I think I am one of the few people in the blog/media realm that seems to enjoy the Europa League (formerly UEFA Cup). I’ve always looked at it as a great way to get more cultured in European football and see some of the up and coming stars before the big clubs swoop in for them. That said, this competition can be quite long to follow, especially if you try and follow the qualifiers. Thankfully we are at the group stage and the field has been ‘narrowed’ down to 48 clubs from 24 nations.

I won’t do a group-by-group breakdown but I will post a feature on the favourites to win such as last season’s champions Club Atlético de Madrid and the side they beat in the semi-finals last season – Liverpool FC. Others I would rank among the favourites to make it to the late stages are Sevilla FC, Manchester City FC and FC Porto. However, the third-place finishers from the Champions League are parachuted into this competition during the next phase so a re-evaluation of favourites is always necessary.

For now, here are the groupings.

2010/11 UEFA Europa League group stage
Group A Group B
Juventus Club Atlético de Madrid
Manchester City FC Bayer 04 Leverkusen
FC Salzburg Rosenborg BK
KKS Lech Pozna? Aris Thessaloniki FC
Group C Group D
Sporting Clube de Portugal Villarreal CF
LOSC Lille Métropole Club Brugge KV
PFC Levski Sofia NK Dinamo Zagreb
KAA Gent PAOK FC
Group E Group F
AZ Alkmaar PFC CSKA Moskva
FC Dynamo Kyiv US Città di Palermo
FC BATE Borisov AC Sparta Praha
FC Sheriff FC Lausanne-Sport
Group G Group H
FC Zenit St. Petersburg VfB Stuttgart
RSC Anderlecht Getafe CF
AEK Athens FC Odense BK
HNK Hajduk Split BSC Young Boys
Group I Group J
PSV Eindhoven Sevilla FC
UC Sampdoria Paris Saint-Germain FC
FC Metalist Kharkiv BV Borussia Dortmund
Debreceni VSC FC Karpaty Lviv
Group K Group L
Liverpool FC FC Porto
FC Steaua Bucure?ti Be?ikta? JK
SSC Napoli PFC CSKA Sofia
FC Utrecht SK Rapid Wien