Europa League group stage draw: Date, UK start time, live stream and talkSPORT coverage as Manchester United and Arsenal discover fate

Manchester United and Arsenal will learn their Europa League group stage opponents next week as the road to Budapest starts in earnest.

Eintracht Frankfurt edged out Rangers on penalties in a dramatic final last season to book their spot in the Champions League.

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Scottish giants Rangers could still join them among Europe’s elite but first they will have to navigate their way through the play-offs.

Should they fall to PSV at the final stage then they will be back in the Europa League to hopefully embark upon another cup adventure.

Joining them will be the Premier League’s representatives United and Arsenal – who both had aspirations of playing in the Champions League.

West Ham narrowly missed out on the chance to better their semi-final run last season after their seventh-placed domestic finish.

Europa League draw: Date and how to follow

The draw for the group stage of this season’s tournament will be held on Friday 26 August.

It will start at 12pm UK time and is being held in Istanbul, Turkey – the location of the 2023 Champions League final.

talkSPORT will have full coverage of the draw while talkSPORT.com will also be running a live blog to cover all the action as it happens.

UEFA will provide a free live stream on their official website and BT Sport will be showing coverage too.

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Europa League: Teams involved

Nantes, Union Saint-Gilloise and Union Berlin are all making their debut appearances in the tournament’s group stage.

There will be 32 teams participating and at the time of writing there are 16 confirmed, with the rest following after the qualifying rounds.

• Manchester United (ENG)
• Arsenal (ENG)
• Roma (ITA)
• Lazio (ITA)
• Braga (POR)
• Feyenoord (NED)
• Rennes (FRA)
• Real Sociedad (ESP)
• Monaco (FRA)
• Real Betis (ESP)
• Midtjylland (DEN)
• Union Berlin (GER)
• Freiburg (GER)
• Nantes (FRA)
• Sturm Graz (AUT)
• Union Saint-Gilloise (BEL)

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Europa League draw: Who can play who?

As is the case with all UEFA competitions, teams from the same association cannot be drawn into the same group at this stage.

Therefore, United and Arsenal will not be facing each other in the Europa League until 2023 at the earliest provided they both go through.

Teams may also be separated due to political reasons and this will be confirmed before the draw begins.

Europa League draw: What are the key dates?

• Matchday 1: 8 September 2022
• Matchday 2: 15 September 2022
• Matchday 3: 6 October 2022
• Matchday 4: 13 October 2022
• Matchday 5: 27 October 2022
• Matchday 6: 3 November 2022
• Knockout round play-offs: 16 & 23 February
• Round of 16: 9 & 16 March 2023
• Quarter-finals: 13 & 20 April 2023
• Semi-finals: 11 & 18 May 2023
• Final: 31 May 2023