Chelsea, Arsenal draw minnows

The London based sides were paired with minnows in Europe with Arsenal getting a tricky tie to face Sporting Lisbon.

The group stage awards were held in Monaco and also crowned following his efforts to help Atletico Madrid to the title.

Chelsea

The defending champions however will not take part in this season's edition but the competition which is known to cause upsets provided an intriguing group phase.

The 48 teams were divided into 12 groups with the top two from each group progressing to the round of 32 knock out stage.

2018/19 Europa League draw in full

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Group A - Bayer Leverkusen, Ludogorets, FC Zurich, AEK Larnaca

Group B - Red Bull Salzburg, Celtic, RB Leipzig, Rosenborg

Group C - Zenit St Petersburg, FC Copenhagen, Bordeaux, Slavia Prague

Group D - Anderlecht, Fenerbache, Dinamo Zagreb, Spartak Tranava

Group E - Arsenal, Sporting Lisbon, Qarabag, FC Vorskla

Group F - Olympiakos, AC Milan, Real Betis, Dudelange

Group G - Villarreal, Rapid Vienna, Spartak Moscow, Rangers

Group H - Lazio, Marseille, Frankfurt, Apollon Limassol

Group I - Besiktas, Genk, Malmo, Sarpsborg

Group J - Sevilla, Krasnodar, Standard Liege, Akhisharspor

Group K - Dynamo Kiev, FC Astana, Rennes, Jablonec

Group L - Chelsea, PAOK, BATE Borisov, Vidi FC

Arsenal stats

After the conclusion of the draw, the group stages of competition begins on Thursday, September 20 and the final will be played at the Baku Olympic Stadium Azerbaijan on Wednesday, 29 May 2019.