Former European champs Ajax and Celtic grouped in Europa League

By foxsports
Published

MONACO --

Former European champions Ajax and Celtic have been grouped together with Fenerbahce and Molde in the Europa League.

Three-time champion Liverpool will play top-seeded Rubin Kazan, plus Bordeaux and Sion.

Tottenham and Anderlecht, the 1984 UEFA Cup finalists, meet again in a group with Monaco and Azerbaijani newcomer Qarabag.

Borussia Dortmund also will travel to Azerbaijan, to face Qabala. The group is completed by PAOK and Krasnodar.

Basel, which hosts the final in May, is reunited with former coach Paulo Sousa, who joined Fiorentina in the offseason. The group includes Lech Poznan and Belenenses.

The 12 groups drawn Friday will start six rounds of matches on Sept. 17.

The top two finishers advance to the last-32 knockout round in February, which includes eight third-placed teams from the Champions League groups.