The Europa League group stage and the round of 32 stage has just commenced. This year's edition features Premier League giants Chelsea and Arsenal as frontrunners to win the competition.
Goal brings you all the details of this year's Europa League campaign including teams, results and more.
Favourites to win Europa League 2018-19
FA Cup winners Chelsea are heavy favourites to win a second Europa League this season (priced at 4/1 according to bet365 ) after a surprise fifth-placed finish in the Premier League, which meant that they failed to qualify for the more esteemed Champions League.
Maurizio Sarri's first full season in charge of the Blues will be a pressure-riddled one as he will be expected to return the west London side to the top-tier of European football, preferably through finishing in the Premier League top four or by winning the Europa League.
A new-look Arsenal featuring Unai Emery are also among the favourites to win the competition, priced at 11/2 to win. The Gunners were expected to win the competition last year but fell short to eventual champions Atletico Madrid, and Emery – like Sarri – is expected to attain Champions League season for the following campaign.
Europa League 2018-19 outsiders
Sevilla are priced at 10/1 to win the competition after winning the competition a record five times, last winning it in 2016 at the expense of Liverpool in the final.
Sevilla finished disappointingly in seventh place in La Liga though are a strong force in Europe – eliminating Manchester United in the last 16 round of the Champions League last season as well as holding Liverpool to a 3-3 draw after being three goals down at half-time.
Napoli have odds of 8/1 to win the Europa League after narrowly failing to progress to the group stage following a 1-0 loss to Liverpool at Anfield in the final fixture.
At one point, the Italians looked poised to finish as group-winners in a supremely competitive Group C, but Liverpool managed to safely secure their spot in the knockout phases alongside Paris Saint-Germain.
The likes of Inter are priced at 25/1 to win the tournament after also dropping down from the Champions League after a draw with PSV meant that Tottenham Hotspur took up the final spot in the group.
Benfica (33/1) , Bayer Leverkusen (25/1) , Betis (25/1), Salzburg (25/1) and Valencia (20/1) are all considered outsiders as well.
Europa League 2018-19 underdogs
Celtic are considered serious long shots at 66/1 , while Dynamo Kiev's chances are are also at 66/1 .
The Scottish side managed to progress to the last 32 stage despite losing their final group fixture 2-1 to Salzburg, as RB Leipzig finished in a 1-1 stalemate to Rosenborg in the other Group B fixture.
French side Rennes have odds of 100/1 to emerge as tournament winners.
Fenerbahce , meanwhile, are rated 100/1 to win the tournament, with Slavia Prague also in with a slim chance of emerging tournament winners as they are priced 125/1 to win.
Europa League 2018-19 - group stage fixtures & results
Europa League 2018-19 - Route to Final
The final of this year's Europa League will take place on May 29 at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan.
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary | Preliminary round | Jun 12 | Jun 28 | Jul 5 |
| Qualifying | First qualifying round, second qualifying round, third qualifying round | Jun 19, 20, Jul 23 | Jul 12 | Jul 19 |
| Play-off | Play-off round | Aug 6 | Aug 23 | Aug 30 |
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | Aug 31 | Sept 20 | Sept 20 |
| Group stage | Matchday 2 | Aug 31 | Oct 4 | Oct 4 |
| Group stage | Matchday 3 | Aug 31 | Oct 25 | Oct 25 |
| Group stage | Matchday 4 | Aug 31 | Nov 8 | Nov 8 |
| Group stage | Matchday 5 | Aug 31 | Nov 29 | Nov 29 |
| Group stage | Matchday 6 | Aug 31 | Dec 13 | Dec 13 |
| Knockout phase | Round of 32 | Dec 17 | Feb 14 | Feb 21 |
| Knockout phase | Round of 16 | Feb 22 | Mar 7 | Mar 14 |
| Knockout phase | Quarter-finals | Mar 15 | Apr 11 | Apr 18 |
| Knockout phase | Semi-finals | Apr 19 | May 2 | May 9 |
| Knockout phase | Final | May 19 | May 29 | / |
