The final round of Europa League group stage games was played last night, thus determining the seven teams that AC Milan can draw in the play-off round.
Milan finished third in their Champions League group, which since the 1999-00 season has meant dropping into the Europa League. As per the current format of the competition, it means a play-off round to get access to the last 16.
The knockout round play-off will put the eight Europa League group-stage runners-up against the eight clubs who finished third in their Champions League groups, with the Europa League clubs being seeded and therefore playing at home in the second leg. Those ties will be played on Thursday 15 and Thursday 22 February 2024.
The eight Europa League runners-up were SC Freiburg of Germany, Sparta Praha of the Czech Republic, Sporting CP of Portugal, French clubs Olympique Marseille, Toulouse and Stade Rennais, Roma of Italy and Qarabağ FK of Azerbaijan.
The draw will take place on Monday 18 December, and Milan cannot get Roma as they from the same country, so the list is as follows:
Freiburg (GER)
Marseille (FRA)
Sparta Praha (CZE)
Stade Rennais (FRA)
Sporting CP (POR)
Toulouse (FRA)
Qarabag (AZE)
The only only slippy one there is Marseille so knowing our luck with European draws, that’s who we’ll get.
Would there be any issues or repercussions if Milan were to play vs Toulouse? Also, Freiburg, Marseille, and Sporting Lisbon should not be underestimated.
The road to the final and winning the final for Europa will be tough with Liverpool, Bayern Leverkusen as favorites.
The Jerry Bowl. I think it was cleared before the season, Jerry is no longer in the board of Toulouse or some magic trick like that. He doesn’t care about Toulouse anyway, they’re fighting to stay in Ligue 1, since Milan is his new shiny toy. The only issue would be the jerseys, Toulouse play in light purple and we play in rose/blue so it could be confusing.
Light work for us!😤
Qarabag (AZE) looks like the easiest win alongside Toulouse.
Gerry resigned from Toulouse so we might be OK playing them.