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Europa League draw sets up rematch of 2 European Cup finals, Maccabi trips to Germany

AS Roma, FC Porto, Rangers, Aston Villa, Feyenoord, Lille, GNK Dinamo Zagreb, Real Betis and RB Salzburg fixtures are displayed on a screen after being drawn during the UEFA Europa draw Soccer Football — UEFA Europa and Conference League Draw — Grimaldi Forum, Monaco — Aug. 29, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 29 August 2025
AP
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Europa League draw sets up rematch of 2 European Cup finals, Maccabi trips to Germany

  • Roma will have two trips to Glasgow to play fierce Glasgow rivals Celtic and Rangers
  • Villa’s slate of opponents includes a trip to Fenerbahce
Updated 29 August 2025
AP

MONACO: The Europa League draw on Friday set up two rematches of European Cup finals and two games in Germany for Israeli club Maccabi Tel-Aviv.

Feyenoord, the 1970 champion of Europe, will host Celtic in one of their league phase games and Nottingham Forest will have a home game against Swedish side Malmo, which were a semi-professional team in 1979 when they lost the European Cup title match to the English club.

Maccabi Tel-Aviv got away games in Germany against Stuttgart and Freiburg, and also will travel to play Aston Villa — in Birmingham, England — and PAOK in Greece.

Israeli clubs have been playing UEFA-organized games in neutral countries for security reasons during the conflict in Gaza, and Maccabi Tel-Aviv have hosted European games this season in Backa Topola, Serbia.

Maccabi Tel-Aviv’s home games are against Dinamo Zagreb, Lyon, Midtjylland and Bologna.

Roma — whose coach Gian Piero Gasperini won the Europa League with Atalanta two season ago — will have two trips to Glasgow to play fierce Glasgow rivals Celtic and Rangers among their eight opponents.

The Europa League uses the same 36-team league format as the Champions League. Teams play eight different opponents during the league phase and are ranked in a single-standings table.

Villa were one of 11 teams in Friday’s draw that played in the Champions League last season, though their coach Unai Emery is a four-time Europa League winner: three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal.

Villa’s slate of opponents includes a trip to Fenerbahce, which parted ways with coach Jose Mourinho earlier Friday.

Forest are in the second-tier Europa League instead of Crystal Palace, the English FA Cup winner which was demoted by UEFA in a complex case relating to owners having stakes in multiple clubs. Palace will play in the Conference League instead.

Forest and their Portuguese coach Nuno Espirito Santo will play two opponents from Portugal, at home to Porto and away to Braga.

The top eight teams go directly to the round of 16 in March. Teams placed ninth to 24th advance to the knockout playoffs in February. The bottom 12 teams are eliminated.

The 36 Europa League teams will share a prize fund of 565 million euros ($659 million). Each club is guaranteed at least 4.3 million euros ($5 million).

Topics: Europa League Feyenoord Nottingham Forest AS Roma

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Iradie set to become the first Belgium Saudi Cup night runner

Updated 4 sec ago
Arab News
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Iradie set to become the first Belgium Saudi Cup night runner

  • Gaelle Gernay’s 5-year-old will run in Friday’s $500,000 Saudi International Handicap presented by LUCID.
Updated 4 sec ago
Arab News

RIYADH: Trainer Gaelle Gernay will represent Belgium on the big stage this Friday and her runner, Iradie, could be a little under the radar in the $500,000 Saudi International Handicap presented by LUCID.

The 5-year-old mare by Sommerabend has spent most of her career in France, winning twice last summer over 1,800 meters and 2,000 meters, so the 2,100 meters at King Abdulaziz Racecourse should suit. And she will be the first Belgium representative in the race.

Iradie changed hands at the Arqana sales in France in mid-November, when bought by bloodstock agents Jerry McGrath and Toby Jones for $27,400. Iradie was last seen finishing third at Mons on Dec. 4.

“We’re excited, especially as we’re just a small stable in Belgium, so it’s quite a big story for us to go with a horse to Saudi Arabia on the weekend of The Saudi Cup,” Gernay said.

“Last year her owner Mr. Jones called me and said he’d like to buy a horse for the race and that’s how it started.

“He said he was still looking in September and then he found her at the sale. She ran in Belgium once to qualify, she ran quite well over a distance that was way too short for her over 1,500 meters. She was beaten only (by) a nose and ran a great race. We started to think about the race then.”

Gernay had a successful career in the saddle, riding in lady riders’ competitions, but her life in the west of the country is unusual compared with her competitors.

“I only have five in training for the moment, I used to do a lot of pre-training but it’s not an easy thing to do in Belgium and I have another job to combine with the horses,” she explained.

“My boyfriend William takes care of the horses at home and I actually work with police horses, the Royal Cavalry. But I’ve got good hours so I can also train in the mornings.”

While Christophe Soumillon remains Belgian racing’s greatest ambassador, with the sport itself staged only at a handful of tracks, Gernay is excited to see what Iradie can do.

“We’ve not had her that long, but she’s already changed a lot,” she said. “She did her last work last week, and we were very, very happy with her. Hopefully everything goes well from now on.”

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