Tottenham Hotspur, led by Son Heung-min, who is challenging for the UEFA Europa League title, will face AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands in the round of 16.

The draw for the round of 16 tournaments for the 2024-2025 UEFA-hosted competitions has been held. UEFA introduced the league phase method starting this season. The top eight teams in the league will advance directly to the round of 16, and the teams from 9th to 24th will participate in the playoffs to determine the teams that will advance to the round of 16.

Tottenham, which has been struggling in the league this season, has shown a good performance in the Europa League. With 5 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss in 8 games, they are in 4th place behind Manchester United and have advanced directly to the round of 16. Son Heung-min also contributed to advancing to the round of 16 by scoring 3 goals in the Europa League.

The opponent in the round of 16 is Alkmaar. Alkmaar is currently ranked 5th in the Dutch league. In the league phase, they were ranked 19th and played in a playoff against Galatasaray. They won 4-1 in the first leg and drew 2-2 away in the second leg. Troy Parrott, a Tottenham youth product, is leading the front line. Parrott has scored 17 goals in 35 games in all competitions this season, leading the team's scoring.

It is a relatively easy matchup for Tottenham. Tottenham has already faced Alkmaar once in the league phase and won. At that time, they won 1-0 despite using a rotation of substitute players such as Richarlison, Mikey Moore, and Timo Werner. Richarlison led the victory by scoring a penalty kick.

Tottenham must focus on the Europa League. They are currently ranked 12th in the English Premier League (PL), so it is virtually impossible for them to advance to European competition next season. In the League Cup, where they were expected to advance to the finals, they were defeated by Liverpool and eliminated in the semifinals. In the FA Cup that followed, they were defeated by Aston Villa and eliminated in the fourth round. The only competition left to challenge for a trophy was the Europa League.

Manchester United, who are struggling in the league along with Tottenham, will face Real Sociedad in the round of 16. Sociedad advanced to the tournament after a huge victory over Midtjylland in the round of 16 playoffs with a score of 7-3. Japan national team member Takefusa Kubo and Spain national team member Mikel Oyarzabal are leading the attack.