Europa League: The Groups are out, tough one's for favourites

The draw for the 2010/11 Europa League group stage was held earlier today at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo, Monaco. And the 48 teams who qualified for the group stages have been divided into 12 groups of four teams each.

Defending champions Atletico Madrid from Spain have been drawn in an interesting Group B along with German side Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Norway's Rosenborg Trondheim and Aris Thessaloniki from Greece.

But the toughest groups of all is Group A where multiple European champions Juventus Turino from Italy take on big spending English Premier League side Manchester City, Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg and the Polish champions Lech Posnan.

Also getting a tough draw are troubled FC Liverpool who are in Group K along with Romanian giants Steaua Bucharest, Italy's SSC Napoli and FC Utrecht of the Netherlands. While in another interesting Group J Spaniards FC Sevilla take on FC Paris St Germain from France, Germany's Borussia Dortmund and newcomers Karpaty Lviv from the Ukraine.


The Groups

Group A: Juventus Turino (Italy), Manchester City (England), Red Bull Salzburg (Austria), Lech Posnan (Poland)

Group B: Atletico Madrid (Spain), Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Germany), Rosenborg Trondheim (Norway), Aris Thessaloniki (Greece)

Group C: Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), OSC Lille (France), Levski Sofia (Bulgaria), KAA Gent (Belgium)

Group D: FC Villarreal (Spain), Club Brugge (Belgium), FC Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), PAOK Saloniki (Greece)

Group E: AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands), Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine), BATE Borisov (Belarus), FC Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova)

Group F: CSKA Moscow (Russia), US Palermo (Italy), Sparta Prague (Czech Republic), FC Lausanne-Sport (Switzerland)

Group G: Zenit St Peterburg (Russia), RSC Anderlecht (Belgium), AEK Athens (Greece), Hadjuk Split (Croatia)

Group H: VfB Stuttgart (Germany), FC Getafe (Spain), Odense BK (Denmark), FC Young Boys Bern (Switzerland)

Group I: PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Sampdoria Genoa (Italy), FC Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine), VSC Debreceni (Hungary)

Group J: FC Sevilla (Spain), FC Paris St Germain (France), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Karpaty Lviv (Ukraine)

Group K: FC Liverpool (England), FC Steaua Bucharest (Romania), SSC Napoli (Italy), FC Utrecht (Netherlands)

Group L: FC Porto (Portugal), Besiktas Istanbul (Turkey), CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria), FC Rapid Vienna (Austria)