The UEFA Europa League has reached its knockout stage, and there are still five British sides left in the competition.
Read on to find out how you can stream every single match in the UK, USA and anywhere in the world by using a VPN.
The round of 32 began last week, with all five British sides playing their first legs away from home and everybody coming out of it unbeaten. Better than that, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Rangers all won scoring four away goals.
Spurs will be the first side to reach the round of 16 if they can build on their 4-1 advantage at home to Wolfsberger on Wednesday afternoon (5pm GMT), with United sure to join them on Thursday evening as they host Real Sociedad 4-0 up on aggregate.
The other British first-leg victors were Rangers, whose task is slightly more arduous with a slender 4-3 lead when Royal Antwerp visit Ibrox – that quartet of away goals could be a huge advantage if things are as tight this Thursday.
The Premier League's two other representatives are also in decent positions, but start their home legs with all still to play for. Leicester City played out a goalless first leg away to Slavia Prague, so need a win on Thursday night, while Arsenal face playing their home tie in Greece due to Covid regulations. They do at least have an away goal to protect after drawing 1-1 at Benfica last time out.
Elsewhere, both Napoli and PSV Eindhoven have two-goal deficits to turn around after losing to Granada and Olympiacos in their first legs, while Ajax start 2-1 up in their home tie against Lille and AC Milan still have a bit to do after drawing 2-2 at FK Crvena Zvezda.
Despite a late start to this campaign, the final will take place at a familiar time in the football calendar, hosted at Stadion Miejski in Gdansk on Wednesday 26 May.
Read on to find out how you can see every game for the rest of the season, anywhere in the world, including in stunning 4K Ultra HD.
Watch Europa League football anywhere in the world using a VPN
We'll look at the TV and live stream options for UK and USA-based Europa League fans below, but even after spending all that money on a TV sports subscription you're still not going to be able to watch the football from another country.
There are certain territories where the Europa League football is free to watch (you can find a full list of the free Europa League broadcasters here, along with the pay channels too). So, if you're away in one of these places, you may just need to tune in on your hotel TV or find a local bar.
Anywhere else and you'll want to get yourself a VPN instead. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) can spoof an IP address which is local to the server you’d like to access. That way your service provider will think you’re in the correct country to do so and allow you to watch the Europa League on your subscription as if you were back home.
VPNs are also as useful for banking as they are at trying to watch video content or accessing websites people in your location are not supposed to do. They encrypt the data passing between you and the server, so that the information remains private.
So, whether you want to watch live football, enjoy another country’s Netflix library or just keep your browsing data private, then a VPN is well worth considering.
There are many VPN providers out there, with some more reliable and safe than others. As a rule, we’d suggest a paid-for service and would recommend the following:
You can get three months free when you sign up to a year-long plan, bringing VPN access to smart devices including the Amazon Fire TV Stick, laptops, TVs and both Android and iOS mobiles and tablets. Express also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- NordVPN
Which comes in at as little as $2.99 (£2.29) per month and features 24/7 assistance
Once you’ve made your choice, all you need to do is sign in to your VPN service through whichever device you’d like to use to watch the match. When prompted to select a server, you need to pick one which is based in the country whose content you’d like to access. Then navigate to the relevant video streaming app or website and you’re in.
You can find a full list of the world's broadcasters with rights to show live the Europa League football here.
Watch the Europa League live the UK
Rights to show the UEFA Europa League in the UK belong to BT Sport, whose long-term deal to broadcast all matches from UEFA club competitions means you'll also be able to enjoy the Champions League.
However you subscribe to BT Sport, you will get access to streams via the BT website and BT Sport app. That means you can watch games on the move within the UK or from abroad, using a VPN.
Watch the Europa League live in 4K
BT Sport comes in 4K HDR, beamed at 50fps on BT Sport Ultimate, channel 433. If you're hooked up specifically on the BT TV platform then it's also available in with Dolby Atmos sound.
BT Sport Ultimate is not available on the Sky TV platform but anyone with an Xbox, PlayStation, Apple TV or a Samsung TV can watch in 4K HDR using the BT Sport app with the BT Sport Monthly Pass for just £25. No contract required.
For 4K sports on BT TV, it’s a case of upgrading or purchasing the Max 4K package, which will cost you £20 a month to add to an existing BT subscription, or £54.99 for the full shebang if you’re a new customer starting from scratch.
Those on Virgin Media will need the Virgin V6 box and a 4K TV to make sure they're getting the action at maximum resolution. With the basic Big Bundle, BT Sport is £18 per month but all five BT Sport channels, including Ultra HD, are included on the larger TV packages which start at £57 per month. More details on Virgin Media TV bundles.
Watch the Europa League live the USA
UEFA Europa League fans in the States are lucky enough to be able to watch some of the European football action free on Spanish language network Univision. The rest, you’ll have to pay for and the rights are shared out between Univision Deportes Network and Turner Sports.
Take a look at the schedules on their website to work how to follow your favourite team, and don’t forget to use a VPN if you’re watching from abroad.
Europa League fixtures
Selected games shown on BT Sport. All times in BST.
Thursday 18 February
Real Sociedad 0-4 Manchester United
Slavia Prague 0-0 Leicester City
Wolfsberger 1-4 Tottenham Hotspur
Antwerp 3-4 Rangers
Benfica 1-1 Arsenal
Wednesday 24 February
Tottenham Hotspur vs Wolfsberger, 5.00pm – BT Sport 1 / BT Sport Ultimate
Thursday 25 February
Arsenal vs Benfica, 5.55pm – BT Sport 1
Rangers vs Antwerp, 5.55pm – BT Sport 3
Leicester City vs Slavia Prague, 8.00pm – BT Sport ESPN
Manchester United vs Real Sociedad, 8.00pm – BT Sport 2 / BT Sport Ultimate
