Atletico Madrid, who lifted the Europa League trophy last year, will face Udinese of Italy, Stade Rennais of France and either FC Sion or Celtic in the group stage of this season’s competition, following yesterday’s draw.
Although Swiss club Sion were placed in the group, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino took the unusual step of announcing before the draw started that Sion were only included provisionally because of a Celtic protest over ineligible players.
APPEAL
Earlier, he told reporters that an appeals procedure was going ahead and that the situation was pending, with a decision to be taken on whether Sion were kicked out or not before the competition begins on Sept.15.
Sion defeated Celtic in the playoffs, leaving Scotland without a club in European competition this season, but Celtic could yet be reprieved.
With last season’s winners Porto in the Champions League this season, defeated finalists SC Braga will be hoping for a repeat in reaching the final and will play Club Bruges, Birmingham City, back in Europe for the first time in 50 years, and Maribor.
Two Romanian clubs will be hoping to reach this season’s final in their capital city of Bucharest, with former European champions Steaua Bucharest drawn against former UEFA Cup winners Schalke 04, Maccabi Haifa and AEK Larnaca.
Rapid Bucharest will play former European champions PSV Eindhoven, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Legia Warsaw.
Vaslui, the third Romanian club in the competition, will face 2005 runners-up Sporting of Portugal, SS Lazio and Zurich.
ROVERS IN
While there were no Scottish clubs in the draw, there was a first for Ireland with Shamrock Rovers, who defeated 1966 European Cup finalists Partizan Belgrade in a playoff on Thursday, the first Irish side to make it to the group stage.
They were drawn with Tottenham Hotspur, UEFA Cup winners in 1972 and 1984, Rubin Kazan of Russia and PAOK Salonica of Greece, with the Spurs tie the highlight for the Dublin-based club, where Tottenham along with many other English clubs have a large fan-base.
As well as Spurs and Birmingham, Fulham, the 2009-2010 runners-up to Atletico, are back and will face Twente, a trip home for their Dutch coach Martin Jol, Odense and Wislaw Krakow.
Stoke City, in the Europa League for the first time, play Dynamo Kiev, Besiktas and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
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