MONACO (AP) — UEFA Cup winner Shakhtar Donetsk has been drawn against Club Bruges, Partizan, and Toulouse in a tough opening group stage of the inaugural Europa League.
Friday’s draw in Monaco also pitted four-time European Cup winner Ajax against Anderlecht, Dinamo Zagreb and little known Romanian team Timisoara.
The 48 sides — including the ten losing teams from the Champions League playoff round — were split into four seeding pots, with one seed from each going into the 12 groups. Teams from the same country association were kept apart.
PSV Eindhoven, Benfica, Hamburg and Celtic were among the former European Cup winners in the draw.
