Dundalk drawn against Arsenal in Europa League group stage

Dundalk can look forward to a trip to London after being paired against Arsenal in the Europa League group phase.

The Irish club secured their place with a victory against the Faroese side KI Klaksvik in the final qualifying round, and will now face Mikel Arteta’s side home and away in Group B. The other two teams in the group are Rapid Vienna of Austria and Molde from Norway.

Celtic and Rangers were drawn against sides with great European pedigree: the former will face the seven-time European Cup winners Milan and the latter will take on the two-time champions of Europe, Benfica.

Celtic, who were Uefa Cup finalists in 2003, will also play the Czech side Sparta Prague and the French club Lille in Group H. Neil Lennon’s side dropped into the Europa League qualifiers after being knocked out of the 2020-21 Champions League by Ferencvaros of Hungary.

Rangers will face Standard Liège of Belgium and the Polish side Lech Poznan in Group D, in addition to the glamour trip to Lisbon. Tottenham, Uefa Cup winners in 1972 and 1984, have been drawn against the Bulgarian side Ludogorets, LASK of Austria and Royal Antwerp from Belgium in Group J. Spurs secured their place in the group phase after a 7-2 victory against the Israeli side Maccabi Haifa on Thursday.

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The final Premier League representatives, Leicester, will take on Braga of Portugal, the Greek side AEK Athens and Zorya Luhansk from Ukraine in Group G.

Before the draw the Internazionale striker Romelu Lukaku was named the best player in the 2019-20 Europa League. The Belgian forward’s goals were crucial to Inter reaching the final, but his own goal proved decisive as Sevilla lifted the trophy in Cologne in August.