Who said the Europa League was easy?
Manchester United have learned their Europa League fate which has set up a selection of big matches and some visits to old familiar faces.
The draw was made at 12pm this afternoon (30 Aug) with some big names lining up in the competition including Roma, Porto, Ajax, Ranges, Lazio and Galatasaray just to name a handful.
Furthermore, this year sees the introduction of a new league format keeping in tandem with the Champions League where group stages are now abolished.
Instead teams play eight games randomly chosen by a computer, with two teams from each pot selected.
United, who only qualified for the competition through the old Cup Winner’s Cup route after winning the FA Cup were in pot one thanks to their high UEFA coefficient.
After being drawn out of the pot the computer chose the fixtures for the Red Devils and it did not disappoint.
In no particular order United will play:
Rangers (H)
Porto (A)
PAOK (H)
Fenerbahçe (A)
Bodo/Glimt (H)
Viktoria Plzen (A)
Twente (H)
Steaua Bucharest (A)
This games after the Champions League draw was made yesterday evening following the same format.
United will need to finish in the top 24 teams to avoid being knocked out of the competition.
The match away to Fenerbahçe will prove a thrilling encounter as United play their former manager Jose Mourinho who won the same competition with the club in 2017.
Along with the new changes, Champions League teams will no longer drop down into the Europa League with the same going for Europa League teams dropping into the Conference League.
For a more in-depth explanation, more can be read about the new format here.
