Espírito Santo reunion in Porto’s ‘group of death’ for league stage | OneFootball

Rangers, the Scottish runner-up, and Salzburg, the Austrian runner-up, emerge as the most likely opponents drawn for the 'blue and whites' from Pot 1, in a group that also includes Red Star, Viktoria Plzen, Nice, Malmö and Utrecht.

In their 18th appearance in the competition, the team led by Francesco Farioli, top seed, will host Rangers, Red Star, Nice and Malmö at the Estádio do Dragão, in Porto, and will travel to Salzburg, Viktoria Plzen, Nottingham Forest and Utrecht.

The duel with Nuno Espírito Santo – the first since he left the helm of the Portistas in 2016/17 – promises to be particularly demanding, against a club that finished in seventh place in the last edition of the Premier League and which has considerably strengthened its squad, which also includes the Portuguese international Jota Silva.

The signings of Dan Ndoye, from Bologna, Omari Hutchinson, from Ipswich, Arnaud Kalimuendo, from Rennes, and the Brazilians Jair and Igor Jesus, both ex-Botafogo, led Nottingham Forest to invest more than 170 million euros in the summer market.

The historic English club, twice winner of the Champions League (then European Cup), in 1978/79 and 1979/80, returned to European competitions this season, three decades after their last participation.

On the other hand, Rangers have brought back unhappy memories for the Portistas, who were defeated in the most recent encounter between the two (2-0 in Glasgow, after a 1-1 draw at the Dragão), in Group G of the 2019/20 Europa League, although FC Porto finished that group in the lead, with 10 points.

The Scottish team is one of the most experienced in the competition, having been a finalist on two occasions, in 2008 and, more recently, in 2022, when they lost on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt.

After being knocked out of the Champions League by Benfica in the third qualifying round, Nice now finds itself with two other Portuguese clubs – FC Porto and Sporting de Braga – in the second European club competition, giving Pablo Rosario, recently signed by the 'dragons', the chance to face his former club already.

The visit to Austria also requires extra attention: Salzburg, also eliminated from the Champions League qualification, presents a young squad – average age under 23 years – and currently leads their league with 10 points in four rounds.

Red Star, from Serbia, also appears on FC Porto's path, after failing to qualify in the Champions League access phase, where a goal at 89 minutes allowed the Cypriot Pafos, debutant in the final phase of the competition, to move forward.

The Belgrade club, European champion in 1990/91, returned this season to the Europa League after having played in the Champions League group stage in the previous season.

The Dutch Utrecht is a relatively inexperienced team in European competitions, but has gained strength in recent seasons, finishing fourth in the last edition of the Eredivisie.

Viktoria Plzen, from the Czech Republic, and Malmö, from Sweden, are, however, opponents with a greater tradition in UEFA competitions and may also require extra care from the 'dragons'.

FC Porto and Sporting de Braga, the only other Portuguese representative in the competition, share four of the eight opponents in the league phase – Rangers, Nottingham Forest, Nice and Red Star.

The 'blue and whites' have won the UEFA Cup/Europa League twice, in 2002/03 and 2010/11, the latter under the command of André Villas-Boas, currently the club's president.

Like in the other European club competitions, the Europa League adopted, since last season, a league phase with 36 teams, which replaced the traditional groups, where each team faces eight opponents – four at home and four away.

The top eight qualify directly for the round of 16; teams between 9th and 24th place play a two-legged 'play-off' to reach the same stage; the rest are eliminated.

The eight rounds of the league phase take place between September 24 and January 29, 2026, with the final schedule of the matches being released by UEFA by Sunday.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.