Tottenham face Turkey trip as Everton drawn in tough group

Tottenham will be looking to replicate local rivals Arsenal’s recent success against Besiktas after being paired with the Turkish side in Group C of the Europa League.

The Gunners edged past Besiktas over two legs in the Champions Leagiue play-offs, with Slaven Bilic’s side dropping down to become top seeds in the secondary competition where they face a return to North London.

Also on the agenda for Mauricio Pochettino’s side are trips to Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade and Greek side Asteras.

Everton, coming from pot three at the draw in Monaco, have a tough draw in Group H, where they play a Lille side spearheaded by on-loan Liverpool striker Divock Origi and Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg as well as a tricky journey to Russia’s Krasnodar.

Scottish champions Celtic avoided meeting Legia Warsaw, the side who they controversially beat in Champions League qualifying due to a technicality, and take the second seed in Group D alongside Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb and Astra Giurgiu.

The draw for the UEFA Europa League Group Stage is as follows:

Group A

Villarreal Borussia M’gladbach FC Zurich Apollon Limassol

Group B

FC Copenhagen Club Brugge Torino HJK Helsinki

Group C

Tottenham Hotspur Besiktas Partizan Belgrade Asteras Tripoli

Group D

SV Red Bull Salzburg Celtic Dinamo Zagreb FC Astra Giurgiu

Group E

PSV Panathinaikos Estoril Praia Dynamo Moscow

Group F

Inter Milan Dnipro St Etienne FK Karabakh

Group G

Sevilla Standard Liege Feyenoord Rijeka

Group H

Lille Wolfsburg Everton Krasnodar

Group I

Napoli Sparta Prague Young Boys Slovan Bratislava

Group J

Dynamo Kiev Steaua Bucuresti Rio Ave AaB

Group K

Fiorentina PAOK Salonika Guingamp Dinamo Minsk

Group L

FC Metalist Kharkiv Tranzonspor Legia Warsaw Lokeren