The groups for the start of the 2022/23 Europa League season will be drawn in Istanbul from 1 p.m. on Friday. There are two teams from Germany that you rarely meet in this environment – albeit not for the first time: The then second division club Union Berlin made their UEFA Cup debut in 2001 (as a cup finalist). SC Freiburg did not get past the group stage in 2013/14. “It’s something special, we don’t get that very often,” said Freiburg coach Christian Streich, eagerly awaiting the draw, which you can follow here in the live ticker.
1:29 p.m
Union Berlin and Sc freiburg already have their first two opponents: The FCU travels to Braga and Malmö in group D, the SC probably has it easy in group G with Piraeus and Qarabag. Coach Streich wanted Azerbaijan because he had never been there.
1:27 p.m
Feyenoord and Lazio see each other in F, Qarabag joins Piraeus in G and Group H joins Red Star with Monaco
1:26 p.m
Real Sociedad takes on Man United in E
1:26 p.m
Malmö to Braga in Group D
1:25 p.m
Ludogorets goes to Roma in Group C
1:24 p.m
Rennes will be Kiev’s opponents in Group B
1:23 p.m
PSV Eindhoven will face Arsenal in Group A.
1:20 p.m
The group heads are already set: Arsenal are in Group A, ynamo Kyiv are top of Group B, Roma are at the top of C, Braga in D, Man United are in Group E, Lazio in F, Piraeus in G and Red Star Belgrade in H
1:15 p.m
Now let’s get to the pots. Top teams like Manchester United, Arsenal or one of the traditional Roman clubs AS and Lazio could be waiting for Union Berlin and Freiburg.
1:11 p.m
Frankfurt icon and UEFA Cup winner 1980 Karl-Heinz Körbel just brought in the Europa League trophy and raved a bit about the fabulous EL season that the SGE has behind it. He will be accompanied by Zoltán Gera on stage and at the raffle pots.
1:01 p.m
Let’s start in Istanbul. Highlights from the last cup season will be shown for the first time and it will be remembered that Eintracht Frankfurt won the last edition. With the teams that can now be seen in the clip show, it’s actually still unbelievable…
12:41 p.m
This is what the pots look like:
pot 1: Manchester United, AS Roma, FC Arsenal, Lazio Roma, SC Braga, Red Star Belgrade, Dynamo Kyiv, Olympiacos Piraeus
pot 2: Feyenoord Rotterdam, Stade Rennes, PSV Eindhoven, AS Monaco, Real Sociedad San Sebastián, Qarabag Agdam, Malmo FF, Ludogorets Razgrad
pot 3: Sheriff Tiraspol, Real Betis Sevilla, FC Midtjylland, FK Bodø/Glimt, Ferencvaros Budapest, 1.Union, Sc freiburgFenerbahçe Istanbul
pot 4: FC Nantes, HJK Helsinki, Sturm Graz, AEK Larnaka, FC Zurich, Omonia Nicosia, Royale Union Saint Gilloise, Trabzonspor
12:39 p.m
Here’s how the draw works: The 32 teams are divided into eight groups and drawn from four pots according to UEFA’s club coefficients. Matches by teams from the same association are excluded. A team can also be re-assigned to another group if clubs from one association would otherwise have the same kick-off times. UEFA uses two different colors for the groups: red and blue.
12:37 p.m
Briefly on the calendar: The first match day of the Europa League season will be on September 8th. The knockout rounds after the group stage begin with the round of 16 after a playoff round on March 9th and culminate in the final on May 31st in Dublin.
12:32 p.m
Incidentally, the colleagues at Twitch will follow and comment on the draw from 12:30 p.m. in the stream. Check out the Transfermarkt channel…
12:30 pm
Another half hour, then the Freiburg and Unioner from Berlin slowly find out their opponents in the Europa League. At the Sport-Club, Nicolas Höfler immediately wished for the greatest opponent in terms of squad value: Manchester United. Coach Streich sees it this way: “I have a thing for stadiums I’ve never been to. Azerbaijan would be far away and connected with flies. But I’ve never been there.” There are certainly a few other arenas that Streich could explore for the first time with Freiburg after celebrating 400 games. “Because I’m here all the time,” he says.