The UEFA Europa League Group Stage draw was released on Friday August 28, 2009. There are 12
groups of 4 teams that will play in the group stage starting on September 17th running till
December 17th. Some of the interesting matchups include Celtic and Hamburg in Group C, Villareal
and Lazio in Group G, and Sporting, Heerenveen, and Hertha Berlin in Group D.
The draw for the play-off round of the Europa League was released on Friday as teams will be
looking to advance to the group stage. All three English clubs are still live (Fulham, Aston Villa,
and Everton) as well as last season's winner's Shakhtar Donetsk. German Bundesliga side Hamburg
faces French Cup winners Guingamp, who are actually a Ligue 2 side while Zenit St Petersburg (2008
Champions) CD Nacional of Portugal.
