It won’t be long until the Europa League is upon us, so when does it all get going and who did Arsenal get in the groups stages?

Thanks to winning the FA Cup, Arsenal are at the European Kiddies table once again this season, but with a global pandemic showing no signs of abating any time soon, what were once simply inconvenient trips to far-flung places, now every trip comes with the added concern of inadequate bubbles, no matter where Arsenal end up.

When was the Europa League draw?

The draw for the Europa League group stages took place on Friday 2 October.

Where did the Europa League draw take place?

It was originally supposed to take place in Greece but Covid-19 means it took place at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. UEFA provided a live stream and it was also shown on BT Sport.

Were Arsenal seeded for the Europa League draw?

Yes, Arsenal were seeded for the draw and in Pot One along with Roma, Napoli, Benfica, Bayer Leverkusen, Unai Emery’s Villarreal, and CSKA Moscow, another of his sides.

Arsenal have the highest co-efficient of any team still in the competition.

Who did Arsenal get in the Europa League draw?

Arsenal were drawn against Rapid Vienna, Molde, and, quite excitingly for me as it’s just 50 miles way, Dundalk.

Dundalk from the Irish Premier Division (the Republic of Ireland’s league, that used to be known as the League of Ireland not to be confused with Northern Ireland’s Danske Premier Division, formerly the Irish League) made the group stages by beating Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag (Ki) from the Faroe Islands (for real).

12 groups of four will comprise one team from each pot as usual and there are the usual rules against drawing sides from the same country in the same group.

Teams still in the Europa League

Pot 1                          coef.              Pot 2                          coef.
------------------------ --- ----------------     ------------------------ --- ----------------
Arsenal                  Eng  91.000              AA Gent @4               Bel  39.500
Tottenham Hotspur **     Eng  85.000              PSV Eindhoven *3         Ned  37.000
AS Roma                  Ita  80.000              VfL Wolfsburg **         Ger  36.000
Napoli                   Ita  77.000              Celtic @2                Sco  34.000
Benfica @3               Por  70.000              Viktoria Plzen @2        Cze  34.000
Bayer Leverkusen         Ger  61.000              Dinamo Zagreb @3         Cro  33.500
FC Basel **              Sui  58.500              Sparta Praha             Cze  30.500
Villarreal               Esp  56.000              APOEL Nicosia *          Cyp  27.500
Sporting CP Lisbon *3    Por  50.000              Ludogorets Razgrad @2    Bul  26.000
CSKA Moscow              Rus  44.000              Young Boys @3            Sui  25.500
FC København **          Den  42.000              Galatasaray **           Tur  23.500
Sporting Braga           Por  41.000              Red Star Belgrade @3     Srb  22.750

Pot 3                          coef.              Pot 4                          coef.
------------------------ --- ----------------     ------------------------ --- ----------------
Malmö FF *               Swe  22.000              1899 Hoffenheim          Ger  14.956
Rapid Wien @3            Aut  22.000              FC Midtjylland @4        Den  14.500
Leicester City           Eng  22.000              CFR Cluj @2              Rom  12.500
Qarabag FK @3            Azb  21.000              Zorya Luhansk            Ukr  12.500
PAOK Thessaloniki @4     Gre  21.000              OGC Nice                 Fra  11.849
Standard Liège **        Bel  20.500              Lille OSC                Fra  11.849
Real Sociedad            Esp  20.456              Dundalk @1               Irl   8.500
AC Milan **              Ita  19.000              Royal Antwerp            Bel   7.580
AZ Alkmaar @3            Ned  18.500              Charleroi *3             Bel   7.580
Feyenoord                Ned  17.000              Sivasspor                Tur   6.720
Maccabi Tel-Aviv @4      Isr  16.500              Wolfsberger AC           Aut   6.585
Molde FK @4              Nor  15.000              Omonia Nicosia @4        Cyp   5.350

source

Are there any special Europa League rules for dealing with Covid?

Groups usually wrap up in December but UEFA have extended this to 28 January as ‘an absolute last resort.’

Should any group games be outstanding at that point, UEFA’s Executive Committee will decide which clubs qualify for the round of 32, so expect those spots to go to teams we’ve heard of.

If clubs are not able to visit their opponents country due to travel restrictions, the hosts are required to find an alternative venue and cover the costs. If they fail to do this, they will forfeit the match 3-0.

When will the Europa League games be played?

All being well (and we know it won’t be), these are the dates pencilled in for the Europa League:

Group Stage

• Matchday 1 22 October
• Matchday 2 29 October
• Matchday 3 5 November
• Matchday 4 26 November
• Matchday 5 3 December
• Matchday 6 10 December

Round of 32

• First leg 18 February
• Second leg 25 February

Round of 16

• First leg 11 March
• Second leg 18 March

Quarter finals

• First leg 8 April
• Second leg 15 April

Semi finals

• First leg 29 April
• Second leg 6 May

Final

• 26 May, Gdansk Stadium, Poland.