Manchester United will discover their Europa League fate today, as the draw for the group stage is made in Monaco.
José Mourinho’s men will be in the Europa League group stage for the first time ever after finishing fifth in the Premier League, with their previous participations in the UEFA Cup/Europa League having occurred after finishing third in the Champions League group phase.
United’s high European coefficient means that they will be in Pot 1 for the draw, with the likes of Ajax, Inter Milan and Schalke alongside them.
With 35 potential opponents across the remaining three pots, there are multiple scenarios which United could come across – what would be the best and worst draws for the Reds, for example.
The Reds will also want to take travelling distances into account, as they will not want to travel far to play a European game on Thursday night before returning to England to play a Premier League fixture on Sunday or Monday.
Here are the various scenarios could face in the Europa League draw today:
Best - Saint-Etienne, Zurich, Dundalk
We’ve taken the sides with the lowest European coefficient and it’s a fairly good draw. Saint-Etienne and Zurich don’t exactly have the greatest of European pedigrees, while Irish side Dundalk are perhaps the weakest side in this year’s Europa League, although they did come within a whisker of qualifying for this season’s Champions League!
Worst - Roma, Gent, Panathinaikos
This would be by far the worst draw United could have in this season’s group stage – Roma are a formidable opponent with plenty of European experience, while Gent made the round of 16 of last season’s Champions League, narrowly losing to Wolfsburg.
Greek side Panathinaikos round out the group, with their ability to make their home stadium a fortress a real nightmare for opposing sides.
Shortest distance - AZ, Gent, Dundalk (765 miles)
The draw that would give United the shortest possible travelling distance would be a potentially tricky one, but with the quality of United’s side they would be expected to finish top.
AZ Alkmaar and Gent definitely have the ability to surprise, and we all know what Dundalk can do despite potentially being the worst side in this season’s Europa League.
Longest distance - APOEL, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Astana (7,454 miles)
This draw would give United logistical nightmares, with long midweek trips to Cyprus, Israel and Kazakhstan to face relatively weak sides in APOEL, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Astana.
If this group comes to fruition, expect José Mourinho to rest most of his senior players with the Premier League the priority and send his second string to play in Europe for the first half of the season.