[UEL] Tricky ties for Italian trio

The three Italian clubs in the inaugural UEFA Europa League have been handed tricky draws for the group stage of the competition.

Roma face Swiss club Basel, English outfit Fulham and CSKA Sofia of Bulgaria in Group E, while city rivals Lazio are in Group G, along with Spanish side Villarreal, Austria's Salzburg and the other half of the Bulgarian capital, Levski Sofia.

Genoa meet Spanish giants Valencia, French club Lille and Slavia Prague of the Czech Republic in Group B.

Gian Piero Gasperini's Genoa defeated Danish side Odense 4-2 on aggregate to reach the group stage, while Davide Ballardini's Lazio beat Sweden's Elfsborg 3-1 and Luciano Spalletti's Roma eased past Slovakian club Kosice 10-4 in the play-off round on Thursday.

There are 48 teams at this stage of the competition, split into 12 groups of four, with the top two qualifying for the Round of 32. They will be joined at that stage by the eight teams that finish third in their UEFA Champions League group.

The first round of matches are scheduled for Thursday 17 September, with fixtures continuing on 1 October, 22 October, 5 November, 2/3 December, and 16/17 December.

The final will take place in Hamburg, on Wednesday 12 May, 2010.

Shakhtar Donetsk, who triumphed in the last ever UEFA Cup in May, will be aiming to become the first team to win the competition in its new format.

Meanwhile, UEFA is to experiment during the group stages with having two extra assistant referees per match in an attempt to combat simulation by players to win penalties, and to help resolve other issues such as infringements and to determine whether the ball has crossed the goal-line when there is doubt.

UEFA Europa League 2009-10
Group Stage Draw
Group A: Ajax, Anderlecht, Dinamo Zagreb, Timisoara.
Group B: Valencia, Lille, Slavia Prague, Genoa.
Group C: Hamburg, Celtic, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Rapid Vienna.
Group D: Sporting Lisbon, Heerenveen, Hertha Berlin, Ventspils.
Group E: Roma, Basel, Fulham, CSKA Sofia.
Group F: Panathinaikos, Galatasaray, Dinamo Bucharest, Sturm Graz.
Group G: Villarreal, Lazio, Levski Sofia, Salzburg.
Group H: Steaua Bucharest, Fenerbahce, Twente, Sheriff.
Group I: Benfica, Everton, AEK Athens, BATE Borisov.
Group J: Shakhtar Donetsk, Club Brugge, Partizan Belgrade, Toulouse.
Group K: PSV Eindhoven, Copenhagen, Sparta Prague, Cluj.
Group L: Werder Bremen, Austria Vienna, Athletic Bilbao, Nacional.

[Fixtures]

Source: UEFA