Mohamed Salah’s first taste of Europa League football with Liverpool will see them take on LASK Linz, Union Saint-Gilloise and Toulouse in Group E following the conclusion of Friday’s draw in Monaco.
The Reds finished fifth in the Premier League last season which was not enough to guarantee a place in the UEFA Champions League where Salah has played every season since joining the club in the summer of 2017, winning the illustrious trophy in 2019.
He will however have to make do with playing in Europe’s second-tier club competition after Liverpool ruled out the possibility of the Egyptian superstar leaving Anfield with rejected offers from the lucrative Saudi Arabian Pro League.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Kudus will be looking to help West Ham United go far in the Europa League as they begin that quest by tackling Olympiacos, Freiburg and Backa Topola in Group A. The Ghana international is a new signing for the Hammers and has the highest experience playing in the Champions League with his former employer Ajax. The Dutch giants have been paired in Group B with Olympique Marseille, Brighton & Hove Albion and AEK Athens which is considered the ‘group of death’.
Nigeria’s Cyriel Dessers will be looking to help Rangers also have a good tournament, beginning with their Group C campaign against Real Betis, Sparta Prague and Aris Limassol. The Scottish giants failed to make it into the Champions League group stage but were Europa League finalists last year, losing to Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville.
Another Nigerian in Ademola Lookman will be in the thick of the action as Atalanta try to navigate past Sporting Lisbon, Sturm Graz and Rakow Czestochowa in Group D, while Terem Moffi’s Rennes have encounters with Samuel Chuwkwueze’s former club Villarreal, Maccabi Haifa and Panathinaikos.
The 2023/24 group stage is set ✅#UELdraw pic.twitter.com/rKmamwpJyf
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) September 1, 2023
Group G comprises last season’s runners-up AS Roma along with Slavia Prague, FC Sheriff and Servette FC. Nigeria’s Victor Boniface will look towards being at his goalscoring best for Bayer Leverkusen, semi-finalists from last season, as they take on Qarabag, Mode and BK Hacken in Group H.
The 2023-24 Europa League group stage commences on September 21.
