In addition to Malmö, Slavia will play home games against Ajax Amsterdam, Fenerbahce Istanbul and Anderlecht. The Brussels club will also host Viktoria, which, in addition to United, will also welcome San Sebastian and Ludogorets.
The Red and Whites will play away from home against the team from Razgrad and, like the West Bohemians, they will play at the Frankfurt, PAOK Thessaloniki and Bilbao stadiums. Viktoria will challenge Dynamo Kyiv in its home asylum on neutral ground in the remaining game on the opponent’s fields.
Among the 11 opponents of Slavia and Pilsen in the autumn main stage, there is no team with a Czech legionnaire. The Red and Whites featured in the best of four performance baskets and the computer soon assigned them all eight opponents in Monaco under the new draw system.
The match with Malmö will be interesting for Slavia, which a few days ago failed in the final 4th preliminary round of the Champions League after two 0:2 defeats against Prague’s rival Sparta. For the second season in a row, the red and whites will face coach Mourinho’s team, the new head of Fenerbahce. They met the 61-year-old Portuguese last fall during a 0:2 away defeat and a home victory by the same ratio over AS Roma, but the famous coach was sitting on the bench because of a disciplinary penalty.
“We all wanted to get Manchester United here, unfortunately it didn’t work out. Otherwise, the teams are diverse and very interesting. There’s the giant Ajax Amsterdam, that’s such a big opponent that we wanted to get here. Anderlecht Brussels, where he played (leader of ) Standa Vlček. Fenerbahce with José Mourinho and great players like Džeko,” said Slavia coach Jindřich Trpišovský.
“Outdoor matches in large-capacity stadiums… We have the champions of their countries as well as teams that play in advanced leagues. An interesting group from the spectator’s point of view,” he added.
Plzeňský Koubek’s wish to bring the famous Manchester United to the Doosan Arena came true. The one-time Champions League winners dominated the Europa League in 2017, but have experienced a weaker spell in recent years. In the last season of the Premier League, they occupied the eighth place.
Last year, Sparta played with the common rival of Viktoria and Slavia Bilbao in the group and had a record of a 3:1 home win and an away goalless draw. Due to Russia’s war with Ukraine, Dynamo Kyiv has to take home asylum on neutral ground forever, in the 4th preliminary round of the Champions League they hosted Salzburg in Lublin, Poland.
The main phase of the Europa League will start on September 25 and 26 and culminate with the final eight round on January 30. The final will take place on May 21 in Bilbao.
From this season, all UEFA club competitions, including the Europa League, will be played in a league system with a common table and also with 36 teams instead of the previous 32. No opponents will play twice in the main stage, 24 teams will advance, of which the best eight will go directly to the round of 16. Unlike previous seasons, it will no longer “fall” into the spring elimination part of lower competitions.
Slavia moved to the main stage of the Europa League after losing to Lille in the final 4th preliminary round of the Champions League. The red and whites will play the basic part of UEFA’s second best club competition for the second time in a row, last year they reached the round of 16.
Pilsen qualified for the main stage through two preliminary rounds and procedures through Kryvbas Kryvyj Rih and Heart of Midlothian. In the basic or group part of the competition, Viktoria will appear for the fifth time and for the first time since the 2017/18 season. Last year, coach Miroslav Koubek’s team advanced to the quarter-finals of the Conference League.
