MONACO: Aston Villa will host Coppa Italia winners Bologna and visit Feyenoord in the Europa League opening stage, while Scottish sides Celtic and Rangers will both welcome AS Roma as Friday’s draw also set up a clash between Nottingham Forest and Porto.

Forest, who last played in Europe in 1995-96, also face Sweden’s Malmo, who they beat in the European Cup final in 1979.

The draw, which split the 36 participating clubs into four pots based on UEFA’s club coefficient ranking, sorted out eight league phase matches for each team, four at home and four on the road, with two opponents drawn from each pot.

The top eight teams in the league table advance directly to the round of 16. The next 16 teams in the standings play in two-legged knockout playoffs in a bid to join the leading eight.

FA Cup winners Crystal Palace, who were demoted from the Europa League in a multi-club ownership case that also involved Olympique Lyonnais, are set to host Strasbourg and visit Dynamo Kyiv in the third-tier Conference League.

Ligue 1 side Lyon, who were allowed to play in the Europa League by UEFA, will host RB Salzburg and visit Real Betis.

Champions League quarter-finalists last season, Villa beat Bologna 2-0 at Villa Park in last season’s Champions League. They will also tackle Red Bull Salzburg, Israeli champions Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Young Boys at home.

Roma — who are coached by Gian Piero Gasperini, a Europa League winner with Atalanta two years ago — visit Nice and host Lille as well as German Cup winners VfB Stuttgart, who are set to welcome Feyenoord.

The first round of matches in the Europa League will take place on September 24 and 25, with the league phase concluding on January 29.

The top eight clubs in the 36-team competition at the end of the league phase will advance directly to the last 16, with those finishing from ninth to 24th contesting a play-off round for the right to join them.

This season’s Europa League final will take place at the Istanbul home of Besiktas on May 20, 2026. Tottenham Hotspur won the trophy last season, beating Manchester United in the final in Bilbao.

Palace — victors against Fredrikstad of Norway in the play-off round this week — are aiming to follow in the footsteps of Chelsea, who won the Conference League last season.

The first round of matches in the league phase will be played on Thursday, October 2, with the sixth and final matchday set for December 18.

This season’s Conference League final will be staged in Leipzig in Germany on May 27 next year.

Also among the 36 clubs involved in the league phase are Fiorentina — who lost the Conference League final in 2023 and 2024 — Shakhtar Donetsk, Sparta Prague, Rayo Vallecano, Mainz and Aberdeen.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2025