Europa League third qualifying round draw: who can Sporting and Rio Ave face?
The draw for the next round of both the Champions League and Europa League takes place on the 1st September, with Benfica, Sporting and Rio Ave going into the hat.
Benfica, though they will officially go into the draw, already know that they will face Krasnodar in the Champions League play-off round should they overcome PAOK in the earlier qualification stage.
Rio Ave and Sporting, meanwhile, are yet to discover who they will face, with Sporting entering this stage of the Europa League - the third qualifying round - while Rio Ave will first have to beat Borac Banja Luka in Bosnia in the second qualifying round to get through to the same stage.
Sporting are seeded for the draw, officially the fourth highest ranked club that is entering this stage of the competition, while Rio Ave are unseeded, narrowly missing out on being one of the seeded sides. It means that Sporting should have an easier draw, at least on paper, while Rio Ave are likely to face a trickier task should they reach this stage of the competition.
Sporting are in group 1 of the draw, seeded alongside PSV Eindhoven, who were in their Europa League group last season, and Malmo FF. Each of them will then be drawn against one of the following:
1.) The winner of the match between Aberdeen of the Scottish Premier League and Norway’s Viking.
2.) The winner of the match between Denmark’s AGF and one of Nomme Kalju (Estonia) or Mura (Slovenia)
3.) Croatia’s Lokomotiva, who were knocked out of the Champions League by Rapid Vienna.
Sporting would surely fancy their chances against all three of those sides, and should see themselves as the side to avoid for the three unseeded outfits. On paper, though, Lokomotiva is perhaps the most difficult opposition to face. Sporting will simply be hoping to avoid an away draw.
Rio Ave, meanwhile, are one of the three unseeded teams in Group 6 alongside Willem II of the Dutch Eredivise, and Poland’s Lech Poznan. Should Rio Ave beat Borac Banja Luca, they will face a very daunting task, having to play against one of the following sides:
1.) Turkish giants Besiktas, who were knocked out of the Champions League by PAOK
2.) The winners of the match between Scotland’s Rangers or Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar
3.) The victors in the match between Apollon Limassol of Cyprus and OFI of Greece.
The talent and prestige of Besiktas speaks for itself; though they did poorly in their Europa League group containing Braga, Wolves and Slovan Bratislava last season, they are always a tricky opposition, while Rangers proved their talent last season, beating Braga twice and Porto on one occasion in the 2019-20 Europa League.
The more favourable draw would certainly be either Apollon Limassol or OFI - though make no mistake that this would also be a highly challenging match for Rio Ave. Nevertheless, it is the one that gives them the greatest chance of success. If Rio Ave get a home draw, even more so.
