Europa League draw - LIVE: Arsenal and Chelsea learn group stage opponents plus Celtic and Rangers latest
Follow live coverage of the draw from Monte Carlo, Monaco
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Your support makes all the difference.Arsenal and Chelsea learned their Europa League fate on Friday afternoon along with Scottish Premiership sides Celtic and Rangers as the group stage draw took place in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Arsenal, who reached the semi-finals last season before losing to eventual champions Atletico Madrid, face a nightmare schedule of long-distance trips to Azerbaijan and Ukraine after being drawn against FK Qarabag and FC Vorskla Poltava, with Sporting CP making up Group E.
But the draw has been far kinder to Chelsea, who will take on PAOK, BATE Borisov and Hungarian side Vidi.
Celtic have a testing group on their hands as stablemates Salsburg and RB Leipzig are paired together along with Rosenborg in Group B, while Rangers return to European football in Group G against Villarreal, Rapid Vienna and Spartak Moscow.
Follow live coverage of the draw below...
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When and where is the draw?
The group stage draw takes place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Friday 31 August. It will take place at midday.
How can I watch the draw?
On BT Sport 2 from midday. You can also follow live coverage and reaction right here with The Independent.
What do I need to know?
48 teams are involved in the group stage: 17 teams which automatically qualified and another 21 teams which survived the various play-off rounds. There are then six teams added that lost in the Champions League play-off round, as well as four defeated in the Champions League third qualifying round.
No team can play a club from their own country.
The pots
Pot 1: Sevilla, Arsenal, Chelsea, Zenit, Bayer Leverkusen, Dynamo Kyiv, Besiktas, Salzburg, Olympiakos, Villarreal, Anderlecht, Lazio.
Pot 2: Sporting CP, Ludogorets, FC Copenhagen, Marseille, Celtic, PAOK, AC Milan, Genk, Fenerbahce, Krasnodar, Astana, Rapid Wien.
Pot 3: Real Betis, BATE Borisov, Qarabag, Dinamo Zagreb, RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt, Malmo, Spartak Moscow, Standard Liege, Zurich, Bordeaux, Rennes.
Pot 4: Apollon, Rosenborg, Vorskla Poltava, Slavia Prague, Akhisar Belediyespor, Jablonec, AEK Larnaca, Vidi, Rangers, Dudelange, Spartak Trnava, Sarpsborg.
That's it! Here's the full run down of the groups:
Group A: Bayer Leverkusen, Ludogorets, FC Zurich, AEK Larnaca
Group B: Salzburg, Celtic, RB Leipzig, Rosenborg
Group C: Zenit St Petersburg, FC Copenhagen, Bordeaux, Slavia Prague
Group D: Anderlecht, Fenerbahce, Dinamo Zagreb, Spartak Trnava
Group E: Arsenal, Sporting CP, Qarabag, FC Vorskla Poltava
Group F: Olympiakos, AC Milan, Real Betis, Dudelange
Group G: Villareal, Rapid Wien, Spartak Moscow, Rangers
Group H: Lazio, Marseille, Eintrackt Frankfurt. Apollon Limassol
Group I: Besiktas, Genk, Malmo, Sarpsborg
Group J: Sevilla, Krasnodar, Standard Liege, Akhisar Belediyespor
Group K: Dynamo Kiev, Astana, Stade Rennais, Jablonec
Group L: Chelsea, PAOK, BATE Borisov, Vidi
Well at least Arsenal will definitely make Baku this season as they are paired with Azerbaijani side Qarabag, but their rather nightmarish draw that also includes Ukranian side FC Vorskla Poltava and a sun-kissed trip to Lisbon to face Sporting CP will see them rack up 14,000-miles in the Europa League group stage.
Bad for football, great for air miles.
That's all from our coverage of the Europa League draw, with Arsenal handed a rather lengthy schedule for the group stage and Chelsea receiving one of the more simple itineraries available.
The action gets underway on 20 September, so be sure to stay across Indy Football for all the latest Europa League news this season.
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