Espírito Santo reunion in Porto’s group for the league stage | OneFootball

The Rangers, Scottish runners-up, and Salzburg, Austrian runners-up, emerge as the top-seeded opponents drawn against 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, the 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 Porto team in 2016/17 – promises to be particularly challenging, against a club that finished seventh in the last Premier League edition and has significantly 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 Brazilians Jair and Igor Jesus, both former Botafogo players, led Nottingham Forest to invest over 170 million euros in the summer market.

The historic English club, twice winners 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 some unhappy memories for the Porto team, who were defeated in their most recent encounter (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 at the top, with 10 points.

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

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

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

Red Star, from Serbia, also appears on FC Porto's path, after failing to qualify in the Champions League access phase, where a goal in the 89th minute allowed Cypriot Pafos, debuting in the final phase of the competition, to advance.

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

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

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

FC Porto and Sporting 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 management of André Villas-Boas, currently the club's president.

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

The top eight finishers qualify directly for the round of 16; teams between 9th and 24th places play a two-legged playoff 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 definitive match schedule to be announced by UEFA by Sunday.

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