Başakşehir, Konyaspor to take stage in UEFA Europa League

MONACO

Europa League has seen Turkey’s Başakşehir and Konyaspor pitted against Hoffenheim and Marseille respectively.

In Group C, the Istanbul club face Germany’s Hoffenheim, which missed out on Champions League football when it was beaten by Liverpool.

Portuguese club Braga and Bulgaria’s Ludogorets make up the rest of the group.

Konyaspor in Group I will face 1993 Champions League winners Marseille, Salzburg of Austria and Portugal’s Vitoria Guimaraes.

The first matches will be played on Sept. 14. Arsenal will face a tricky group stage with ties against Cologne and Red Star Belgrade as Arsene Wenger’s side play in Europe’s second-tier competition for the first time since 1997.

The Gunners were also paired with Belarus club Bate Borisov in the Aug. 25 draw that was kinder to another European giant, AC Milan, who face Austria Vienna, AEK Athens and Rijeka of Croatia.

Wayne Rooney’s Everton has a stern test in a group containing French club Lyon, whose Groupama Stadium will host the final on May 16.

Italian side Atalanta and Cypriot minnows Apollon round out Everton’s group. French club Nice, who have strengthened their star-studded squad with the addition of Dutch veteran Wesley Sneijder this summer, drew a big-name Italian opponent in the shape of Lazio.

Nice also face early Dutch league leaders Vitesse Arnhem and Zulte Waregem of Belgium. Paul Pogba of last season’s winners Manchester United was voted the best player of the 2016-2017 competition and received the trophy in a pre-recorded video message shown at the draw in Monaco.