Izuchukwu OkosiThe draw for the UEFA Europa League was held Friday afternoon with interesting groupings with 32 teams on the hunt for European glory as the winners automatically qualified for the UEFA Champions League.
Arsenal as the seeded team in Group A were drawn against PSV, Bodo/Glimt and FC Zurich.
Dynamo Kyiv who lost out on the Champions League playoffs to Benfica were drawn in Group B with Rennes, Fernerbahce and AEL Larnaca.
Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma will try to outwit Ludogorets, Real Beris and HJK Helsinki in Group C.
In Group D, Braga plays Malmo, Union Berlin and Royal Saint-Gilloiise.
Manchester United will hope to have a good campaign at the competition which could prove as an alternative route to Champions League qualification.
The Red Devils are drawn in Group E with Real Sociedad (Spain), Sheriff (Moldova)and Nicosia Omonoia (Cyprus), the latter being the club of Nigeria international, Francis Uzoho.
Group F: Lazio, Feyenoord, Midtjylland and Sturm make up Group F.
It’s Olympiacos (Greece), Qarabag (Azerbaijan), Freiburg (Germany), Nantes (France) in Group G while Red Star Belgrade (Serbia), Monaco (France), Ferencvaros (Hungary), Trabzonspor (Turkey) conclude the eight groups as they are pooled in Group H.
Hungarian capital Budapest is the location of the final scheduled for next May.
The Europa League Draws In Full
Group A: Arsenal (England), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Bodo/Glimt (Norway), FC Zurich (Switzerland)
Group B: Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine), Rennes (France), Fenerbahce (Turkey), AEK Larnaca (Cyprus)
Group C: Roma (Italy), Ludogorets (Bulgaria), Real Betis (Spain), HJK Helsinki (Finland)
Group D: Braga (Portugal), Malmo (Sweden), Union Berlin (Germany), St Gilloise (Belgium)
Group E: Manchester United (England), Real Sociedad (Spain), Sheriff (Moldova)Omonoia (Cyprus)
Group F: Lazio (Italy), Feyenoord (Netherlands), Midtjylland (Denmark), Sturm (Austria)
Group G: Olympiacos (Greece), Qarabag (Azerbaijan), Freiburg (Germany), Nantes (France)
Group H: Red Star Belgrade (Serbia), Monaco (France), Ferencvaros (Hungary), Trabzonspor (Turkey)
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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