Liverpool were drawn against Turkish side Besiktas, who topped their group unbeaten, when the Europa League Last 32 was announced on Monday morning.

After crashing out of the UEFA Champions League at the hands of a 1-1 draw to FC Basel on Tuesday, the Reds now drop into the second-tier of European football, but it will not get any easier for Brendan Rodgers and his side.

Besiktas topped Group C of the Europa League, which contained Tottenham Hotspur and Partizan Belgrade, as they took a win and a draw against the English side without losing to the Serbians or Greek side Asteras Tripoli. 

Led by Slaven Bilić, former Croatia national team manager, Besiktas have Demba Ba up-front, who will make his return to Anfield for the first time since playing a pivotal part in Chelsea's infamous 2-0 win there last season. Steven Gerrard's slip allowed Ba through on goal and he placed an effort past Simon Mignolet for the opener in a game which the Blues went on to squander Liverpool's hope of a first Barclays Premier League title.

The tie will also see the Reds return to the Ataturk Stadium, the famous scene of the Champions League Final in 2005 in which they came from 3-0 down at half-time against AC Milan to level in six second-half minutes, before winning on penalties. 

Former Reds goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, who was influential on that night in Istanbul, was the one to help conduct the draw, and he selected the name of the Turkish side after Liverpool were drawn first. 

The tie will be played over two legs on February 19 and 26, 2015 - with the leg at Anfield coming first. Besiktas last visited the Reds on home turf in the Champions League group phase of 2007, losing a record 8-0 on Merseyside after having taken a 2-1 win at home in the prior fixture. This one's likely to be a little bit closer this time around though. 

Besiktas board member Ahmet Nur Cebi said after the draw: "Liverpool should be more concerned about us than we are about them. We will knock Liverpool out of the competition. There is an account which wasn't settled in England from previous years. Yes, I mean that 8-0 defeat. We'll settle the account now."