Bulgaria Clubs Face Portuguese Majors in Europa League

View of the board displaying the groups A to L of the Europa League group stage during the draw ceremony in Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, Monaco, 27 August 2010. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Bulgarian top football team CSKA Sofia will meet former European champions Porto in the group stage of the Europa League, following the draw for the competition made on Friday.

Its main rival on the domestic front Levski will clash with Sporting Lisbon.

CSKA Sofia have been given tough draw and they are in Group L with Porto, Besiktas and Rapid Vienna, while Levski is joined in Group C by Sporting Lisbon, Lille and Gent.

The draw saw the 48 clubs divided into 12 groups of four teams, with the top two from each set progressing.

Big-spending Manchester City will meet former European champions Juventus in the group stage of the Europa League.

Their Group A section also contains Salzburg of Austria and Lech Poznan of Poland.

Holders Atletico Madrid will face Bayer Leverkusen, Rosenborg Trondheim and Aris Salonika in Group B.

Five-time European champions Liverpool, who qualified for the competition proper with a 3-1 aggregate win over Trabzonspor of Turkey in the playoff, will face former European champions Steaua Bucharest, past UEFA Cup winners Napoli and Utrecht in Group K.

The competition starts on September 16 with the final in Dublin on May 18 next year.

Group A

Juventus

Manchester City

Salzburg

Lech Poznan

Group B

Atletico Madrid

Bayer Leverkusen

Rosenburg

Thessaloniki

Group C

Sporting

Lille

Levski Sofia

Gent

Group D

Villarreal

Club Brugge

Dinamo Zagreb

PAOK

Group E

Alkmaar

Dinamo Kiev

BATE Borisov

FC Sheriff

Group F

CSKA Moscow

Palermo

Sparta Prague

Lausanne

Group G

Zenit St Petersburg

Anderlecht

AEK Athens

Hajduk Split

Group H

Stuttgart

Getafe

Odense

Young Boys

Group I

PSV Eindhoven

Sampdoria

FC Metalist Kharkiv

Debreceni

Group J

Sevilla

PSG

Borussia Dortmund

Karpaty Lviv

Group K

Liverpool

Steaua Bucharest

Napoli

Utrecht

Group L

Porto

Besiktas

CSKA Sofia

Rapid Vienna

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!