Some tasty ties were served up in the Europa League group stage draw.
Six former winners were included in the 48-team draw which took place on Friday afternoon in Monaco. The final will take place on the 29 May, 2019 in Baku, Azerbaijan and two English and two Scottish sides were included in the draw.
Chelsea will be one of the favourites to go the whole way in Europe’s second tier and they’ve been matched up with PAOK, Bate Borisov and Vidi FC in Group L.
Arsenal made it to the semi-finals of the Europa League last season and they will hope that new manager Unai Emery is able to bring his previous luck in the competition to the Emirates. Emery won three consecutive Europa Leagues with Sevilla and he will meet Sporting CP, Qarabag and FC Vorskla after being drawn into Group E.
Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic have been drawn against FC Salzburg, RB Leipzig and Rosenborg in Group B of the competition.
And after a nervous qualification play-off which saw two Rangers players sent off on Thursday night, Steven Gerrard will be preparing his side for the challenge of Villarreal, Rapid Wien and Spartak Moscow in Group G.
Below is the draw in full:
Group A: Bayer Leverkusen, Ludogorets, FC Zurich, AEK Larnaca.
Group B: FC Salzburg, Celtic, RB Leipzig, Rosenborg.
Group C: Zenit Saint Petersburg, FC Copenhagen, Bordeaux, Slavia Prague.
Group D: Anderlecht, Fenerbahce, Dinamo Zagreb, Spartak Trnava.
Group E: Arsenal, Sporting CP, Qarabag, FC Vorskla.
Group F: Olympiacos, AC Milan, Real Betis, F91 Dudelange.
Group G: Villarreal, Rapid Wien, Spartak Moscow, Rangers.
Group H: Lazio, Marseille, Eintracht Frankfurt, Apollon Limassol.
Group I: Besiktas, Genk, Malmo, Sarpsborg 08 FF.
Group J: Sevilla, FC Krasnodar, Standard Liege, Akhisarspor.
Group K: Dynamo Kyiv, FC Astana, Stade Rennais, FK Jablonec.
Group L: Chelsea, PAOK, Bate Borisov, Vidi FC.
