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On Friday in Nyon (Switzerland) the draws for the first stage of the UEFA Europa League were made, dividing 80 teams into pairs. Last season's cup winners "Sevilla" will start their title defense with a match against European tournament debutants "Atromitos". Marijampolė's "Sūduva", known as the "scourge" of Belgium's "Club Brugge", will face "Ružomberok" from Slovakia. A significantly stronger opponent awaits "FBK Kaunas", who eliminated Denmark's "Randers" and will now face Turkey's powerhouse "Fenerbahce". In the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, despite thrashing Panevėžys' "Ekranas", Croatia's champions Zagreb's "Dinamo" lost to "Auxerre" from France. Edinburgh's "Hearts", led by Lithuanian Valdas Ivanauskas and with five Lithuanian national team players, will face one of the strongest Czech clubs, Prague's "Sparta". This year, eight clubs who have previously won this trophy will compete for the UEFA Europa League. Apart from "Sevilla", these clubs include Amsterdam's "Ajax", Leverkusen's "Bayer", Frankfurt's "Eintracht", Rotterdam's "Feyenoord", "Parma" and "Tottenham". The first matches took place on September 14, with the return legs scheduled for two weeks later. The winners of these pairs will advance to the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. UEFA Europa League first stage pairs Odesa's "Chernomorets" (Ukraine) - Tel Aviv's "Hapoel" (Israel) "Braga" (Portugal) - Verona's "Chievo" (Italy) Tallinn's "Levadia" (Estonia) - "Newcastle" (England) "Molde" (Norway) - Glasgow's "Rangers" (Scotland) Liege's "Standard" (Belgium) - Vigo's "Celta" (Spain) Haifa's "Maccabi" (Israel) - Lovech's "Litex" (Bulgaria) "Derry" (Ireland) - "PSG" (France) Berlin's "Hertha" (Germany) - "Odense" (Denmark) Warsaw's "Legia" (Poland) - Vienna's "Austria" (Austria) Athens' "Panathinaikos" (Greece) - Zaporizhia's "Metalurg" (Ukraine) Moscow's "Lokomotiv" (Russia) - Waregem's "Zulte" (Belgium) Edinburgh's "Hearts" (Scotland) - Prague's "Sparta" (Czech Republic) "Fenerbahce" (Turkey) - "Randers" (Denmark) "Salzburg" (Austria) - "Blackburn" (England) Gelsenkirchen's "Schalke" (Germany) - "Nancy" (France) "Ethnikos Achnas" (Cyprus) - "Lens" (France) Liberec's "Slovan" (Czech Republic) - Belgrade's "Crvena Zvezda" (Serbia) Alkmaar's "AZ" (Netherlands) - "Kayserispor" (Turkey) Kazan's "Rubin" (Russia) - "Parma" (Italy) Frankfurt's "Eintracht" (Germany) - "Brondby" (Denmark) "Atromitos" (Greece) - "Sevilla" (Spain) Istanbul's "Besiktas" (Turkey) - Sofia's "CSKA" (Bulgaria) Setubal's "Vitoria" (Portugal) - "Heerenveen" (Netherlands) "Marseille" (France) - Boleslav's "Mlada" (Czech Republic) "Atvidabergs" (Sweden) - "Grasshoppers" (Switzerland) Bucharest's "Rapid" (Romania) - "Nacional" (Portugal) "Trabzonspor" (Turkey) - Pamplona's "Osasuna" (Spain) "Basel" (Switzerland) - "Rabotnicki" (Macedonia) London's "West Ham" (England) - "Palermo" (Italy) Sofia's "Lokomotiv" (Bulgaria) - Rotterdam's "Feyenoord" (Netherlands) "Ruzomberok" (Slovakia) - "Club Brugge" (Belgium) "Sion" (Switzerland) - Leverkusen's "Bayer" (Germany) Belgrade's "Partizan" (Serbia) - "Groningen" (Netherlands) "Xanthi" (Greece) - Bucharest's "Dinamo" (Romania) Prague's "Slavia" (Czech Republic) - "Tottenham" (England) "Start" (Norway) - Amsterdam's "Ajax" (Netherlands) "Artmedia" (Slovakia) - Barcelona's "Espanyol" (Spain) Krakow's "Wisla" (Poland) - "Iraklis" (Greece) "Livorno" (Italy) - "Pasching" (Austria) Zagreb's "Dinamo" (Croatia) - "Auxerre" (France)
