It’s hardly a play-off draw to match last season when the Europa League paired Manchester United and Barcelona together for a showdown of epic proportions.
Yet while short of those kind of A-listers, the 2023-24 competition has still drawn together a few ties worthy of note.
That was confirmed during Mondays play-off draw when last season’s beaten finalists Roma were paired with Feyenoord who, themselves, made their mark in this competition last term.
Now at this stage it should be pointed out there is no British interest with West Ham, Brighton, Rangers and tournament favourites Liverpool among the eight group winners automatically advancing to the last-16 stage, which will be played on March 7 and 14.
Other teams also guaranteed a place then include Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen, 2021 Europa League winners Villarreal and Atalanta.
They will be joined by the winners of the play-offs, contested by eight runners-up from the Europa League group stage and eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage.
So, who to look out for then in the Europa League adventure?
Well Feyenoord v Roma is the stand-out tie of the play-offs.
The Italians remain very much Jekyll n’ hyde – capable of winning the competition but also of losing when least expected.
Meanwhile, Feyenoord may be six points off the pace in the Dutch Eredivisie but that is only because leaders PSV Eindhoven have a perfect record after 16 games.
What makes this extra special is it’s the third successive season they have met in Europe during which time a real rivalry has developed.
Jose Mourinho’s side won the final of the inaugural Europa Conference League in Tirana in 2022, and then came out on top in the quarter-finals of last season’s Europa League, en route to losing the final on penalties to Sevilla.
That was quite a tie as Stephan El Shaarawy and Lorenzo Pellegrini netted in extra time to earn the Italians victory against the 10-men of Feyenoord for a 4-2 aggregate win.
The reigning Dutch champions are only here because they dropped out of the Champions League after coming third in a tough group behind Atletico Madrid and Lazio.
Elsewhere, AC Milan, who finished third in their Champions League ‘group of death’ behind Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain, but ahead of Newcastle United, were drawn against French club Rennes.
Shakhtar Donetsk, who won the UEFA Cup in 2009, will take on Marseille, the Europa League runners-up in 2018.
Another team capable of creating possible Europa League highlights is Galatasaray who finished ahead of Manchester United in their Champions League group to be here.
The SBOTOP Europa League betting odds make Milan third favourites behind Liverpool and Leverkusen but a lot can change between now and the spring.
Right now, this competition is only shimmering with very few big-hitters of European football like a year ago. That could soon change.
Play-off draw:
Feyenoord v Roma
Lens v Freiburg
Benfica v Toulouse
Galatasaray v Sparta Prague
AC Milan v Rennes
Young Boys v Sorting Lisbon
Sporting Braga v Qarabag
Shakhtar Donetsk v Marseille
Ties due to be played on February 15 & 22.
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