Liverpool drawn with Rubin Kazan, Bordeaux and FC Sion in Europa League group stages

Penalty heartache: Liverpool were knocked out of the Europa League by Besiktas on penalties last season
BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images
Vaishali Bhardwaj28 August 2015

Liverpool will face a lengthy journey to play Rubin Kazan along with trips to France to take on Bordeaux and Switzerland to face FC Sion after being handed their Europa League group stage opponents on Friday.

Brendan Rodgers' side were handed the relatively easy fixtures following the draw in Monaco, which will see the Reds complete a 4,000mile-round trip to play Kazan.

The Russian side got to the round of 32 stage in the competition last season, with their best finish in the Europa League being their quarter-final appearance during the 2012/13 campaign.

Liverpool will also travel to south-west France to play Bordeaux, who they beat 1-0 away in the 2006/07 Champions League group stage and 3-0 in the reverse fixture at Anfield.

Rodgers' men will also meet Swiss side Sion, a club Liverpool defeated in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round.

Liverpool last competed in the Europa League last season after the club dropped into the competition following their failure to progress past the group stages of the Champions League.

Rodgers' side went on to play Turkish giants Besiktas in the round of 32 where they won the first leg of the tie at Anfield 1-0 thanks to Mario Balotelli's late penalty.

However, Tolgay Arslan's goal in the reverse fixture took the tie to spot-kicks, which Liverpool lost 5-4 in the same stadium the Reds had won the 2005 Champions League final 10 years earlier - which was also the club's first-ever defeat on penalties in a European game.

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