The complete draw:
Group A: Manchester United, Fenerbahce, Feyenoord, Zorya Luhansk
Group B: Olympiacos, Apoel Nicosia, Young Boys, Astana
Group C: Anderlecht, St Etienne, Mainz, Qabala
Group D: Zenit, AZ Alkmaar, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Dundalk
Group E: Viktoria Plzen, Roma, Austria Vienna, Astra (not West Ham)
Group F: Athletic Bilbao, Genk, Rapid Vienna, Sassulo
Group G: Ajax, Standard Liege, Celta Vigo, Panathinaikos
Group H: Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga, Gent, Konyaspor
Group I: Schalke, Salzburg, Krasnodar, Nice
Group J: Fiorentina, PAOK, Slovan Liberec, Qarabag,
Group K: Internazionale, Sparta Prague, Southampton, Hapoel Beer Sheva
Group L: Villarreal, Steaua Bucharest, Zurich, Osmanlispor
Southampton will face Hapoel Beer Sheva, the Israeli team ousted from the Champions League by Celtic. So the full lineup for Group K is: Internazionale, Sparta Prague, Southampton, Hapoel Beer Sheva
Dundalk are cast in with Zenit, AZ Alkmaar and Maccabi Tel Aviv. That looks underwhelming and exhausting, alas.
Zorya Luhansk of Ukraine complete Manchester United’s group, which already featured Fenerbache and Feyenoord. Isn’t Louis Van Gaal’s legacy lovely?
Here are the groups after three quarters of the draw.
Group A: Manchester United, Fenerbahce, Feyenoord
Group B: Olympiacos, Apoel Nicosia, Young Boys
Group C: Anderlecht, St Etienne, Mainz
Group D: Zenit, AZ Alkmaar, Maccabi Tel Aviv
Group E: Viktoria Plzen, Roma, Austria Vienna
Group F: Athletic Bilbao, Genk, Rapid Vienna
Group G: Ajax, Standard Liege, Celta Vigo
Group H: Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga, Gent
Group I: Schalke, Salzburg, Krasnodar
Group J: Fiorentina, PAOK, Slovan Liberec
Group K: Internazionale, Sparta Prague, Southampton
Group L: Villarreal, Steaua Bucharest, Zurich
Southampton join Internazionale and Sparta Prague. Some top trips and tough tests in store for Saints fans.
Group G is shaping up to a doozy. It’s already got Ajax, Standard Liege and Celta Vigo.
Feyenoord join United and Dick Advocaat’s Fenerbahce in Group A.
The draw from Pot 2 has been completed. Fancy being assigned to Group K, Southampton and Dundalk fans?
Group A: Manchester United, Fenerbahce
Group B: Olympiacos, Apoel Nicosia
Group C: Anderlecht, St Etienne
Group D: Zenit, AZ Alkmaar
Group E: Viktoria Plzen, Roma
Group F: Athletic Bilbao, Genk
Group G: Ajax, Standard Liege
Group H: Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga
Group I: Schalke, Salzburg
Group J: Fiorentina, PAOK
Group K: Internazionale, Sparta Prague
Group L: Villarreal, Steaua Bucharest
A couple of local derbies of sorts in the next two groups, as Apoel Nicosia are paired with Olympiacos while Anderlecht are matched up with St Etienne.
United are off to Turkey to play Fenerbahce.
The draw from Pot is complete and it looks like this. Read into it what you can:
Group A: Manchester United,
Group B: Olympiacos,
Group C: Anderlecht,
Group D: Zenit,
Group E: Viktoria Plzen,
Group F: Athletic Bilbao
Group G: Ajax
Group H: Shakhtar Donetsck
Group I: Schalke
Group J: Fiorentina
Group K: Internazionale
Group L: Villarreal
Next out are Olympiacos, followed by Anderlecht. They go into Groups B and C respectively. More omens of course. Yes, there will be at least 48 omens today.
The first team out are Manchester United. An omen, obviously. They go into Group A. Another omen, obviously.
Oh look, here’s Giorgio Machettti, Uefa’s competitions director. Without his droning elucidation of how the draw works, there’d be no snoring in the build-up to the big event. Here’s the summary: teams from the same country must be kept apart, and so, for security reason, must teams from Ukraine and Russia (they are not the same country: got that, Vladimir?)
The first celebrity ball-picker is revealed: It’s Andrés Palop, the former Sevilla goalkeeper. The second is Patrik Anderson, the former Bayern Munich and Sweden defender. They’ll be getting down to business any minute now. Please.
How about these potential themed groups for Manchester United:
The sight-seers choice: Roma, Rapid Vienna, Nice
For long-haul lovers: Fenerbahce, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Qarabag
Or how about this itinerary for Southampton fans hoping for a tour of famous fun spots: Ajax, Sparta Prague, Dundalk
Updated
Spurs beat Wolves in the first Uefa Cup final, back in 1972. Since then Europe’s second club competitions has had four all-Italian finals, two all-Spanish ones, an all-German one and an all-Portuguese one. But no more all-English finals. Indeed, since the dawn of the all-bling Premier League era, the final has been won by an English team only twice. That is a sorry record and gives the lie to claims about the Premier League’s strength in depth and English clubs’ willingness to embrace a challenge, valiant efforts by Fulham and Middlesbrough notwithstanding.
Updated
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the draw for the group stages of a tournament that Jose Mourinho never wanted to adorn but now aims to win. And so he should, for the best way for teams to prove that they are too good for a tournament is to beat everyone else in it rather than pout and strut like donkeys on a cat walk while supposedly lesser creatures sashay merrily past them. That’s got to be the key take-away from English clubs recent misbehaviour in Europe. Wouldn’t you agree, West Ham?
Southampton learned that last season and should be eager to atone. United and Southampton: that is the extent of English involvement in today’s draw because of West Ham’s injuries and chronic incorrigibility. Hats off to Astra Giurgiu, the 11th best team in Romania but, as of last night, two-time conquerors of the most overrated team in London. Sadly Edinburgh didn’t perform a whole lot better, as both Hibs and Hearts flunked out spectacularly in earlier rounds. There are, then, no Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish clubs among the 48 in today’s draw.
The League of Ireland, however, is represented in the group stages for only the second time, Dundalk overcoming widespread neglect at home to earn the right to perform in a tournament that full of quality and intrigue. It will be interesting to see who enjoys more support in Ireland if they are pitted against Manchester United, or even Southampton. The Scottish league may be going through lean times but at least most of its people haven’t abandoned it.
For any of the 48 teams in today’s draw to win the tournament, they will have to navigate their way through 15 matches. At this point United are probably vying with Roma and Internazionale for the title of favourites but that’s before any teams parachute in from the Champions League group stages. There’s still scope, then, for Sevilla to win four in a row. The final will be in Sweden’s new national stadium in Solna, near the scene of the 1958 World Cup final, so the perfect place for any budding new Pele to announce his arrival. Can you spot him already among any of the 48 teams below? They are split into four pots, with one to be taken from each during today’s draw to form a group, and that process to be repeated 12 times.
Pot 1
Schalke 04
Zenit
Manchester United
Shakhtar Donetsk
Athletic Club
Olympiacos
Villarreal
Ajax
Internazionale
Fiorentina
Anderlecht
Viktoria Plzen
Pot 2
AZ Alkmaar
Braga
Salzburg
Roma
Fenerbahce
Sparta Prague
PAOK
Steaua Bucharest
Genk
APOEL Nicosia
Standard Liège
St-Étienne
Pot 3
Gent
Young Boys
Krasnodar
Rapid Vienna
Slovan Liberec
Celta Vigo
Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Feyenoord
Austria Vienna
Mainz
Zurich
Southampton
Pot 4
Panathinaikos
Sassuolo
Qarabag
Astana
Nice
Zorya Luhansk
Astra Giurgi
Konyaspor
Osmanlıspor
Qabala
Hapoel Beer-Sheva
Dundalk
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