Europa League draw: RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg awkwardly drawn in same group after Uefa allow pair to compete
RB LEIPZIG and Red Bull Salzburg will go wings-to-wings in the Europa League this season after being drawn in the same group.
The clubs, both backed by energy drink Red Bull, were previously prohibited from playing in Uefa competitions together until the governing body relaxed rules last year.
But after narrowly avoiding each other last year, the two sides will go to battle for the very first time in Group B this season.
Leipzig welcome Salzburg, who lost in the final round of Champions League qualifying, to Germany for the opening group game on September 20 before crossing the border into Austria for the return match on November 29.
Brendan Rodgers' , who for the group stages, and Norwegian outfit Rosenborg .
Last season, Salzburg were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers and so went into the Europa League, where they reached the semi-finals and were dumped out by Marseille.
Their German cousins Leipzig came third in their Champions League group and therefore joined the Europa League knockout rounds and were beaten by the French club in the quarters.
And both clubs will be hoping they have the energy levels to progress deep into the tournament this season.
Leipzig were formed just nine years ago but have soared through the leagues in Germany to become one of the major forces in the Bundesliga and are back under the supervision of Ralf Rangnick who left two years ago.
The sale of Naby Keita to Liverpool for £52.75million is their record sale, breaking the £15m West Brom paid for Oliver Burke in 2017.
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Celtic's rivals have been drawn a difficult group against in Group G.
Maurizio Sarri will begin his European venture with Chelsea against PAOK, BATE Borisov and MOL Vidi FC in the group stages.
But Arsenal's new head coach Unai Emery, who won three successive Europa Leagues during his time at Sevilla, faces a group which includes Sporting Lisbon, Qarabag and FC Vorskla Poltava.
Arsenal reached the semi-finals last year before being beaten by eventual champions Atletico Madrid.