Riga players will meet “Eintracht” away, and “Ajax” – at home.
Also, RFS has to meet PAOK Thessaloniki and Galatasary Istanbul at home, as well as Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dynamo Kyiv away, most likely outside of Israel and Ukraine. Two more opponents will be determined in the draw.
In Latvia, RFS home games in the main tournament can only be played at “Skonto” stadium and Daugava stadium.
Prior to the draw, the 36 teams were divided into four baskets according to the UEFA club rankings, with the RFS in the fourth. In the main tournament, which will take place from September 25 to January 30, the teams will play matches against eight different opponents, meeting with two teams from each basket.
The eight best teams of the main tournament will secure places in the round of 16, the owners of the 9th to 24th places will fight in the first round of the elimination tournament, while the international season will be over for the rest of the teams. This format will be played for the first time in the UEFA Europa League, replacing the traditional group stage.
RFS is the second Latvian team after “Ventspils” to enter the main tournament of the UEFA European League, the no longer existing Kurzeme club enabled it in the 2009/2010 season. Two years ago, RFS competed in the main tournament of the UEFA Conference League, which is the third strongest club competition in Europe.
RFS started the European Cup season in the Champions League, defeating the Northern Ireland champion “Larne” 7-0 in the first qualifying round in the sum of two matches, but losing 1:7 to the Norwegian gold medalist “Bodo” in the second round and entering the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League, where two defeated the Andorran team “Santa Coloma” 9-0 in the total of games.
The victory over the Andorrans ensured participation in one of the main tournaments. In the fight for a place in the European League, the Riga team played a 3-3 draw with Nicosia APOEL in the sum of two matches, but won 4-2 in the shootout.
The UEFA Europa League final will take place on May 25 in Bilbao.
2024-08-30 21:13:13