We already know who we will face in the UEFA Europa League group stage. Today, at 1pm the fixtures were confirmed in the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Real Sociedad is in Group L together with Football Club Zenit from St. Petersburg, Norwegian Rosenborg BK and RK Vardar from Macedonia.
Europa League calendar:
Matchday1, 14 September, 21:05: Real Sociedad – Rosenborg BK.
Matchday2, 28 September, 19:00: Football Club Zenit – Real Sociedad.
Matchday3, 19 October, 19:00: FK Vardar – Real Sociedad.
Matchday4, 2 November, 21:05: Real Sociedad – FK Vardar.
Matchday5, 23 November, 19:00: Rosenborg BK – Real Sociedad
Matchday6, 7 December, 21:05: Real Sociedad – Football Club Zenit.
Football Club Zenit
Football Club Zenit from St. Petersburg is a classic symbol of European football. It´been the most powerful Russian team over the past few years. Zenit was 4 times champion of the Russian Premier League, winner of two cups in Russia and winner of both 1 UEFA CUP and 1 Super Cup in the past ten years. Number 3 in the Russian Premier League in the last season, after Spartak and CSKA from Moscow, Zenit qualifies for this group stage after eliminating Bnei Yehuda from Tel Aviv and FC Utrecht from Holland in the two qualifying draws of UEFA Europa League. Zenit is the current leader of the Russian Premier League after having played seven fixtures.
Its squad is conformed by mostly Russian football players. Though, Zenit´s economic power is reflected in a large number of foreign players. Some of the most important players of the Russian squad are Ivanovic and Neto (defenders), Shatov, Zhirkov, Paredes and Kranevitter (midfielders) and Kokorin and Dzyuba (forwards). Zenit´s home ground is Zenit Arena, with a capacity of 68.000 and site of Confederations Cup 2017, 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020.
Rosenborg BK
Rosenborg BK is the most honored Norwegian football team and the most representative in European competitions. Founded in 1917, it is the team of the city of Trondheim and celebrates its centenary this year. The club have won a record of 24 league titles and eleven Norwegian Football Cup titles.
Norwegian league started in April and after twenty match days they are leaders with six points ahead over the second classified team. Their squad is conformed by many local players including Jensen (captain), Jevtovic (winger) and former Arsenal FC player Nicklas Bendtner, who has scored nine goals during the current season. Kåre Ingebrigtsen is the coach of the Norwegian team. Rosenborg BK gets here after falling to Celtic FC in the UEFA Champions League second round qualifying draw. They later eliminated AFC Ajax, past edition´s runner-up, both home and away at the Lerkendal Stadion.
FK Vardar
FK Vardar is the unknown team of the group. The team from Skopje, capital of Macedonia, has been 5 times champion of the Macedonian First Football League during the last six editions. Moreover, it has won five national cups. During the 3rd round of UEFA Champions League, they were beaten by Copenhague and deservedly qualified for UEFA Europa League by beating the difficult opponent Fenerbache. The team from Macedonia won both matches: 2-0 home and 1-2 in Turkey. The coach is Cedomir Janevski and most of the squad is native of Macedonia. The most outstanding player is Ytalo, who joined the team this summer and is already striker in his new team. FK Vardar has started the season with a defeat against Shkendija (2-0) and a victory over Pobeda Prilep (4-0). The Phillip II National arena is the home ground of FK Vardar, with a capacity of 33.460.