Villarreal return to the Europa league after last season’s round of 16 exit at the hands of eventual champions Sevilla. The Yellow Submarine’s sixth place finish in the 2014-15 La Liga season was enough to see them enter the competition as the highest ranked Spanish side.
Villarreal, a top-seeded team, have been drawn into Group E. Joining El Submarino Amarillo in their group are Czech side FC Viktoria Plzen, SK Rapid Wien from Austria and Belarus’ FC Dinamo Minsk. Villarreal will fancy their chances of topping the group, and will be looking to improve on last season’s result, but must avoid underestimating the danger their opponents present.
FC Viktoria Plzen
From: Plzen, Czech Republic
Founded: 1911
Manager: Karel Krejci
2014-15 League Finish: Champions
Viktoria Plzen come into the 2015-16 Europa League after failing to get past Maccabi Tel Aviv and into the Champions League. As upsetting as that was for the fans, they are coming off a stellar 2014-15 domestic campaign.
Plzen were the standout team in the Czech First League last season picking up 23 victories from a possible 30 on the way to a third title in five years. Scoring goals for fun, Plzen also boasted one of the league measliest defences. Their 70 goals were a league high and their 24 conceded was only bettered by Sparta Prague and Jablonec.
Plzen’s last appearance in the Europa League was the 2013-14 season. After finishing third in their Champions League group, Plzen entered at the round of 32 stage. They would move on through one round, defeating Shakhtar Donetsk before losing out in the round of 16 to Lyon.
Plzen have begun the 2015-16 season in inconsistent form. From five matches they boast two wins, two draws and a loss, leaving them with eight points and sitting in sixth position.
SK Rapid Wien
From: Vienna, Austria
Founded: 1899
Manager: Zoran Barisic
2014-15 League Finish: Second
Rapid Wien, much like Viktoria Plzen, come into the 2015-16 Europa League after failing to get past Shakhtar Donetsk in the play-off round for the Champions League.
Vienna finished as respectable runners-up during the 2014-15 Austrian Bundesliga season, missing out of the title by six points from Red Bull Salzburg. They recorded the meanest defence in the league conceding only 38 goals from their 36 matches. They also boasted the talents of league second highest scorer Robert Beric, who has since left the club to join French outfit Saint-Etienne.
Rapid Wien’s last appearance in the Europa League was during the 2013-14 season. They lined up in group G but could only finish the group in third place, winning only one match. Their poor away form cost them that season as only one point was picked up on the road.
Rapid are enjoying a sensational start to the current season and after seven matches are sitting top of the table. Five wins, one draw and one loss have them on 16 points, narrowly ahead of Austria Wien and Admira Wacker on 14.
FC Dinamo Minsk
From: Minsk, Belarus
Founded: 1927
Manager: Vuk Rasovic
2014-15 League Finish: Second
Dinamo Minsk come into group E as the lowest ranked team and have battled through three qualifying round to get here. Wins over Cherno More Varna of Bulgaria, FC Zurich of Switzerland and Red Bull Salzburg of Austria have seen them take their place in the main draw.
Minsk finished second overall in the Belarusian Premier League, a total of ten points behind winners BATE Borisov. They conceded the least amount of goals in the league, tied on 21 with BATE, and managed to score 44, second overall.
This will be their second appearance in the group stage of the Europa League after their 2014-15 campaign. Much like this season they had to come through three stages of qualifying to get to the group and it was there that their dreams ended. After finishing bottom of the group and only recording one win, Dinamo will be looking for better this season.
The one advantage they will have over the other teams in the group is how far through their domestic campaign they are. 18 rounds have already been played in the 2015 Belarusian league and Dinamo sit in second. They are lead up front by the league’s second highest goal scorer in Montenegrin Fatos Beciraj.
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