Europa League draw - LIVE: Arsenal and Chelsea learn group stage opponents plus Celtic and Rangers latest
Arsenal and Chelsea learned their Europa League fate on Friday afternoon along with Scottish Premiership sides Celtic and Rangers as the group stage draw took place in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Arsenal, who reached the semi-finals last season before losing to eventual champions Atletico Madrid, face a nightmare schedule of long-distance trips to Azerbaijan and Ukraine after being drawn against FK Qarabag and FC Vorskla Poltava, with Sporting CP making up Group E.
But the draw has been far kinder to Chelsea, who will take on PAOK, BATE Borisov and Hungarian side Vidi.
Celtic have a testing group on their hands as stablemates Salsburg and RB Leipzig are paired together along with Rosenborg in Group B, while Rangers return to European football in Group G against Villarreal, Rapid Vienna and Spartak Moscow.
Follow live coverage of the draw below...
Please allow a moment for the blog to load...
When and where is the draw?
The group stage draw takes place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Friday 31 August. It will take place at midday.
How can I watch the draw?
On BT Sport 2 from midday. You can also follow live coverage and reaction right here with TheIndependent.
What do I need to know?
48 teams are involved in the group stage: 17 teams which automatically qualified and another 21 teams which survived the various play-off rounds. There are then six teams added that lost in the Champions League play-off round, as well as four defeated in the Champions League third qualifying round.
No team can play a club from their own country.
The pots
Pot 1: Sevilla, Arsenal, Chelsea, Zenit, Bayer Leverkusen, Dynamo Kyiv, Besiktas, Salzburg, Olympiakos, Villarreal, Anderlecht, Lazio.
Pot 2: Sporting CP, Ludogorets, FC Copenhagen, Marseille, Celtic, PAOK, AC Milan, Genk, Fenerbahce, Krasnodar, Astana, Rapid Wien.
Pot 3: Real Betis, BATE Borisov, Qarabag, Dinamo Zagreb, RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt, Malmo, Spartak Moscow, Standard Liege, Zurich, Bordeaux, Rennes.
Pot 4: Apollon, Rosenborg, Vorskla Poltava, Slavia Prague, Akhisar Belediyespor, Jablonec, AEK Larnaca, Vidi, Rangers, Dudelange, Spartak Trnava, Sarpsborg.
