Chelsea off to Greece for Europa
paris — The Europa League group stage begins on Thursday, with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, AC Milan and Sevilla among the leading sides hoping to negotiate a marathon competition all the way to the final in Baku in May.
AFP Sport looks at some of the main talking points ahead of the opening round of games:
The prize money on offer in the Europa League pales in comparison to the Champions League, or indeed in the continent’s top domestic leagues. If Arsenal reach the final in Baku and win it, it would be worth around 25 million euros ($29.2 million) in prize money to them.
In contrast, winning the Champions League could be worth about five times that, while the team finishing bottom of the Premier League last season pocketed almost £95 million ($124.8m).
But for a club like Arsenal, who start off at home to Ukraine’s Vorskla Poltava, winning the Europa League is still a path into next season’s Champions League, while remaining a precious piece of silverware in its own right. And in Unai Emery the Gunners — beaten semi-finalists last season — have a coach who won this trophy three years running with Sevilla.
It will be interesting to see how strong a team Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri puts out against PAOK in Greece as they begin their European campaign having won all five Premier League games so far.
Europa League winners in 2013, Chelsea can certainly expect a warm welcome in their Group L opener. —