UEFA Europa League Group Stages & Matchday One Preview
September has arrived, days start getting shorter, winter is coming. It’s the time of the year for the UEFA club competitions to return to action for another campaign. On Wednesday 15th September 2021, Spartak Moscow take on Legia Warsaw at Otkritiye Arena in Moscow in the opening match of the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League group stage. This clash takes place 112 days after Villarreal defeated Manchester United in the 2020/21 final after an epic penalty shoot-out which finished 11-10 to the Yellow Submarine.
Most noteworthy about the 2021/22 edition is the change of format brought to the competition for the 13th season of its existence under the UEFA Europa League title and the 51st season of the competition’s existence from its past existence as the UEFA Cup. From 2021/22, the Europa League has been streamlined into a neater format. The group stages will now mirror that of the Champions League, 32 teams being divided into 8 groups of 4 teams. The top two from each of these groups will advance to the knockout rounds.
However, unlike in previous editions, the eight group stage winners will receive a bye to the Round of 16. Eight group stage runners up alongside the eight 3rd placed teams from the UEFA Champions League group stage will drop into a Round of 32, now given the official title of “Preliminary Knockout Round”. With all now explained, without further ado, here is the preview for Matchday 1 of the 2021/22 Europa League group stages.
An early clash of two contenders in Group A
With the streamlining of the Europa League group stages, more box-office fixtures in the group stages of the competition are now a certainty. One such fixture takes place on Matchday 1 from Group A, where last season’s Scottish Premiership winners Rangers FC face off against French Ligue 1 outfit Olympique Lyonnais.
Since taking the job at Ibrox in the summer of 2018, Steven Gerrard has transformed the fortunes of the blue side of Glasgow’s Old Firm rivalry. The 2020/21 Scottish Premiership triumph by Rangers was the culmination of three impressive years of progress under the stewardship of the former Liverpool great. The statistics speak for themselves, 102 points from 38 matches, 92 goals scored, just 13 conceded and a 25-point margin of victory over fierce rivals Celtic.
Gerrard’s Rangers have also impressed in European competition, recording a 2nd placed finish in the Europa League group stage in 2019/20, going on to reach the Round of 16 before falling to Bayer Leverkusen. 2020/21 saw Rangers top their Europa League group, however, once again the Round of 16 was a hurdle The Gers could not overcome as they were eliminated by Slavia Prague.
Their opponents on Matchday 1, Olympique Lyonnais return to European football after a one-year hiatus from European competition in 2020/21. Lyon have made a slow start in the 2021/22 Ligue 1 campaign under new manager Peter Bosz, nonetheless, they remain a big name in the French game and will have designs on a strong run in this season’s Europa League. Signings such as Xherdan Shaqiri and Jerome Boateng have the necessary pedigree to compliment Les Gones’ core of young talents such as Maxence Caqueret, Houssem Aouar and Rayan Cherki.
Considering the pedigree of both clubs, Rangers and Lyon should be the two comfortable favourites to progress from this group which also contains Danish champions Brondby and Czech outfit Sparta Prague. A full house at Ibrox for the Matchday 1 clash between the two group favourites is a great opportunity for both to give themselves a great chance to win the group.
An Early Europa League favourite makes their bow in Group B
2021/22 represents a huge year in European football for France’s Ligue 1. Recent results by Portuguese clubs in European competition has seen Portugal leapfrog above France in the UEFA co-efficient rankings to 5th place. Admittedly, France has yet to show its strongest hand in European football this season in the shape of Paris St Germain’s “Galatico-esque” project.
Nonetheless, other Ligue 1 sides in Europe must start stepping up. One could argue that in the shape of the aforementioned Lyon, Olympique de Marseille and AS Monaco, France has sent three of the strongest-ever sets of teams to a Europa League group stage.
Niko Kovac’s AS Monaco should be amongst the favourites for the entire 2021/22 Europa League competition and should top Group B. The Principality outfit lost in the final qualification round for the Champions League to Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk and have stuttered early doors in Ligue 1. However, a side containing talents such as Aurelien Tchouameni, Benoit Badashile, Wissam Ben Yedder and Kevin Volland should eventually start turning things around.
Group B’s other Matchday 1 contest between PSV Eindhoven of the Eredivisie and Real Sociedad of La Liga should provide intrigue. Imanol Alguacil’s La Real are one of the strongest sides in La Liga outside of the dominant trio of Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atletico de Madrid. However, with a top-four finish in La Liga looking unlikely, will the San Sebastian-based outfit look to a Europa League victory as a potential route into next season’s Champions League?
Roger Schmidt’s PSV Eindhoven have started their domestic Eredivisie campaign strongly with three wins from their opening three games and will hope to closely challenge Ajax for the Dutch championship this season. However, a run in the Europa League is also well within the capacities of the Eindhoven outfit. The likes of Phillip Max, Davy Propper, Marco van Ginkel and Mario Gotze should mean PSV are capable of giving any team in this competition a game.
The opening match between both sides at Phillips Stadion is a classic contest between an upper-mid ranked side from a so-called “big five” European league and one of the strongest sides historically from outside the so-called “big five” European leagues in PSV.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Two Competition Favourites clash in Group C
Matchday one of the 2021/22 Europa League group stage will on paper feature one of the games of the tournament, Leicester City vs SSC Napoli at the King Power stadium. Both sides are according to collective odds gathered from across numerous bookmakers the two favourites for the competition before any drop-outs from the Champions League enter at the knockout round.
After adding an FA Cup last season to their shock Premier League title win in 2020/21. Leicester City will now look to take the next step in their footballing development by winning a European trophy. Summer signings such as striker Patson Daka from RB Salzburg and midfielder Boubakary Soumare from LOSC Lille have Foxes’ fans delighted for the new season.
Napoli go into the new campaign having narrowly missed out on UEFA Champions League qualification for 2021/22 on the final day of the 2020/21 Serie A campaign. The Neapolitan outfit have a new manager in the shape of Luciano Spaletti, back in management after being sacked two seasons ago at the end of the 2018/19 season at Inter Milan.
The new man in the hot seat at the Stadio San Paolo can call on talent such as Kalidou Koulibaly, Konstantinos Manolas, Giovanni di Lorenzo, Fabian Ruiz and Lorenzo Insigne. Another man to watch should be young Nigerian centre forward Victor Osimhen, who despite suffering an injury-plagued debut season in 2020/21 following his big-money move from Lille, still managed to note 10 goals and 3 assists in 24 Serie A appearances.
Both sides have good reason to take the Europa League seriously, winning the title gives automatic qualification for the following season’s Champions League. In addition, it would give either side, should they manage to win the competition a top-seeding for the following campaign’s Champions League draw.
Its all up for grabs in an even-looking Group D
Group D looks like one of the more fascinating groups from the draw where a strong case can be made for any of the teams qualifying for the knockout rounds. Eintracht Frankfurt are the only one from a so-called “big five” European league. However, they are currently undergoing a turbulent period. After guiding Die Adler to a fifth-placed Bundesliga finish in 2020/21, coach Adi Hutter left to take the vacant Borussia Moenchengladbach vacancy.
Oliver Glasner, Hutter’s replacement at Deutsche Bank Park has only so far in the 2021/22 campaign picked up two points from the opening three Bundesliga matches. In addition to their difficult start to the new season, Eintracht Frankfurt must also adapt to life without striker Andre Silva, their 28 goal sensation from 2020/21 who signed for RB Leipzig for a fee of EUR 23 million.
Olympiakos have proven over recent seasons their pedigree as a side who normally are capable of qualifying for the knockout rounds of the Europa League and being competitive. Nigerian winger Henry Onyekuru, Portuguese winger Rony Lopes on loan from Sevilla and Czech goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik on a free transfer all look good business from Pedro Martins’ outfit.
After missing European football in 2020/21, Turkish Super Lig outfit Fenerbache return to the Europa League for 2021/22. Manager Vitor Pereira has at his disposal a good squad headlined by Mesut Ozil and strengthened further this summer with arrivals such as Max Meyer from 1. FC Koln and Uruguayan winger Diego Rossi on loan from MLS outfit Los Angeles FC.
Heading up the group is Royal Antwerp FC who in recent seasons have re-emerged as a force in Belgian football. The last two Belgian First Division A seasons have seen 4th and 3rd placed finishes by The Great Old. Last season’s UEFA Europa League also saw Antwerp make the Round of 32 before losing to Rangers. Prior to that, however, they famously defeated Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur in the group stages at their home Bosuilstadion.
Embed from Getty ImagesDial “E” for a “Group of Death”
At the conclusion of every group stage draw in a competition, there is a self-proclaimed “Group of Death”. In the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League, this mantle is bestowed upon Group E which contains SS Lazio, Lokomotiv Moscow, Olympique de Marseille and Galatasaray SK.
Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio start as group favourites, after a year’s hiatus following his sacking by Juventus despite winning Serie A in 2019/20, 62-year-old Sarri, well-renounced everywhere for his attractive, attacking style of football has already made a strong start with his new side early on in the 2021/22 Serie A season. Lazio will look to key goal-scorer Ciro Immobile for inspiration in this tough group which starts in the intimidating atmosphere of the Turk Telecom Stadium against Galatasaray.
Second favourites in this group will be Olympique de Marseille. Les Phoceens find themselves in the 2021/22 edition of the Europa League by virtue of a 5th placed finish in the 2020/21 Ligue 1. L’OM, now in the first full season under the management of Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli have undertaken an expensive summer’s recruitment. Signings such as Gerson, Leonardo Balerdi, Pol Lirola, Konrad de la Fuente and William Saliba have raised expectations amongst the passionate Stade Velodrome faithful.
The remaining two teams in the group are from Russia and Turkey, two nations whose clubs urgently need to start performing better in Europe to earn co-efficient points given the rankings slide both have endured in recent seasons. Lokomotiv Moscow under new sporting director Ralf Rangnick have undergone extensive summer recruitment focused on young signings such as Alexis Beka Beka and Tino Anjorin. Any chance of the Railroaders finishing in the top two could depend on the result of their opening match, at home against Marseille.
Galatasaray are led by 68-year-old coach Fatih Terim, now in his 4th spell in charge of Gala. After narrowly seeing off St Johnstone and Randers FC in Europa League qualification, the veteran will be looking to his new recruits for inspiration. These include Dutch fullback Patrick van Aanholt, Danish central defender Victor Nelsson, a EUR 7 million arrival from FC Copenhagen and Romanian central midfielder Alexandru Cicaldau, a EUR 6.5 million signing from Universitatea Craiovia.
Can SC Braga take advantage of a favourable draw?
Out of all the teams in the draw, one could make a strong argument that the winners in terms of getting a favourable draw on paper are Portugal’s SC Braga. Throughout the last 15 years, Braga have gathered a reputation of being Portuguese football’s 4th team behind Os Tres Grandes of SL Benfica, FC Porto and Sporting CP, despite never winning a Portuguese title
With group winners in the revamped Europa League format now gaining a useful bye to the Round of 16, SC Braga drawing Red Star Belgrade, Ludogorets Razgrad and FC Midtjylland represents a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of said bye now available to group winners. Braga have all the tools available to go on a good run in European football this season, even if repeating their heroics of reaching the final like in 2010/11 is unlikely.
In addition to this favourable looking draw Os Arcebispos have an experienced manager in Carlos Carvahal in charge and also completed the season-long loan signing of highly-rated 19 year-old Brazilian right fullback Yan Couto from Manchester City. A strong run in Europe is not only important for Braga as a club but in the aforementioned fight for 5th place in the UEFA co-efficient ratings that Portugal has with France.
Embed from Getty ImagesMany a different coaching story in Group G
If each group in the UEFA Europa League has a tale to tell or theme to explore, Group G is all about the coaches. The managers in charge of all four of the participants will all have either a point to prove or a reputation to defend.
After Bayer 04 Leverkusen dispensed with the services of former manager Peter Bosz partway through last season, 42 year-old Swiss Gerardo Seoane, was the man chosen from the start of the 2020/21 campaign as Bosz’s permanent replacement.
Seoane arrives in Germany highly-rated having guided Young Boys Bern to three straight Swiss Super League titles between 2019 and 2021, in addition to beating Bayer themselves in the Round of 32 stage of the 2020/21 Europa League. Bayer have made a strong start under Seoane, with two wins and a draw from his first three games in charge.
Partway through last season, when a tenth straight Scottish title was out of reach, Celtic FC opted to dismiss long-serving manager Neil Lennon. The search for a successor took The Bhoys a long time, however, they have found it in the shape of Greek-Australian Ange Postecoglou.
The 55-year-old’s noteworthy successes include leading Brisbane Roar to consecutive A-League championships in 2011 & 2012, a Japanese J-League title win in 2019 with Yokohama F Marinos and an Asian AFC Cup victory with the Australian national football team in 2015. However, this is only Postecoglou’s second coaching job in European football, the previous one being an unsuccessful stint at Panachaiki in the Greek third tier in 2008.
At the other end of the coaching scale to the aforementioned Seoane, Real Betis return to European football for the first time since 2018/19 under the management of 68-year-old Chilean manager Manuel Pellegrini. After spells at Villarreal CF, Real Madrid, Malaga, Manchester City and West Ham United, Los Verdiblancos are Pellegrini’s 6th European club that the veteran has managed.
After confounding the critics to lead Real Betis to an impressive 6th place finish in La Liga last season, can Pellegrini now lead another Spanish club on a strong run in Europe after previously impressive Champions League runs with Villarreal and Malaga. The absence of certain key personnel from last season such as right fullback Emerson Royal and Algerian central defender Aissa Mandi, could be a blow to Real Betis’ chances.
The team expected to be the biggest underdogs in the group are Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros. In the off-season, Ukrainian legend Serhiy Rebrov, who had led the team to two straight Hungarian titles left the club and was replaced by veteran Austrian manager Peter Stoger. 55-year-old Stoger arrives in Budapest with a strong reputation. After winning an Austrian Bundesliga title with Austria Vienna in 2012/13, Stoger then spent five years coaching in Germany with both 1 FC Koln and Borussia Dortmund.
Stoger has a strong reputation, however, he is under pressure not just domestically, but to also continue Rebrov’s tradition of the last two campaigns of Ferencvaros being competitive in Europe, even despite the Hungarian outfit being huge underdogs in a tough group. FTC narrowly missed out on qualifying for the knockout rounds of the Europa League in 2019/20, whereas in 2020/21, they defeated the likes of Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb and Molde to make the Champions League group stages.
Group H: The other “Up for Grabs” Group
Group H like the aforementioned Group D, looks wide open with a case to be made for any of the sides to progress to the knockout rounds.
The top-seeds in the final group, Dinamo Zagreb qualified for the Europa League knockouts in resounding fashion, with 4 wins and 2 draws from their six group games, conceding only one goal. Dinamo were not finished there though, shocking Tottenham Hotspur in the Round of 16. How Dinamo will deal with the departure of midfielder Lovro Majer who signed for Stade Rennais just before the end of the transfer window will be crucial to their European hopes this time around.
KRC Genk return to European football after a one-year hiatus and should not be underestimated given they ran Belgian champions Club Brugge close domestically last season. Noteworthy transfers include attacking midfielder Mike Tresor from Willem II in the Netherlands and Ike Ugbo, a scorer of 16 league goals in 32 matches in Belgium last campaign with Cercle Brugge.
West Ham United return to European competition for the first time since the 2016/17 campaign Initially quiet on the transfers front throughout the summer, the Irons’ transfer window came alive in its final week. The three major arrivals were central defender Kurt Zouma from Chelsea, central midfielder Alex Kral on loan from Spartak Moscow and attacking midfielder Nikola Vlasic from CSKA Moscow. Balancing domestic and European fixtures will be key in how far West Ham can go on their return to continental competition.
Rapid Vienna are the final team in this group and enter into the Europa League group stages after dropping out from the Champions League qualifiers, where they lost in the Second Qualifying Round to Sparta Prague. Despite this setback, comfortable wins against Cypriot outfit Anorthosis Famagusta and Ukraine’s Zorya Luhansk in the third and play-off qualification rounds for the Europa League sealed their spot in the group stage.
After a disappointing third placed finish in the group stage of the Europa League last season which saw them miss out on a place in the knockout rounds, Rapid will look to finish in the top two of a tight group this season. Minimum objective would have to be to finish at least 3rd, which would guarantee European football post-Christmas in the new Europa Conference League.
