Fenerbahçe striker Robin van Persie will face former sides Manchester United and Feyenoord this autumn after the draw was made for the UEFA Europa League group stage.
2016/17 UEFA Europa League group stage draw
Group A: Manchester United (ENG), Fenerbahçe (TUR), Feyenoord (NED), Zorya Luhansk (UKR)
Group B: Olympiacos (GRE), APOEL (CYP), Young Boys (SUI), Astana (KAZ)
Group C: Anderlecht (BEL), St-Étienne (FRA), Mainz (GER), Qarabağ (AZE)
Group D: Zenit (RUS), AZ Alkmaar (NED), Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR), Dundalk (IRL)
Group E: Viktoria Plzeň (CZE), Roma (ITA), Austria Wien (AUT), Astra Giurgiu (ROU)
Group F: Athletic Club (ESP), Genk (BEL), Rapid Wien (AUT), Sassuolo (ITA)
Group G: Ajax (NED), Standard Liège (BEL), Celta Vigo (ESP), Panathinaikos (GRE)
Group H: Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR), Braga (POR), Gent (BEL), Konyaspor (TUR)
Group I: Schalke (GER), Salzburg (AUT), Krasnodar (RUS), Nice (FRA)
Group J: Fiorentina (ITA), PAOK (GRE), Slovan Liberec (CZE), Qäbälä (AZE)
Group K: Internazionale Milano (ITA), Sparta Praha (CZE), Southampton (ENG), Hapoel Beer-Sheva (ISR)
Group L: Villarreal (ESP), Steaua Bucureşti (ROU), Zürich (SUI), Osmanlıspor (TUR)
When are the group stage games?
Matchday one: 15/09/16
Matchday two: 29/09/16
Matchday three: 20/10/16
Matchday four: 03/11/16
Matchday five: 24/11/16
Matchday six: 08/12/16
- 2016/17 UEFA Europa League calendar
- In Group A, Fenerbahçe forward Robin van Persie meets two of his three former teams, Manchester United and Feyenoord.
- Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick against Fenerbahçe on his Manchester United and UEFA Champions League debut in 2004.
- Dirk Kuyt, now 36, spent three seasons at Fenerbahçe before joining Feyenoord last summer. He previously spent six seasons at United rivals Liverpool, scoring a hat-trick against them in a 3-1 Premier League win in March 2011.
- Shakhtar defeated Braga 6-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals of last season’s competition.
- Ajax lifted the first of their four European Cups by beating Panathinaikos 2-0 in the 1971 final. The Amsterdam outfit also ousted the Greens in the 1996 UEFA Champions League semis, Jari Litmanen netting twice in a 3-0 second-leg success in Athens.
- Fiorentina took four points from their two matches against PAOK in the 2014/15 group stage, winning 1-0 in Greece and drawing 1-1 at home.
- Group B is composed of four domestic champions.
- Both sides won their home fixture when Villarreal and Zürich went head-to-head in the 2014/15 group stage.
Where is the final?
The Friends Arena in Solna, near the Swedish capital Stockholm, which opened on 14 November 2012 with a friendly between Sweden and England. Named after an anti-bullying campaign, it is the successor to the nearby Råsunda as the national stadium. It is also the home of the Swedish national team and club side AIK Solna.
UEFA.com
