The draw for the Europa League took place today in Monte Carlo.
UEFA's supercomputer determined the pairings for the league, which has 37 clubs for the second season in a row, and ahead of the ceremony, the European Football Federation hired magician Mario Daniel, who ceremoniously sent the balls into history with his performance.
And indeed, this was the first draw in which balls were not used, UEFA announced that they no longer needed them, everything was handled by software that determined the pairings at the press of a button.
And it has been determined that all three Montenegrin football players will play against Red Star in the Europa League - Risto Radunović with FCSB at Marakana and Andrej Đurić and Sead Hakšabanović, members of Malmo, on their home field.
All three will also play against Dinamo Zagreb, with Radunović also playing there - at Maksimir.
Red Star will travel to Portugal twice, for matches against Porto and Braga, will also play away to Sturm and Malmo, and will welcome Lille, Celtic, Celta and FCSB.
So, three former European champions - Porto, Celtic and FCSB, formerly Steaua, are on Red Star's path to the knockout stage.
"We are certainly entering with great ambitions, Red Star's goal is to advance to the knockout stage. Forecasts and estimates are that 11 or 12 points will be needed. The schedule, which will be released tomorrow or the day after, is also important," said Red Star general manager Zvezdan Terzić, who was confident that his team would get through Paphos, but after being eliminated by the Cypriots, he no longer mentioned the Champions League.
Red Star was in the second pot, Dinamo Zagreb in the first, but they didn't have a good time at the draw.
He may even have a tougher road ahead: Betis, Fenerbahce, FCSB and Celta at home, and Lille, Midtjylland, Malmo and Maccabi Tel Aviv away.
The Europa League will be played for the second season in a row in a new format, which was introduced last year. 36 teams will compete, sharing the same table. The eight teams with the most points go directly to the round of 9. Those ranked 24th to XNUMXth will enter the play-offs for a place in the round of XNUMX.
Bonus video:
