association cannot meet. The Europa League final is May 22 in Dublin.

The other round-of-16 matchups (group winners listed first, playing away on March 7):

Atalanta vs. Sporting

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Qarabag

Brighton vs. Roma

Rangers vs. Benfica

Slavia Prague vs. AC Milan

Villarreal vs. Marseille

West Ham vs. Freiburg