Liverpool, Man City handed Italian Europa League tests
MONACO – Manchester City will face Italian giants Juventus as Liverpool were pitted with Napoli in the Europa League Group Stage draw on Friday.
Roberto Mancini’s City side will also face Salzburg of Austria and Lech Poznan of Poland in Group A, while Liverpool were grouped with Romania’s Steaua Bucharest and Utrecht of the Netherlands as well as Italian outfit Napoli.
Holders Atletico Madrid will face Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen, Norway’s Rosenborg and Thessaloniki of Greece in Group B. Elsewhere, Group J looks set produce competitive some closely-contested encounters between Spain’s Sevilla, Ligue 1 outfit Paris Saint Germain, Germany’s Borussia Dortmund and Karpaty Lviv of the Ukraine.
Liverpool will kick off their European campaign at Anfield against Steaua Bucharest on 16 September, while City will start with a trip away Salzburg on the same day. The Eastlands club will then host Juventus on 30 September with Roy Hodgson’s men travelling to Italy for their clash with Napoli on 21 October.
UEFA Europa League Group Stage Draw in full:
Group A: Juventus, MANCHESTER CITY, Salzburg, Lech Posnan
Group B: Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Rosenborg, Thessaloniki
Group C: Sporting, Lille, Levski Sofia, Gent
Group D: Villarreal, Club Brugge, Dinamo Zagreb, PAOK
Group E: AZ Alkmaar, Dynamo Kiev, BATE Borisov, FC Sheriff
Group F: CSKA Moscow, Palermo, Sparta Prague, Lausanne-Sport
Group G: Zenit St Peterburg, Anderlecht, AEK Athens, Hadjuk Split
Group H: VfB Stuttgart, Getafe, Odense BK, Young Boys
Group I: PSV Eindhoven, Sampdoria, FC Metalist Kharkiv, Debreceni
Group J: Sevilla, Paris St Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Karpaty Lviv
Group K: LIVERPOOL, Steaua Bucharest, Napoli, FC Utretcht
Group L: FC Porto, Besiktas, CSKA Sofia, Rapid Vienna
Matches will be played on 16 and 30 September, 21 October, 4 November, 1/2 and 15/16 December.
