Europa League Draw: Roma Joins Real Betis, Ludogorets, and HJK Helsinki in Group C

Roma and José Mourinho's quest for back-to-back European titles took its first official step today during the Europa League Group Draw in Nyon, Switzerland. While the Giallorossi failed to qualify for the Europa League through the league route, finishing in sixth place behind Lazio, thanks to winning the inaugural Europa Conference League last season, Roma earned an automatic berth into the 2022-2023 Europa League, Europe's second-most prestigious international club competition.

With the Serie A season barely underway, Roma won't have much time to relax before they begin their Europa League campaign. However, at least we know who Roma will face in the Group Stage, which kicks off on September 8th.

Joining Roma in Group C are Bulgarian League champions Ludogorets, Real Betis, who finished 5th in La Liga last year, and Finnish club HJK Helsinki, who lost the Veikkausliiga title on goal differential last season. Roma and Betis should be the favorites on name value alone, but if last season's Conference League Group Stage taught us anything, it's never to make assumptions.

A point GM Tiago Pinto spoke to immediately after the draw:

“We know that at this level of European competition you are going to face good teams,” said Tiago Pinto, the club’s General Manager.

“We want to build on last season, we know that winning a trophy like that gives a group of players more confidence and belief in what they are capable of.

“So, we know it will be tough, but our aim is to win the group and progress into the next phase.”

The Group Stage Fixtures will be played on the following dates:

• Matchday 1: September 8th, 2022
• Matchday 2: September 15th, 2022
• Matchday 3: October 6th, 2022
• Matchday 4: October 13th, 2022
• Matchday 5: October 27th, 2022
• Matchday 6: November 3rd, 2022

We'll take a closer look at each club when the time comes, but even if we expect the unexpected, Roma should be favored to survive Group C.