Arsenal were handed two mammoth trips across the continent in Friday’s Europa League group stage draw while Chelsea will be confident of progressing with ease.
Unai Emery, a three-time Europa League champion with Sevilla, will lead the Gunners on an 8,000 mile round-trip to Azerbaijan and Ukraine for games against Qarabag and Vorskla Poltava. Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon completed Group E.
Maurizio Sarri’s first European campaign with Chelsea will see them play in Group L alongside Greek side PAOK, BATE Borisov of Belarus and Vidi in Hungary.
Arsenal and Chelsea will be confident of progressing from their Europa League groups
Unai Emery, a three-time Europa League champion, will lead the Gunners on an 8,000 mile
Arsenal will play Qarabag in Azerbaijan capital Baku, the venue for this season’s final
The Gunners crashed out in the semi-finals of last season’s competition but face a tough task early on.
Qarabag were in the Champions League last season and claimed memorable draws against Atletico Madrid.
Portuguese club Sporting have started their domestic campaign unbeaten, despite a troublesome summer that saw seven players cancel their contracts following an attack by fans at the training ground last season.
Celtic, meanwhile, were handed a difficult trip to last season’s semi-finalists Red Bull Salzburg and their parent club RB Leipzig in Group B. Brendan Rodgers will also see his team take on Norwegian side Rosenborg.
Steven Gerrard’s Rangers were handed the most difficult task of the British teams. They were drawn to play against Spanish side Villarreal, Russians Spartak Moscow and Austria’s Rapid Wien in Group G.
The full outcome of Friday’s group stage draw from the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco
Steven Gerrard’s Rangers were handed the most difficult task of the British teams in Group G
Celtic will make difficult trips to Red Bull Salzburg and their parent club RB Leipzig in Group B
Emery’s former club Sevilla, winners of this competition in 2005/06, 2006/07, 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16, will launch their campaign for a sixth title in Group J against Krasnodar, Standard Liege and Akhisar.
Last year’s beaten finalists Marseille will begin their journey to go one step better than last season in Group H against Lazio, Frankfurt and Apollon Limassol.
European giants AC Milan dodged one of the big names from pot one and landed a date with Olympiacos, who beat Burnley on Thursday night to claim their place in the group stage. The Rossoneri will also go up against Real Betis and Dudelange of Luxembourg.
Former champions Zenit St Petersburg will take on Danish side Copenhagen, Ligue 1 side Bordeaux and Czech team Slavia Prague in Group C.