FC Astana
Before last season, they had won the Kazakhstan Premier League for five years on the bounce. They are currently second in the table, two points off the top, with their league finishing in the late Autumn. They qualified for the Champions League this season but were knocked out in the first qualifying round by CFR Cluj. Before now, their greatest season in Europe was in 2017-18 when they reached the round of 32 in the Europa League where they were knocked out by Sporting Lisbon.

Their top scorer for this season is Croatian winger Marin Tomasov. They play at the Astana Arena which has a capacity of just over 30,000.

Partizan Belgrage
They finished third in the Serbian SuperLiga last season, having last won the title in 2017. With four games of the season played so far, they are currently sixth, but have two games in hand on teams above them.

Ricardo Gomes was the second highest scorer in the league last season with 20 goals, although he has since left the club.

They knocked out Molde, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s former club, to reach this round of the Europa League. Their greatest success in Europe came when they reached the European Cup final in 1966 when they were beaten by Real Madrid. They knocked us out in the semi-final! The last match the Busby Babes played in before the Munich Air Disaster, against Red Star Belgrade, was played in Partizan’s stadium.

They play at the Partizan Stadium which has a capacity of 32,700.

AZ Alkmaar
Having won the league with our former manager Louis van Gaal in the past, they finished fourth in the Eredivisie last season.

In recent years, their best record in Europe is reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League in 2014 and 2012. They last played in the Champions League in 2010 when they finished bottom of the group.

They play at the AFAS Stadion which has a capacity over just over 17,000.

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