UEFA Europa League draw: Manchester United paired with Real Sociedad

Manchester United will start another season in the Europa League in a group with Real Sociedad Sheriff and Omonoia after the draw was made on FridayMan United which won the Europa League in 2017 and was the beaten finalist two years ago entered the secondtier competition by placing just sixth in the Premier League last seasonIt was unclear Friday if Cristiano Ronaldo will still be at the club for the first round of games on Sept 8 with more speculation linking him to a move from Old Trafford this time with Napoli which is in the Champions League On Thursday Napoli was drawn in the same group as LiverpoolThe draw brings United facetoface again with longtime Manchester City favorite David Silva who returned to Spain to play for Sociedad and two of the longest journeys to away games in the draw to Moldova and CyprusArsenals fifth Europa League campaign in six seasons will be in a group with PSV Eindhoven coached by former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy BodoslashGlimt and ZuumlrichDynamo Kyiv of Ukraine which will play its home games in neighboring Poland will face Rennes Fenerbahccedile and AEK LarnacaThe Europa League starts early this season on Sept 8 and ends more than one month sooner than usual on Nov 3 That is because of the World Cup in Qatar which starts Nov 20Also Read Heres how La Ligarsquos Economic Control and Squad Cost Limit workThe six rounds of groupstage games span just eight full weeks before a midwinter break until the knockout playoffs round starts Feb 16Group winners advance direct to the round of 16 in March and runnersup go to the knockout playoffs with the eight teams switching across from the Champions League after finishing third in a group thereThe Europa League final is on May 31 at the 65000capacity Puskaacutes Areacutena in Budapest HungaryThirdplace teams in Europa League groups in November move to the knockout playoffs in the thirdtier Europa Conference LeagueEuropa League teams share about 465 million euros 466 million in UEFA prize moneyEach team gets a basic fee of 363 million euros 363 million plus 630000 euros per win and 210000 euros for each draw in the group stage Payments increase for advancing through each knockout roundA team starting in the Europa group stage and eventually winning the title can earn about 40 million euros 40 million in UEFA prize money Thats about onethird of expected earnings in Champions League prize moneyGROUP A Arsenal England PSV Eindhoven Netherlands BodoslashGlimt Norway Zuumlrich SwitzerlandGROUP B Dynamo Kyiv Ukraine Rennes France Fenerbahccedile Turkey AEK Larnaca CyprusGROUP C Roma Italy Ludogorets Bulgaria Real Betis Spain HJK Helsinki FinlandGROUP D Braga Portugal Malmouml Sweden Union Berlin Germany Union SaintGilloise BelgiumGROUP E Manchester United England Real Sociedad Spain Sheriff Moldova Omonoia CyprusGROUP F Lazio Italy Feyenoord Netherlands Midtjylland Denmark Sturm Graz AustriaGROUP G Olympiakos Greece Qarabag Azerbaijan Freiburg Germany Nantes FranceGROUP H Red Star Belgrade Serbia Monaco France Ferencvaacuteros Hungary Trabzonspor TurkeyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever