Europa League 2019 fixtures: When are games released and announced for Arsenal, Manchester United, Wolves, Celtic and Rangers?
Fans will have to wait until Friday afternoon before finding out when and where their club will be heading in the Europa League group stage
The draw for the Europa League group stage decided the 12 pools of four teams on Friday afternoon to raise the curtain on the second tier of European competition, with both Manchester United and Arsenal learning their opposition for this season’s tournament.
United will clock up the miles on their Europa travels this season after being drawn against Kazakhstan's FC Astana - posing fans with a 7,400-mile round trip - that will take a nine-hour flight just to reach. To makes matters worse, United will also meet Partizan Belgrade, giving them another long-distance trip to Serbia, though the final team out of the hat came in the form of AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands.
Arsenal received a more generous draw travel-wise, but they will face last season's runners-up in Eintracht Frankfurt as well Belgian side Standard Liege and Portuguese outfit Vitoria SC.
The same could not be said for Celtic, who face a difficult ask against Serie A side Lazio, Ligue 1 side Rennes and Romanian club CFR Cluf, while Rangers face a similar challenge after being drawn with Porto, Feyenoord and Young Boys.
In their first season in European competition since 1981, Wolverhampton Wanderers were handed an interesing draw against Besiktas, Braga and SK Slovan Bratislava, taking their fans to Turkey, Portugal and Slovakia respectively.
Here’s all you need to know about the group-stage fixtures.
Europa League groups
Group A: Sevilla, APOEL, Qarabag, F91 Dudelange
Group B: Dynamo Kiev, FC Copenhagen, Malmo, FC Lugano
Group C: FC Basel, Krasnodar, Getafe, Trabzonspor
Group D: Sporting, PSV Eindhoven, Rosenborg, LASK
Group E: Lazio, Celtic, Stade Rennais, CFR Cluj,
Group F: Arsenal, Eintracht Frankfurt, Standard Liege, Vitoria SC
Group G: Porto, Young Boys, Feyenoord, Rangers
Group H: CSKA Moscow, Ludogorets, Espanyol, Ferencvaros
Group I: Wolfsburg, Gent, Saint-Etienne, FC Olexandriya
Group J: Roma, Borussia Monchengladbach, Istanbul Basaksehir, Wolfsberger AC
Group K: Besiktas, Braga, Wolverhampton Wanderers, SK Slovan Bratislava
Group L: Manchester United, FC Astana, Partizan Belgrade, AZ Alkmaar
Europa League group-stage dates
19 September: Group stage, matchday one
3 October: Group stage, matchday two
24 October: Group stage, matchday three
7 November: Group stage, matchday four
28 November: Group stage, matchday five
12 December: Group stage, matchday six
When are the fixtures announced?
Following the conclusion of the draw, Uefa will meet with all 48 clubs to structure the full group stage. An announcement of confirmed fixtures is expected on Friday afternoon a few hours after the draw has been completed.
How are they determined?
Teams in the same league will be paired together to ensure they play at different kick-off times on the same matchdays, meaning that if one team is drawn into one half of the draw, the other must be drawn into the other half.
The paired teams are:
- Sevilla & Espanyol
- Arsenal & Manchester United
- Porto & Sporting CP
- Roma & Lazio
- Dynamo Kyiv & Olexandriya
- Beşiktaş & Trabzonspor
- Basel & Young Boys
- CSKA Moskva & Krasnodar
- PSV & Feyenoord
- Celtic & Rangers
- Braga & Vitória SC
- Gent & Standard
- Mönchengladbach & Eintracht
- St-Étienne & Rennes
- LASK & Wolfsberg
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There are eight former Europa League winners in this year's group stage draw:
Feyenoord (winners in 1974, 2002)
Mönchengladbach (1975, 1979)
PSV (1978)
Frankfurt (1980)
Porto (2003, 2011)
CSKA Moskva (2005)
Sevilla (2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016)
Manchester United (2017)
Right, the guests are in their seats, the club representatives have assembled themselves, and we are ready to go in Monaco.
Through last season's best bits we rattle, through goals long forgotten by even the most hardcore of Europa League fans, and eventually we see the lively hoisting of the trophy by Chelsea in Baku.
Proper business now - the awarding of the Europa League Player of the Season.
Hazard is not in Monaco to collect his award, but he delivers a pre-recorded two-line thank you.
Not even a single clap of applause as the host congratulates him. Onwards we go...
A bit of breaking news from Uefa: Rangers have been charged with racist behaviour and ordered to close a section of their stadium.
Match: UEFA Europa League play-off first-leg match between Legia Warszawa and Rangers FC (0-0), played on 22 August in PolandCharges against Rangers FC:
- Racist behaviour (sectarian chants) - Art. 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR)
Decision:
The Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body has decided to order a partial closure of the Rangers FC stadium during the next one (1) UEFA competition match in which Rangers FC will play as the host club, for the racist behaviour of its supporters. Rangers FC shall inform UEFA of the sector(s) to be closed, which shall at least comprehend 3,000 seats. The Scottish club is ordered to display a banner with the wording “#EqualGame”, with the UEFA logo on it.
Ashley Cole has been brought out for a chat, with the former left-back excited to start his coaching career with Chelsea's under-15s.
Short but sweet. He reminisces briefly about Chelsea's Europa League win of 2013, and then strides into the shadowy corners at the back of the stage.
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