Europa League: PL Giants Arsenal, Chelsea Handed Tricky Group Stage Fixtures

Premier League (PL) giants Arsenal and Chelsea have been handed tricky fixtures in the group stage of this season’s UEFA Europa League.

The London sides found out their opponents during the draw held in Monaco earlier on Friday.

Arsenal were drawn in Group E alongside Portuguese Super League side Sporting Lisbon, Qarabag of Azerbaijan and Ukrainian club Vorskla Poltava.

2012 champions Chelsea will face PAOK Saloniki of Greece, Belarusian Premier League outfit BATE Borisov and Vidi of Hungary in Group L.

Last season’s finalists Olympique Marseille are in Group H alongside Italian Serie A side Lazio, Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany and Cypriot side Apollon Limassol.

Spanish La Liga giants Atletico Madrid defeated Marseille 2-0 to win the competition last season.

Group A: Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria), FC Zurich (Switzerland), AEK Larnaca (Cyprus)

Group B: Salzburg (Austria), Celtic (Scotland), RB Leipzig (Germany), Rosenborg (Norway)

Group C: Zenit St Petersburg (Russia), FC Copenhagen (Denmark), Bordeaux (France), Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)

Group D: Anderlecht (Belgium), Fenerbahce (Turkey), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Spartak Trnava (Slovakia)

Group E: Arsenal (England), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), Qarabag (Azerbaijan), Vorskla Poltava (Ukraine)

Group F: Olympiakos (Greece), AC Milan (Italy), Real Betis (Spain), Dudelange (Luxembourg)

Group G: Villarreal (Spain), Rapid Vienna (Austria), Spartak Moscow (Russia), Rangers (Scotland)

Group H: Lazio (Italy), Marseille (France), Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany), Apollon Limassol (Cyprus)

Group I: Besiktas (Turkey), KRC Genk (Belgium), Malmo (Sweden), Sarpsborg (Norway)

Group J: Sevilla (Spain), Krasnodar (Russia), Standard Liege (Belgium), Akhisar Belediyespor (Turkey)

Group K: Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine), Astana (Kazakhstan), Rennes (France), Jablonec (Czech Republic)

Group L: Chelsea (England), PAOK Saloniki (Greece), BATE Borisov (Belarus), Vidi (Hungary)