Europa League draw: West Ham, Liverpool and Brighton learn group stage opponents
est Ham will face Olympiacos, Freiburg and FK TSC in this season’s Europa League group stage as David Moyes’s side target more European glory.
The Conference League champions from last season appear to have benefited from a relatively kind draw, but Brighton’s first foray into Europe has seen them handed a tough group alongside Ajax, Marseille and AEK Athens.
Liverpool, meanwhile, will be strong favourites to qualify from Group E, which also includes LASK, Union Saint-Gilloise and Toulouse, while Rangers are in Group C with Aris Limassol, Sparta Prague and Real Betis, teeing up a return to Seville, where the Scottish side were beaten on penalties by Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2022 final.
West Ham qualified automatically for the group stage of this season’s competition after winning the Europa Conference League last term and were the first team out of the hat during today’s draw in Switzerland.
Olympiacos finished third in Greece last season, while Freiburg enjoyed a fine campaign to be fifth in the Bundesliga. Serbian side FK TSC, meanwhile, are involved in the group stage of European competition for the very first time.
The group stage fixtures will be confirmed in due course, but West Ham fans will be unable to attend their first away game as punishment for their behaviour during last year’s Conference League final in Prague, when Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi was left bloodied by objects thrown from the crowd.
Europa League group stage draw in full
Group A: West Ham, Olympiacos, Freiburg, TSC Backa Topola
Group B: Ajax, Marseille, Brighton, AEK Athens
Group C: Rangers, Real Betis, Sparta Prague, Aris Limassol
Group D: Atalanta, Sporting, Sturm Graz, Rakow Czestochowa
Group E: Liverpool, LASK, Union SG, Toulouse
Group F: Villarreal, Rennes, Maccabi Haifa, Panathinaikos
Group G: Roma, Slavia Prague, Sheriff Tiraspol, Servette
Group H: Leverkusen, Qarabag, Molde, Hacken
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