Atletico, Liverpool learn Europa League fates

Europa League holders Atletico Madrid will face German big guns Bayer Leverkusen, while Liverpool meet Italy’s Napoli following the draw for the group stage on Friday.

Atletico, who beat Fulham in last year’s final thanks to an extra-time goal from Uruguay striker Diego Forlan, face an awkward Group B as not only must they take on Germany captain Michael Ballack’s new team but they also come up against Norwegian side Rosenborg as well as Aris of Greece.

Liverpool are the most successful European side among the 48 teams contesting the group stages, having won the Champions League five times and the UEFA Cup — precursor to the Europa League — three times, most recently in 2001.

Now coached by Roy Hodgson, who guided Fulham to last year’s final, Liverpool will also have to overcome 1986 European champions Steaua Bucharest in Group K along with Dutch side Utrecht, who thrashed Celtic 4-0 on Thursday to claim their place in the pot.

“We don’t have to travel to Ukraine or Belarus — we’ve just been on a four-and-a-half-hour flight — so travel-wise it could be a lot worse,” said Liverpool club secretary Ian Sylvester, whose team beat Turkish side Trabzonspor in the play-off round.

“I don’t know too much about Utrecht but any team that beats Celtic 4-0 must be a decent side.

“We will treat all three opponents with respect. Steaua Bucharest were top of the seeds in the second pot so that will be difficult too.”

Italian giants Juventus are another side with a rich European pedigree, having won two Champions Leagues, three UEFA Cups and a Cup Winners’ Cup.

They were drawn in Group A alongside big-spending English side Manchester City, whose sole European success came in the Cup Winners’ Cup back in 1970.

Austria’s Salzburg and Poland’s Lech Poznan make up the group.

“Juventus have a great history and we are very proud to be playing against them,” said City’s football administrator Brian Marwood.

“It’s quite daunting to think we will be facing one of the greatest teams ever to have played European football but we are looking forward to the challenge.

“Everyone knows we have invested in the team and have bought a lot of top-quality players and it’s fixtures like the Juventus game that we want to be playing on a regular basis.”

Marwood, however, insisted that City were not concerned about new striker Mario Balotelli being targetted by Juventus fans, who racially abused him when he played for Inter Milan.

“We will leave it to the authorities to deal with anything that happens but we are not anticipating any issue,” said Marwood.

“I’m sure Mario, like all of our players, will be relishing the opportunity. He’s a young man with an incredibly bright future ahead of him and we will give him every support and help that he needs.”

Sevilla, twice winners of the UEFA Cup, will also have their work cut out to reach the knockout phase as they have been pitted against German side Borussia Dortmund, the French Cup winners Paris Saint-Germain and Karpaty of the Ukraine.

“In Sevilla and PSG we have two tough opponents but when I look at some of the other groups, I reckon it could have been a lot worse,” said Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl.

Group G also offers some intriguing ties with the 2008 UEFA Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg up against Belgium’s Anderlecht, the 1983 winners, Greek side AEK Athens, who put out Dundee United on Thursday, and Croatia’s Hajduk Split.

The top two from each of the 12 groups progress to the knockout stage, where they will be joined by the third-placed teams from the eight Champions League groups in the round of 32.

The first round of group stage games is on September 16, with the final being played in Dublin on May 18.