Following on from the return of Champions League football is this season’s Europa League, with the group stages getting underway on Thursday featuring a host of exciting sides.
There are two English and two Scottish clubs in the tournament this year, those being West Ham, Leicester City, Celtic and Rangers.
Hammers start with away trip in Zagreb
The Hammers make their first appearance in the competition for the first time since 2016, facing Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb in Group H.
David Moyes’ team are expected to lean heavily on the likes of Pablo Fornals and Michail Antonio, but the new additions of Alex Kral and Nicola Vlasic will provide them some much needed depth for their return to European football.
Rapid Vienna and Genk are the other two sides in the group and will go head to head on Thursday evening.
Leicester have a tricky match against Napoli
For Leicester, it’s their second consecutive season in the Europa League and they kick off their campaign against Napoli in Group C.
The Foxes should be favourites to top the group along with their Italian opponents, with fellow group members Spartak Moscow and Legia Warsaw boasting squads of much lower quality.
Rangers looking to improve on last season’s cup run
It’s a similar story for Rangers, who reached the round of 16 of the competition last season and will be hoping to go further this time.
Steven Gerrard’s team open their campaign against French side Lyon, who themselves will be looking to go far in the tournament.
Brondby IF and Sparta Prague face off in the other Group A fixture with the chance to pick up valuable points early in the group stages.
Celtic back in the Europa League again!
The remaining Scottish club, Celtic, travel to Real Betis as they appear in the competition for the fifth season running.
After finishing bottom of their group last season and failing in their domestic league, Celtic have to improve this time around in another difficult group.
Best of the rest
Bayer Leverkusen are favourites to advance and they welcome Ferencvarosi in the other Group G fixture.
Elsewhere, there are some huge European clubs featuring in the other groups including the likes of Lazio, Monaco and PSV.
Lazio are part of a very tricky Group E, travelling to Galatasaray on Thursday night.
The Italian club reached the round of 16 in the Champions League last season and will be looking to do well in the Europa League this time around.
French giants Marseille take on Lokomotiv Moscow in the other match in the group.
Fellow French side, Monaco, host Austrian club SK Strum Graz in Group B – another set of four teams that looks to be tightly contested.
PSV and Real Sociedad take up the other two spots in the group, both with good chances of progressing to the round of 32.
The other games on Thursday night include Eintracht Frankfurt against Fenerbahce and Olympiakos playing Royal Antwerp in Group D, and Red Star Belgrade vs Braga along with FC Midtjylland facing Ludogorets in Group F.
