Europa League Draw: Brighton To Face Ajax, Marseille, AEK Athens: Liverpool Place In Easy Group+ Full List

By Daniel Ojukwu

The 2023-24 Europa League draw has been released with Brighton drawn with Ajax, Marseille and AEK Athens in Group B of the competion.

The Seagulls finished sixth last season, securing European football for the first time in their 122-year history.

Liverpool will face LASK, Union St-Gilloise and Toulouse in Group E, while West Ham take on Olympiacos, Freiburg, TSC Backa Topola in Group A.

Rangers are with Real Betis, Sparta Prague and Aris Limassol in Group C.

Europa League group stage draw in full

Group A: WEST HAM, Olympiacos, Freiburg, TSC Backa Topola

Group B: Ajax, Marseille, BRIGHTON, AEK Athens

Group C: RANGERS, Real Betis, Sparta Prague, Aris Limassol

Group D: Atalanta, Sporting Lisbon, Sturm Graz, Rakow

Group E: LIVERPOOL, LASK, Union St-Gilloise, Toulouse

Group F: Villarreal, Rennes, Maccabi Haifa, Panathinaikos

Group G: Roma, Slavia Prague, Sheriff Tiraspol, Servette

Group H: Bayer Leverkusen, Qarabag, Molde, BK Hacken

Brighton’s highest-ever Premier League finish last season means the Seagulls are rewarded with ties against two former European champions in Ajax and Marseille.

Ajax are four-time winners of the Champions League and won the Europa League’s predecessor the Uefa Cup in 1992, while Marseille won the Champions League in 1993.

Their group is rounded out by Greek champions AEK Athens.

Liverpool, who feature in this season’s Europa League after missing out on the Champions League for the first time since 2016-17, face last season’s third-placed Austria side LASK, Belgium’s third-place finishers Union St-Gilloise, and French cup winners Toulouse.

Reds midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, who signed from Brighton this summer in a £35m deal, could line up against his brother Kevin, who plays in defence for USG.

West Ham, who qualified for this season’s Europa League after winning the Conference League last campaign, take on Greek side Olympiacos, who finished third in the league in 2022-23.

Germany’s Freiburg, who finished fifth in the Bundesliga, and Serbian runners-up TSC Backa Topola will also face the Hammers.

And Rangers, who dropped to the Europa League after defeat by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League play-off this week, will travel to Seville to face La Liga outfit Real Betis, as well as the Czech Republic’s Sparta Prague and Cypriot champions Aris Limassol.

As at the time of filing this report, Aston Villa is yet find out their Europa Conference League opponents.

Source: BBC Football