Europa League draw: Liverpool face tough group, Tottenham in ‘group worthy of Champions League’

Five-time European champions Liverpool face a stern test of their continental experience after drawing former French champions Bordeaux and Russia’s Rubin Kazan in the Uefa Europa League group stages.

Brendan Rodgers’ Premier League side will also take on Sion of Switzerland after 12 groups of four teams were arranged in the draw in Monaco on Friday.

Liverpool won the Uefa Cup, the former version of the Europa League, three times -- in 1973, 1976 and 2001. This time they will face Bordeaux for only the second time after defeating the Ligue 1 side home and away in the 2006/07 Champions League group stages.

Bordeaux came closest to European glory in 1996 when they lost the Uefa Cup final 5-1 on aggregate against a Bayern Munich side coached by Franz Beckenbauer. Rubin Kazan reached the Europa League quarter-finals in 2013 when they were beaten by eventual winners Chelsea.

Poll: Which Premier League club has the easiest Uefa Champions League group?

In the other groups, Tottenham, who lifted the trophy in 1984, were drawn with last season’s Uefa Champions League quarter-finalists Monaco, experienced Belgian side Anderlecht and Qarabag of Azerbaijan.

“Tottenham and Anderlecht are top teams and then we will also discover Qarabag,” said Monaco vice president Vadim Vasilyev.

“It’s a group worthy of the Champions League. It’s a good answer to all of those who claim the Europa League is inferior.

“Our goal is to make it through the group, which won’t be easy. I’ve already said we are going to go flat out in the Europa League even if it won’t be easy, but it’s a wonderful competition and we are proud to be playing in Europe for the second straight season.”

Holders Sevilla qualified for the Champions League after winning the trophy for a record fourth time last season and were absent from the draw.

Scotland’s Celtic, who fell at the final Champions League qualifying hurdle, find themselves in a tough Group A that includes Amsterdam club Ajax, Turkey’s big-spending Fenerbahce and Norwegian champions Molde.

Borussia Dortmund, who set an attendance record for a Europa League play-off match on Thursday when 64,200 fans saw them thrash Norway’s Odds BK 7-2, for an 11-5 aggregate victory, will take on PAOK of Greece, Russia’s Krasnodar and Qabala of Azerbaijan.

Last season’s finalists, FC Dnipro ,of Ukraine are in a tough foursome featuring Italian club Lazio, France’s Saint-Etienne and Norwegian side Rosenborg.

GROUPS

Group A: Ajax (NED), Celtic (SCO), Fenerbahce (TUR), Molde (NOR)

Group B: Rubin Kazan (RUS), Liverpool (ENG), Bordeaux (FRA), Sion (SUI)

Group C: Borussia Dortmund (GER), PAOK (GRE), Krasnodar (RUS), Qabala (AZE)

Group D: Napoli (ITA), Club Brugge (BEL), Legia Warsaw (POL), Midjtylland (DEN)

Group E: Villarreal (ESP), Viktoria Plzen (CZE), Rapid Vienna (AUT), Dinamo Minsk (BLR)

Group F: Marseille (FRA), Sporting Braga (POR), Slovan Liberec (CZE), Groningen (NED)

Group G: Dnipropetrovsk (UKR), Lazio (ITA), Saint-Etienne (FRA), Rosenborg (NOR)

Group H: Sporting Lisbon (POR), Besiktas (TUR), Lokomotiv Moscow (RUS), Skenderbeu (ALB)

Group I: Basel (SUI), Fiorentina (ITA), Lech Poznan (POL), Belenenses (POR)

Group J: Tottenham (ENG), Anderlecht (BEL), Monaco (FRA), Qarabag (AZE)

Group K: Schalke 04 (GER), Apoel Nicosia (CYP), Sparta Prague (CZE), Asteras Tripolis (GRE)

Group L: Athletic Bilbao (ESP), AZ Alkmaar (NED), Augsburg (GER), Partizan Belgrade (SRB)

Note: The group phase will be played from September 17 to December 10 with the top two from each group reaching the knockout rounds, where they will be joined by the eight teams that finished third in their Champions League groups.

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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013

WHEN TO GO:

September to November or March to May; this is when visitors are most likely to see what they’ve come for.

WHERE TO STAY:

Meghauli Serai, A Taj Safari - Chitwan National Park resort (tajhotels.com) is a one-hour drive from Bharatpur Airport with stays costing from Dh1,396 per night, including taxes and breakfast. Return airport transfers cost from Dh661.

HOW TO GET THERE:

Etihad Airways regularly flies from Abu Dhabi to Kathmandu from around Dh1,500 per person return, including taxes. Buddha Air (buddhaair.com) and Yeti Airlines (yetiairlines.com) fly from Kathmandu to Bharatpur several times a day from about Dh660 return and the flight takes just 20 minutes. Driving is possible but the roads are hilly which means it will take you five or six hours to travel 148 kilometres.

Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

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