Feyenoord, Utrecht, Go Ahead Eagles handed tricky European draws; AZ to face London side
Feyenoord, FC Utrecht, Go Ahead Eagles, and AZ Alkmaar found out their opponents in this season’s league phase of the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League on Friday. The Europa League campaigns of Feyenoord, Utrecht, and Go Ahead will be challenging, with all three sides being drawn to face several difficult opponents. AZ will face English FA Cup holders Crystal Palace in the Conference League.
It is the second season of the new European competition format. Every competition has 36 teams, with Europa League teams playing four home games and four away games. In the Conference League, they play three games at home and three games away. The top eight sides advance to the last 16 round, with the positions of 12th to 24th facing each other in a play-off round in between. The teams that finish in the bottom 12 positions are eliminated.
Feyenoord will face two British sides at home in De Kuip. Robin van Persie’s side will host English side Aston Villa and the Scottish team Celtic. Their other home games are against the Austrian team Sturm Graz and Panathinaikos from Greece.
The Rotterdammers have difficult away fixtures against Real Betis, Braga, FCSB in Romania, and the German team Stuttgart. Real Betis were the finalists of last season’s edition of the Conference League.
FC Utrecht will also be facing two British sides. They will also play Celtic, although Ron Jans’ side will travel to Glasgow for the game. They will also host two-time European Cup winners Nottingham Forest. The other teams to play in the Galgenwaard are FC Porto, Olympique Lyonnais, and Genk. Their remaining away fixtures are against Real Betis, Freiburg, and SK Brann.
Go Ahead Eagles, who qualified for Europe by winning the KNVB Cup last season, will also play against Aston Villa at home. Their other home games are against teams that will also face one of the other Dutch sides in the competition. Namely, FCSB, Stuttgart, and Braga. Their fans will be able to travel to Nice, Salzburg, Lyon, and Panathinaikos for their away fixtures.
AZ, who play only six games in the Conference League. They will play Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in London, while also traveling to face AEK Larnaca and Drita away. They host Slovan Bratislava, Jagiellonia Bialystok, and the Irish team Shelbourne.
Feyenoord dropped into the Europa League after they lost a qualification tie to enter the UEFA Champions League to Turkish team Fenerbahce. FC Utrecht and AZ qualified for their competitions after making it through two qualification rounds.
