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When is the Europa League group stage draw? Everything you need to know

The long road to the Europa League final will begin for many clubs when the competition's group-stage draw takes place on Friday.

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For others, the journey has already begun in the qualifying rounds that have been played throughout the summer.

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The drawing of the 12 groups marks the start of the competition proper, however, and will see a number of high-profile clubs join the party this year.

With a place in next season's Champions League the prize for the winner, Goal has all the information you all you need to know about the Europa League group-stage draw.


WHEN AND WHERE IS THE DRAW?


Wayne Rooney Everton
EventDateVenue
Europa League group stage drawFriday, August 25Grimaldi Forum, Monaco

The draw for the 2017-18 Europa League group stage will take place at 13:00 CEST (12:00 BST / 07:00 ET) on Friday, August 25.

Unlike the draws for previous rounds, which were held in Nyon, Switzerland, the group-stage draw will be held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

The Europa League Player of the Season award for 2016-17 will also be presented at the ceremony. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba are the nominees.


WHAT TEAMS ARE IN THE DRAW?


Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4
ArsenalSteaua BucharestAstanaApollon Limassol
ZenitLudogoretsPartizanIstanbul Basaksehir
LyonBATE BorisovHoffenheimKonyaspor
Dynamo KyivEvertonKolnVitesse
VillarrealYoung BoysRijekaSlavia Prague
Athletic ClubMarseilleVitoria de GuimaraesRed Star Belgrade
LazioReal SociedadAtalantaSkenderbeu
MilanMaccabi Tel AvivZulte WaregemFastav Zlin
Viktoria PlzenLokomotiv MoscowZorya LuhanskAEK Athens
Red Bull SalzburgAustria WienRosenborgLugano
CopenhagenHertha BSCSheriff TiraspolVardar
BragaNiceHapoel Be'er ShevaOstersund

The group stage of the Europa League comprises 48 teams, with 16 of them entering at this stage. The field is completed by 22 teams progressing from the Europa League play-off round and the 10 teams eliminated in the Champions League play-off round.

Teams are subsequently divided into four pots of 12 teams each, with the 12 groups containing one team from each pot. Each group cannot contain more than one team from the same association.

Each team's pot is decided by their UEFA club coefficient, which is a score they are given based on their performance in the Champions League and Europa League over the past five seasons as well as the strength of the league they play in.

Arsenal have the highest coefficient (105.192) of any team in the group stage, while Ostersund have the lowest (3.945).

Europa League draw 2016-17

When does the group stage kick-off?

The first games of the 2017-18 Europa League group stage take place on September 14, and the final matches will be played on December 7.

Last season the majority of games kicked off at either 19:00 CEST/CET (18:00 BST/GMT) or 21:05 CEST/CET (20:05 BST/GMT), with occasional exceptions depending on geography.


CAN I WATCH THE GROUP-STAGE DRAW?


The Europa League group-stage draw is not currently scheduled to be broadcast live on television in the UK or US, but it can be watched via stream on UEFA.com.


WHAT TEAMS WERE IN THE PLAY-OFF ROUND?


Andre Silva AC Milan

Unlike the Champions League, the Europa League play-off round is not split into different sections.

Milan, Athletic Club and Everton all successfully booked their place in the group stage but last year's finalists Ajax and Fenerbahce were among the clubs to suffer surprise exits.

TeamAgg.TeamLeg 1Leg 2
Milan7-0Shkendija6-01-0
Osijek2-2 (a)Austria Wien1-21-0
Krasnodar4-4 (a)Red Star Belgrade3-21-2
Club Brugge0-3AEK Athens0-00-3
Maritimo1-3Dynamo Kyiv0-01-3
Panathinaikos2-4Athletic Club2-30-1
Apollon Limassol4-3Midtjylland3-21-1
FH3-5Braga1-22-3
Everton3-1Hajduk Split2-01-1
Viitorul Constanta1-7Red Bull Salzburg1-30-4
Vardar4-1Fenerbahce2-02-1
Ajax2-4Rosenborg0-12-3
Rheindorf Altach2-3Maccabi Tel Aviv0-12-2
BATE Borisov3-2FC Oleksandriya1-12-1
Dinamo Zagreb1-1 (a)Skenderbeu1-10-0
Ludogorets2-0Suduva Marijampole2-00-0
Domzale1-4Marseille1-10-3
Partizan4-0Videoton0-04-0
Utrecht1-2Zenit1-00-2 (aet)
Legia Warsaw1-1 (a)Sheriff Tiraspol1-10-0
Viktoria Plzen3-1AEK Larnaca3-10-0
PAOK3-3 (a)Ostersund3-10-2
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