The draw has also been made for the Europa League after the play-off games had finished
There are 2 English teams in the competition at this stage – Arsenal and Man United
Group stage draw
Group A: Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven, Bodo/Glimt, FC Zurich
Group B: Dynamo Kyiv, Rennes, Fenerbahce, AEK Larnaca
Group C: Roma, Ludogorets, Real Betis, HJK Helsinki
Group D: Braga, Malmo, Union Berlin, Union Saint-Gilloise
Group E: Manchester United, Real Sociedad, FC Sheriff, Omonia Nicosia
Group F: Lazio, Feyenoord, FC Midtjylland, SK Sturm Graz
Group G: Olympiakos, Qarabag, Freiburg, Nantes
Group H: Red Star Belgrade, Monaco, Ferencvaros TC, Trabzonspor
Arsenal
Arsenal will not ne too unhappy this group
PSV will be very disappointed the missed out on the Champions League and Bodo/Glimt should not be underestimated but you would expect Arsenal to have too much for these teams.
All three of Arsenal’s group-stage rivals actually dropped out at the Champions League qualifying stage.
The key thing is will they play their strongest line up, a lot will depend on the league position as I suspect Arsenal will want to keep pushing for a Top 4 place . This might lead them to field slightly weaker teams but I still think they will qualify.
Manchester United
Man United will be very happy with this group, Real Sociedad will be difficult and they played them in the group stage of the Champions League in 2013 but they should have not too much difficulty with the other 2 teams in the group.
What team Man United play will again be a key factor, will they risk players if their league form picks up or will the manager go all and try and win this.
A trophy and Champions league would be a big coup for him in his first season.
Other Groups
Hard to pick out many stand out teams in the other groups, a lot of the teams look very evenly matched
Roma won the Conference league last season and have made some good signings, Jose Mourinho will obviously want to do well and is a serial winner who was unfairly criticized at times, especially while at Man United in hindsight.
Lazio will be a strong outfit but have Feyenoord in the group, who are a decent team. Probably between them to win that group.
Other factors
A couple of obvious points here
The winner of this tournament qualifies for t he Champions league the following season, in the case of Arsenal and Man United its certianly not to be passed up.
The Champions League 3rd place teams in the group drop into this competition ata later stage, there already looks like there will be at least 2 or 3 very good teams entering this.
So its hard to judge if the winner will come from the groups above.
