Egypt midfielder Mohamed Elneny and striker Ahmed Hassan Kouka will be facing trips to Germany after Arsenal and Sporting Braga were drawn with Cologne and Hoffenheim respectively in the Europa League group-stage on Friday. Returning to Europe's secondary competition for the first time in 17 years, Arsenal were drawn in Group H with Eastern European sides BATE Borisov (Belarus) and Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) alongside Cologne. Similarly, Egypt striker Kouka's Braga is set to travel to Germany for a meeting with Hoffenheim, whom Mohamed Salah's Liverpool ousted from the Champions League playoff round. Alongside Hoffenheim, Portugal's Braga have been paired with Bulgaria's Ludogorets and Istanbul Basaksehir in Group C. The group stage kicks off on September 14, with the top-two of all 12 groups qualifying for the round of 32.
Full group stage draw Group A: Villarreal (ESP), Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR), Astana (KAZ), Slavia Praha (CZE) Group B: Dynamo Kyiv (UKR), Young Boys (SUI), Partizan (SRB), Skënderbeu (ALB) Group C: Braga (POR), Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL), Hoffenheim (GER), İstanbul Başakşehir (TUR) Group D: AC Milan (ITA), Austria Wien (AUT), Rijeka (CRO), AEK Athens (GRE) Group E: Lyon (FRA), Everton (ENG), Atalanta (ITA), Apollon Limassol (CYP) Group F: København (DEN), Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS), Sheriff (MDA), Zlín (CZE) Group G: Viktoria Plzeň (CZE), FCSB (ROU), Hapoel Beer-Sheva (ISR), Lugano (SUI) Group H: Arsenal (ENG), BATE Borisov (BLR), Köln (GER), Crvena zvezda (SRB) Group I: Salzburg (AUT), Marseille (FRA), Vitória SC (POR), Konyaspor (TUR) Group J: Athletic Club (ESP), Hertha Berlin (GER), Zorya (UKR), Östersund (SWE) Group K: Lazio (ITA), Nice (FRA), Zulte Waregem (BEL), Vitesse (NED) Group L: Zenit (RUS), Real Sociedad (ESP), Rosenborg (NOR), Vardar (MKD) (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)