Action in the Europa League returns in mid-week with a several top games there to keep an eye on.

The knockout phase of this season's UEFA Europa League is set to unravel and fans ought to be ready to embrace the new look ahead of several tasty fixtures. Winners of the group stage are set to go head-to-head with the teams that advanced to the knockout stage through the play-off round. Just as it is the case in the Champions League, the away-goals rules has been scrapped, giving teams an even playing field to battle for qualification to the next round without worry much about deficits.

A majority of the fixtures lined up will be played on Thursday night but two games are set to come off on Wednesday to raise the curtains. Here is a game-by-game preview of all the eight matches set to be played within the next 48 hours: 

FC Porto vs Lyon: Following their failed adventure in the Champions League this season, Porto will begin an all-new campaign in the Europa League with a Round of 16 clash with Ligue 1 side Lyon. The Dragons are among a handful of clubs who survived the play-offs, beating Lazio 4-3 on aggregate to book the upcoming date with Lyon. The former was successful in its quest in the Europa League, dominating the likes of Rangers, Sparta Prague and Broendby to finish as winners of Group A.

Fun fact: Lyon have yet to beat Porto in four games (D1 L3) losing both of their away fixtures without scoring.

Real Betis vs Eintracht Frankfurt: With the final of this season's Europa League set to take place in their home city, Real Betis have the right dose of motivation to propel them when they take on Eintracht Frankfurt. The La Liga club has already booked a Copa del Rey final clash with Valencia, and could move closer to another with a win over their German counterparts in the upcoming Round of 16 first leg encounter, However, the job will not be straightforward, with Oliver Glasner's men yet to register a single defeat in the campaign thus far.

Fun Fact: Betis are unbeaten in three European home games against German clubs (W2 D1).

Sevilla vs West Ham: The most decorated team in the history of the Europa League will host West Ham at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Thursday night in the first leg of their first knockout game. Six-time champions Sevilla will featured in the Champions League earlier this season but came into the equation after finishing third and winning their play-off game with Dinamo Zagreb. On Thursday, they will take on a West Ham side that has proved to be a nuisance in the Premier League in recent times. The Hammers finished as winners of Group H with four wins, one draw and a defeat.

Fun Fact: The last English club to visit Sevilla was Chelsea in the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League group stage. Olivier Giroud scored all four goals as the Blues run away with a 4-0 win.

Rangers vs Red Star Belgrade: Rangers made a real statement of intent in their quest for a better finish in this season's Europa League by beating Borussia Dortmund in the play-offs. On Thursday, Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side will be soaring in confidence when they take on the Belgrade team who are also excited about the clash. The latter finished as winners of Group F with 11 points, beating Braga to the top-spot by one point.

Fun Fact: Rangers have not recorded a single loss at home against Red Star Belgrade (W2 D1), but have not won in three games in Belgrade (D1 L2).

Braga vs AS Monaco: Monaco topped a difficult Group B, staying unbeaten ahead of Real Sociedad, PSV Eindhoven, and Sturm Graz. However, the threat of Braga, who finished second in the 2011 UEFA Europa League, cannot be overlooked when all is said and done. After securing a runners-up finish in this season's Group F, Carlos Carvalhal's men held their ground to book a last 16 place by beating Sheriff Tiraspol 4-3 on penalties.

Fun Fact: Braga lost both of their previous two-legged ties against French sides (against PSG in the Last 16 stage of the 2008/09 UEFA Cup and Marseille in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League last 32).

Atalanta vs Leverkusen: After failing to survive the drop in a group with Manchester United and Villarreal, Atalanta settled for a Europa League knockout spot following their play-offs win over Olympiacos. On the contrary, Leverkusen beat Real Betis and Celtic to top spot in Group G.

Fun Fact: Atalanta have scored 17 goals in UEFA club competition this season. They only time they failed in scoring two or more  goals was when they beat Young Boys.

Barcelona vs Galatasaray: Barcelona will be hopeful about moving one step closer to Europa League glory when they take on Galatasaray at Camp Nou for the first leg of their last-16 battle on Thursday evening. Los Blaugrana was dealt a massive shock after falling out of this season's UEFA Champions League, but have since made a strong claim for a place in the Europa League, beating Napoli 5-3 on aggregate to book a place in the Round of 16. 

Fun Fact: Barcelona have lost once in eight previous European meetings with Galatasaray.

Note: The clash between Spartak Moscow and RB Leipzig has been canceled.  

Keep up to date with all the upcoming games in the UEFA Europa League by checking out our compreshesive competition's page.