Brighton & Hove Albion will meet two former Champions League winners in Ajax and Marseille in the group stage of the 2023-24 Europa League.
The Seagulls qualified for Europe's secondary tournament for the first time courtesy of a sixth-placed Premier League finish last year and have been rewarded with glamour ties against two revered continental sides.
Four-time European Cup winners and one-time UEFA Cup champions Ajax will test the mettle of Roberto De Zerbi's side, as will Marseille, who were most recently runners-up in the Europa League in the 2017-18 season.
Joining Brighton, Ajax and Marseille in a mouthwatering Group B will be Greek champions AEK Athens, who dropped down to the Europa League via their defeat to Royal Antwerp in the Champions League playoff round.
Meanwhile, Liverpool's return to the Europa League sees Jurgen Klopp's men pit their wits against French outfit Toulouse, who qualified via winning last season's Coupe de France, thrashing Nantes 5-1 in the final.
Also in Group E alongside the Reds is Austrian outfit LASK Linz, as well as Belgian upstarts Union SG, who reached last year's quarter-finals and defeated Lugano in the playoff round earlier this summer.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, Europa Conference League holders West Ham United - the first team out of the pot into Group A - will reunite with Olympiacos 58 years on from beating the Greek giants in the last 16 of the European Cup Winners' Cup.
Bundesliga outfit Freiburg have also been drawn against West Ham and Olympiacos, as have tournament debutants Backa Topola, who finished second in the 2022-23 Serbian SuperLiga and were knocked out of Champions League qualifying by Braga.
Another team to drop down from Europe's elite competition were Rangers, who were thrashed by PSV Eindhoven in the playoff stage but can now look forward to an intriguing tie with Spanish giants Real Betis.
Sparta Prague - who Rangers met in the 2021-22 Europa League group stage - also lie in wait for Michael Beale's side, whose section is completed by Cypriot playoff winners Aris Limassol.
Elsewhere, Atalanta BC and Sporting Lisbon will square off in a tantalising Group D showdown, while last season's beaten finalists Roma meet Slavia Prague, Sheriff Tiraspol and Servette in Group G.
EUROPA LEAGUE GROUP STAGE DRAW IN FULL:
GROUP A: West Ham United, Olympiacos, Freiburg, Backa Topola
GROUP B: Ajax, Marseille, Brighton & Hove Albion, AEK Athens
GROUP C: Rangers, Real Betis, Sparta Prague, Aris Limassol
GROUP D: Atalanta BC, Sporting Lisbon, Sturm Graz, Rakow Czestochowa
GROUP E: Liverpool, LASK Linz, Union SG, Toulouse
GROUP F: Villarreal, Rennes, Maccabi Haifa, Panathinaikos
GROUP G: Roma, Slavia Prague, Sheriff Tiraspol, Servette
GROUP H: Bayer Leverkusen, Qarabag, Molde, Hacken
Ben Knapton
