UEFA Europa League Draw for the season 2019/2020 was held today at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. The Europa League groups are set, seeding all 48 teams into 12 groups of four, meaning all we have left to do now is to wait for September 19th for the opening matches to begin.
With three weeks separating us from the heavily anticipated start of Europa League, let’s take a look at the how the groups look like, which teams are seeded in which group and ultimately what are their chances to advance further into the tournament.
Manchester United will start the Europa League campaign in the Group L with Astana, Partizan and AZ Alkmaar. One of the most interesting groups is Group G with Porto, Young Boys, Feyenoord and Rangers.
Below you can find all the groups for the UEFA Europa League.
Image source: uefa.com
Table of Contents
UEFA Europa League Groups 2019/2020
GROUP A
Sevilla (ESP)
APOEL (CYP)
Qarabağ (AZE)
Dudelange (LUX)
The most successful Europa League outfit, Sevilla have been seeded in group A with APOEL, Qarabag and Dundelange, which is arguably a fairly solid draw for the Spanish team, who looks to grab their sixth EL title this term. It would be hard to imagine any of the remaining three clubs threatening Sevilla from finishing first, which we believe will be a fairly easy task to achieve for them. How deep can Los Hispalenses go this season is yet to be seen, nonetheless, the ambitions are high for Julen Lopetegui and his men who will look to regain Spain’s former dominance in Europe.
GROUP B
Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
København (DEN)
Malmö (SWE)
Lugano (SUI)
No team from group B has yet to win the Europa League, nor did they manage to reach the finals and from the looks of it, that won’t change this year. As far as the group fixtures are concerned, Dynamo Kyiv and Copenhagen come off as the strongest two teams, with Malmo not too far behind. Lugano, while a respected team in their domestic league will have a hard time competing with their opponents. Still, the group overall looks fairly open, at least as far as the top two spots are concerned.
GROUP C
Basel (SUI)
Krasnodar (RUS)
Getafe (ESP)
Trabzonspor (TUR)
Just like Sevilla, Getafe enter the 2019/20 Europa League with high ambitions. Yet they have been put in what can be described as one of the toughest groups in the EL. All four teams look equally strong, meaning all have a solid shot at finishing top two. Trabzonspor does come off as the weakest of the four, yet, we cannot count them out here either.
GROUP D
Sporting CP (POR)
PSV (NED)
Rosenborg (NOR)
LASK (AUT)
An interesting group, composed of very solid teams. All eyes will be on 2005 runners-up Sporting Lisbon and 1978 Europa League champions PSV to perform up to par, and while we have no doubt in our minds the Netherlands and Portugal outfit are the alpha dogs of their group, LASK Linz and Rosenborg will surely do their best top cross their plans.
GROUP E
Lazio (ITA)
Celtic (SCO)
Rennes (FRA)
CFR Cluj (ROU)
Celtic will not have an easy time in group E, where they got matched with Lazio, Rennes and CFR Cluj. A heavily stacked and attractive group will surely not lack entertaining fixtures. While not considered a “group of death”, Group E is as close as it can get to being named as such.
GROUP F
Arsenal (ENG)
Frankfurt (GER)
Standard Liège (BEL)
Vitória SC (POR)
Last season’s runners-up, Arsenal, will fancy their chances in Group F, where they got paired with St.Liege, Eintracht Frankfurt and Guimaraes. The Gunners are expected to cruise through their group stage, yet, they should not lose their focus against St. Liege and Eintracht Frankfurt, who will be hungry for points as they battle for the second spot finish.
GROUP G
Porto (POR)
Young Boys (SUI)
Feyenoord (NED)
Rangers (SCO)
Much like Group E, this group does not lack high-quality teams. Steven Gerrard will enter the group stage well aware Rangers cannot underestimate their opponents. Porto are runners-up in the Portuguese league, Feyenoord finished third in Eredivisie. Young Boys, while seeming like the weakest team out of the bunch, can be extremely deadly and should not to be underestimated, considering they made Manchester United work hard for a W in Champions League fixture. Widely regarded as the “group of death”, Group G will be the one to watch this term.
GROUP H
CSKA Moskva (RUS)
Ludogorets (BUL)
Espanyol (ESP)
Ferencváros (HUN)
Espanyol and CSKA Moscow are widely considered to be the favourites to win their group and it would be hard to argue with that. The Bulgarian side had their best run in the Europa League back in 2013/14 when they reached round of 16, following an incredible 4:3 win over Lazio in the group of 32. Since then, however, Ludogorets failed to leave a mark on the European stage. As for Ferencvarosi, this will be their first appearance on the European stage since 2004/05, when they finished dead-last in their group. The difference in quality is massive and we believe the final results will show that.
GROUP I
Wolfsburg (GER)
Gent (BEL)
St-Étienne (FRA)
Olexandriya (UKR)
Much like in group H, it’s St. Etienne and Wolfsburg, who come off as the two heavy favourites to come out on top. We can expect some resistance from Genk, who have got a very rich history of escaping the Europa League group stage, however, when it comes to the Ukrainian side, the Oleksanbdriya are expected to struggle to earn anything this year.
GROUP J
Roma (ITA)
Mönchengladbach (GER)
İstanbul Başakşehir (TUR)
Wolfsberg (AUT)
Roma will have a lot to prove this season, after suffering a painful 3-4 defeat against Porto in Champions League R16 last year. As a team who has a rich history of competing in the Champions League, a lot of hopes have been put in Paulo Fonseca and his men to perform up to par in Europa League. In the group, their biggest threat will be the German side B. Monchengladbach, Basaksehir and AC Wolfsberger on the other side should not cause too many issues to La Lupa, nor the Germans.
GROUP K
Beşiktaş (TUR)
Braga (POR)
Wolves (ENG)
Slovan Bratislava (SVK)
An interesting group, featuring three teams who could threaten to finish first. While it’s Wolves, who come off as the strongest out of the four, Besiktas and Braga are not too far behind. All three teams have enough quality to produce a solid fight against any opponent, meaning Group K will not lack exciting fixtures. Slovan Bratislava have returned to the European stage after five long years, and while their ambitions are surely high, the Slovakian outfit will not have an easy time in group K.
GROUP L
Man. United (ENG)
Astana (KAZ)
Partizan (SRB)
AZ Alkmaar (NED)
Last, but most certainly not least we have got Group L, consisting of interesting matches which will push all four teams to their limits. Out of four teams, it’s Manchester United who come off as the strongest team, yet they are not expected to have an easy time with two visits to Eastern Europe on the schedule. Needing to play in Khazastan against FC Astana and in Serbia against Partizan will be a tough task even for the most successful EPL team. They are still heavy favourites to walk away victorious, yet do not believe their road to final 32 will be an easy one.
UEFA Europa League 2019/2020 – Schedule
Group stage
Matchday one: 19 September Matchday two: 3 October Matchday three: 24 October Matchday four: 7 November Matchday five: 28 November Matchday six: 12 December
Knockout phase
16 December: Round of 32 draw, Nyon 20 February: Round of 32, first leg 27 February: Round of 32, second leg 28 February: Round of 16 draw, Nyon 12 March: Round of 16, first leg 19 March: Round of 16, second leg 20 March: Quarter-final and semi-final draws, Nyon 9 April: Quarter-finals, first leg 16 April: Quarter-finals, second leg 30 April: Semi-finals, first leg 7 May: Semi-finals, second leg 27 May: Final – Gdansk Stadium
