Europa League: Tough draws for Ghanaian players

Ghanaian quintuple in this season's UEFA Europa League have been handed tough draws in the group phase in an event held in Monaco on Friday.

Patrick Twumasi's Astana FC, who dropped into Europe's second tier club competition after losing 4-8 on aggregate score line to Scottish champions Celtic in the last round of qualifiers, have been pitted in Group A alongside Spanish side Villareal, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Slavia Prague.

Meanwhile, Joseph Attamah Larweh's Istanbul Basaksehir, who also suffered the same fate to Spanish giants Sevilla in the last round, have been paired against FC Ludogorets, Sporting Braga and Hoffenheim in Group C.

Kadiri Mohammed's Austria Vienna will play against Italian giants and seven-time Champions League winners AC Milan, NK Rijeka and AEK Athens.

Last but not the least, Richmond Boakye-Yiadom and Abraham Frimpong's Red Star Belgrade will battle it out for qualification ticket against English Premier League giants Arsenal, BATE Borisov and FC Cologne in Group H.

Samuel Mensah's Ostersunds FK will have to bring the A game against sides like Athletic Bilbao, Hertha Berlin and Zorya Luhansk.

The competition will kick off on September 14, 2017 and end in May 16, 2018.