Guide To United In Europa League Group A

Manchester United were drawn in Group A of the Europa League on Friday afternoon alongside Fenerbahce, Feyenoord and Zorya Luhansk. 

The Reds were the first club pulled out of the bowl at the glitzy UEFA event in Monaco and Jose Mourinho's men were later pitted against Robin van Persie's current team Fenerbahce, as well as the Dutchman's former employers Feyenoord and little-known Ukrainian side Zorya. Here are the 12 groups in full:  

GROUP A: Manchester United, Fenerbahce, Feyenoord, Zorya Luhansk.
GROUP B: Olympiacos, APOEL, Young Boys, FC Astana.
GROUP C: Anderlecht, Saint-Etienne, FSV Mainz, Gabala SC.
GROUP D: Zenit St. Petersburg, AZ Alkmaar, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Dundalk FC.
GROUP E: Viktoria Plzen, AS Roma, Austria Wien, FC Astra Giurgiu
GROUP F: Athletic Club, KRC Genk, SK Rapid Wien, US Sassuolo Calcio
GROUP G: AFC Ajax, Standard de Liege, Celta de Vigo, Panathinaikos FC
GROUP H: Shakhtar Donetsk, SC Braga, KAA Gent, Konyaspor.
GROUP I: FC Schalke, FC Salzburg, FC Krasnodar, OGC Nice.
GROUP J: Fiorentina, PAOK FC, Slovan Liberec, Qarabag FK.
GROUP K: Internazionale, AC Sparta Praha, Southampton, Hapoel Beer-Sheva FC
GROUP L: Villarreal, FC Steaua Bucharest, FC Zurich, Osmanlispor A.S.

WHAT DOES MOURINHO THINK?
"There are groups in the Champions League that are very similar, so it is a good for that," Jose explained at his press conference on Friday afternoon. "We know that it will be a difficult group, but I think that is a good thing. If you have teams without expression then even the fans may not enjoy nights at Old Trafford. It is good for the fans and for the players because it will help motivation. It is also good for a competition that doesn't have the same glamour as the Champions League. Having a team like Man United in the competition, playing matches against teams like Feyenoord and Fenerbahce - I do not have a vision about the Ukrainian team and their quality - is good for us."

OPPOSITION FOCUS
Fenerbahçe finished second in the Turkish league last season and qualified for the group stage via a 5-0 aggregate victory over Grasshoppers in the qualifying round. Van Persie is their star striker, after joining them from United last summer, and the Dutchman will no doubt be excited to face the Reds. 
Feyenoord, another of Robin’s former clubs, finished third in the Dutch Eredivisie in 2015/16 and some 21 points behind champions PSV Eindhoven. The Rotterdam-based club are managed by Giovanni van Bronckhorst, whose squad includes ex-Liverpool players Dirk Kuyt and Brad Jones. 

Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk are among the smallest clubs in the competition and one United have never faced before. They finished fourth in their division last season, 22 points behind championship winners Dynamo Kiev, and they have been managed by Yuriy Vernydub since November 2011. 

WHEN ARE THE GAMES?
15 September – Feyenoord v Manchester United (KO 18:00 BST)
29 September – Manchester United v FC Zorya Luhansk (KO 20:05 BST)
20 October – Manchester United v Fenerbahce SK (KO 20:05 BST)
03 November – Fenerbahce SK v Manchester United (KO 18:00 GMT)
24 November – Manchester United v Feyenoord (KO 20:05 GMT)
08 December – FC Zorya Luhansk v Manchester United (KO 18:00 GMT)

DISTANCES INVOLVED
Fenerbahce: The estimated 1,675-mile flight to Instanbul takes around three hours and 40 minutes.
Feyenoord: Flying from Manchester to Rotterdam includes one hour of travel across 297 miles.
Luhansk: A flight to the Ukrainian city will be around four hours, covering around 1,822 miles.