Group A: West Ham, Olympiakos, Freiburg, TSC Backa Topola; Group B: Ajax, Marseille, Brighton, AE
Athens; Group C: Rangers, Real Betis, Sparta Prague, Aris Limassol; Group E: Liverpool, LASK, Union SG, Toulouse
Roberto De Zerbi’s men secured a first season in continental football by finishing sixth in last season’s Premier League table and are rewarded with games against four-time European champions Ajax and 1993 European Cup winners Marseille.
The Seagulls’ other group opponents are reigning Greek champions AEK Athens, with the first round of the group stage taking place on Thursday, September 21.
Liverpool, a three-time winner of their former UEFA Cup, finished alongside Austria’s LASK, Belgium’s Union St Gillois and France’s Toulouse.
The third representative of the Premier League in Friday’s draw was West Ham thanks to victory in the final of the European Conference last season.
The Hammers face 47-time Greek champions Olympiacos, Germany’s Freiburg and Serbia’s TSC Backa Topola.
Rangers, who were relegated to the Europa League after their Champions League final loss to PSV Eindhoven earlier this week, face Spain’s Real Betis.
For the Light Blues, it means a second trip to Sevilla, where they lost to Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2022 Europa League final.
The Rangers are also paired with Czech side Sparta Prague and Cypriot champion Aris Limassol.
The winners of the eight groups will go directly to the tenth dry, while the eight runners-up will face each other in the third-place final of the eight subgroups of the Champions League.
The final game of this season will be played in Dublin on May 22nd.
The Europa League group stage draw is over
Group A: West Ham, Olympiakos, Freiburg, TSC Bačka Topola
Group B: Ajax, Marseille, Brighton, AEK Athens
Group C: Rangers, Real Betis, Sparta Prague, Aris Limassol
Group D: Atalanta, Sporting CP, Sturm Graz, Raków Czestochowa
Group E: Liverpool, LASK, Union SG, Toulouse
Group F: Villarreal, Rennes, Maccabi Haifa, Panathinaikos
Group G: AS Roma, Slavia Praha, Sheriff Tiraspol, Servette
Group H: Leverkusen, Qarabag, Molde, Häcken
The group winners advance directly to the round of 16, while the group’s runners-up advance to the knockout stages, where they face the eight Champions League eliminated teams who finished third in their group.
The third-placed teams qualify for the European Conference League, where they will face the second-placed team in the group of that competition in the finals.
When are the Europa League group games?
The fixture list for the group stage will be announced after the draw, but UEFA have confirmed match dates.
1st battle day: September 21st
2nd working day: October 5th
Game 3: October 26
4th battle day: November 9th
5th battle day: November 30th
6th battle day: December 14th
All important Europa League dates
The 2023/24 UEFA Europa League season ends at the Dublin Arena in Ireland. Final Finals: February 15 and 22
Round of 16: 7 and 14 March
Semi-finals: April 11 and 18
Semi-finals: 2 and 9 May
End: 22.5
