KRASNODAR, STANDARD LIEGE AND AKHISARSPOR: OUR OPPONENTS IN THE EUROPA LEAGUE

The groups have been drawn and Sevilla know the names of their three opponents in the Europa League Group Stage. Pablo Machín's team has been drawn in Group J against FK Krasnodar of Russia, Standard Liege of Belgium, and Akhisar Belediyespor of Turkey. The Russian team qualified directly for the group stages after finishing in fourth position in the Russian league. They are currently in sixth position after five matches.

Akhisar Belediyespor have landed in the group stages as a result of winning the Turkish Cup, their first official trophy in their history. The Turkish team are also entering their first ever continental competition. Last season they finished eleventh and they are currently in second-last position after gaining one point out of nine.

The last team is more well known by Sevilla fans - Standard Liege, against whom they came up in the 14/15 Europa League. Standard finished sixth in their league last year but won a spot to the Champions League through a play-off. However, they failed to beat Ajax in the Third Qualifying Round and they dropped into the Europa League. They are currently fourth in the current season after five games.

Regarding the dates, the first match will be at home against Standard at 18:55 CEST on Thursday 20 September, before travelling to Krasnodar on 4 October at 21:00 CEST. The matches against the Turkish team will be at home on 25 October at 21:00 CEST and away on 8 November at 18:55 CEST, before playing in Belgium on 29 November and finishing the campaign against the Russians on 13 December at 18:55 CEST.

During Quincy Promes' press conference, our Director of Football, Joaquín Caparrós, made sure to value the group: 'We respect every team, when they play in Europe they try their hardest. But we are the kings of this competition and we are happy because we've qualified yet again. We know how hard it is to play in Turkey, the climate in Russia and Standard´s quality, who are a constant fixture in Europe. We are the favourites for what we've achieved and we embrace that.