Villa host Bologna, Roma visit Scottish pair in Europa League

Friday, 29 August 2025 18:22

By Reuters

Aston Villa will host Coppa Italia winners Bologna and visit Feyenoord in the Europa League opening stage, while Scottish sides Celtic and Rangers will both welcome AS Roma.

Friday's draw also set up a clash between Nottingham Forest and Porto.

Forest, who last played in Europe in 1995-96, also face Sweden's Malmo, who they beat in the European Cup final in 1979.

The draw, which split the 36 participating clubs into four pots based on UEFA's club coefficient ranking, sorted out eight league phase matches for each team, four at home and four on the road, with two opponents drawn from each pot.

The top eight teams in the league table advance directly to the round of 16. The next 16 teams in the standings play in two-legged knockout playoffs in a bid to join the leading eight.

FA Cup winners Crystal Palace, who were demoted from the Europa League in a multi-club ownership case that also involved Olympique Lyonnais, are set to host Strasbourg and visit Dynamo Kyiv in the third-tier Conference League.

Ligue 1 side Lyon, who were allowed to play in the Europa League by UEFA, will host RB Salzburg and visit Real Betis.

Roma visit Nice and host Lille as well as German Cup winners VfB Stuttgart, who are set to welcome Feyenoord.

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