Uefa Europa League group stage draw 2015-16: As it happened

The draw is now complete. Stay with IBTimes UK for more reaction as the afternoon progresses.

Group L - Athletic, AZ Alkmaar, Augsburg, PARTIZAN BELGRADE

Group K - Schalke, APOEL, Sparta Prague, ASTERAS TRIPOLIS

Group J - Tottenham, Anderlecht, AS Monaco, QARABAG

Group I - FC Basel, Fiorentina, Lech Poznan, BELENENSES

Group H - Sporting CP, Besiktas, Lokomotiv Mocow, SKENDERBEU KORCE

Group F - Marseille, Braga, Slovan Liberec, FC GRONIGEN

Group E - Villarreal, Viktoria Plzen, Rapid Vienna, DINAMO MINSK

Group D - Napoli, Club Brugge, Legia Warsaw, FC MIDTJYLLAND

Group C - Borussia Dortmund, PAOK, FC Krasnodar, FK QABALA

Group G - Dnipro, Lazio, Saint-Etienne, ROSENBORG

Group B - Rubin Kazan, Liverpool, Bordeaux, FC SION

Group A - Ajax, Celtic, Fenerbahce, MOLDE

The final pot will now be drawn...

Pot three complete. Not an ideal outcome for either Celtic or Tottenham there.

Group L - Athletic, AZ Alkmaar, AUGSBURG

Group K - Schalke, APOEL, SPARTA PRAGUE

Group F - Marseille, Braga, SLOVAN LIBEREC

Group E - Villarreal, Viktoria Plzen, RAPID VIENNA

Group J - Tottenham, Anderlecht, AS MONACO

Group I - FC Basel, Fiorentina, LECH POZNAN

Group D - Napoli, Club Brugge, LEGIA WARSAW

Group C - Borussia Dortmund, PAOK, FC KRASNODAR

Group B - Rubin Kazan, Liverpool, BORDEAUX

Group H - Sporting CP, Besiktas, LOKOMOTIV MOSCOW

Group G - Dnipro, Lazio, SAINT-ETIENNE

Group A - Ajax, Celtic, FENERBAHCE

That concludes pot two. Celtic to face Ajax, Tottenham to play Anderlecht and Liverpool travel to Russia.

The drawing of pot three is imminent....

Group L - Athletic, AZ ALKMAAR

Group F - Marseille, BRAGA

Group K - Schalke, APOEL

Group J - Tottenham, ANDERLECHT

Group I - FC Basel, FIORENTINA

Group H - Sporting CP, BESIKTAS

Group E - Villarreal, VIKTORIA PLZEN

Group D - Napoli, CLUB BRUGGE

Group C - Borussia Dortmund, PAOK

Group B - Rubin Kazan, LIVERPOOL

Group A - Ajax, CELTIC

Pot two is now being drawn...

Group G - Dnipro, LAZIO

All 12 top seeds have now been drawn. Here is how the groups look after pot one:

Group A - Ajax

Group B - Rubin Kazan

Group C - Borussia Dortmund

Group D - Napoli

Group E - Villarreal

Group F - Marseille

Group G - Dnipro

Group H - Sporting CP

Group I - FC Basel

Group J - Tottenham

Group K - Schalke

Group L - Athletic

Director of competitions Giorgio Marchetti has fully explained the technical aspects of the draw and we are now set to finally get underway...

Ivica Dragutinović, a former two-time Europa League winner with Sevilla, and former Switzerland international Alexander Frei are on stage for the draw.

Frei is the ambassador for Basel's hosting of the 2015/16 final, which takes place at St. Jakob-Park. A major incentive for the Swiss champions, who are in pot one.

UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino is currently reiterating that, like this year with Sevilla, the 2015/16 winners of the Europa League will automatically qualify for next season's Champions League.

The draw from Grimaldi Forum in Larvotto should now be just moments away. Yesterday's Champions League equivalent was largely devoid of the usual ramblings that accompany these sorts of events, so here is hoping that this follows suit.

In terms of best/worst case scenarios for the Premier League teams, you have to say that Dortmund look a real menace for Liverpool in pot one and the potential to draw the likes of Monaco or Fenerbahce from pot three will cause concern.

FC Midtjylland proved against Southampton that they are a force to be reckoned with and will provide a tough test. Pot four also contains a number of long away trips to the likes of Albania (Skenderbeu Korce), Azerbaijan (FK Qarabag and FK Qabala) Serbia (Partizan Belgrade) and Belarus (Dinamo Minsk).

As per UEFA, group stages matches will take place on the following dates:

17 September, 1 and 22 October, 5 and 26 November, and 10 December.

A reminder that teams from the same country cannot be drawn into the same group, so there is no danger of Tottenham meeting Liverpool this early on in the competition.

Teams from Russia and the Ukraine must also be kept apart, meaning that Dnipro will not face Lokomotiv Moscow or FC Krasnodar. Rubin Kazan are also off limits, although this would always have been the case given that both teams are in pot one.

One Premier League side who will not be represented in today's draw is Southampton. Despite easily overcoming Vitesse to reach the play-off round, Ronald Koeman's men continued their run of underwhelming form with a 1-0 defeat to FC Midtjylland in Herning last night.

Morten Rasmussen - formerly of Celtic - notched the only goal of the game to secure a 2-1 aggregate win for the Danish champions, who take their place in pot four.

Here are the pots for today's draw:

Pot 1: Schalke, Borussia Dortmund, FC Basel, Napoli, Tottenham Hotspur, Ajax, Villarreal, Rubin Kazan, Athletic Bilbao, Sporting Lisbon, Marseille, Dnipro

Pot 2: Braga, Fiorentina, Lazio, Anderlecht, Liverpool, AZ Alkmaar, Viktoria Plzen, Club Brugge, PAOK, Celtic, Besiktas, APOEL

Pot 3: AS Monaco, Sparta Prague, Fenerbahce, Leiga Warsaw, Bordeaux, Lokomotiv Moscow, Lech Poznan, Saint-Etienne, Slovan Liberec, FC Ausburg, Rapid Vienna, FC Krasnodar

Pot 4: Partizan Belgrade, Asberas Tripolis, Rosenborg, FK Qarabag, Molde, Dinamo Minsk, FC Gronigen, FC Sion, FC Midtjylland, Skenderbeu Korce, FK Qabala, Belenenses

As my colleague Tony Mogan explains:

Tottenham take a spot in Pot 1, boasting the fifth best Uefa coefficient of all the teams in the draw. That will see them avoid the top seeded teams in the draw but Mauricio Pochettino's side are still faced with the prospect of being drawn alongside Fiorentina or Lazio from Pot 2. La Viola dismissed the north Londoners from this competition last season at the first knock out stage.

Liverpool's failure to progress past the last 16 of any European competition in the last five years means their coefficient is only good enough for a spot in Pot 2. That means Brendan Rodgers' side face the prospect of being drawn alongside one of Borussia Dortmund, Schalke, Marseille, Napoli, Villarreal and the Swiss champions Basel, who ended their Champions League campaign last season. Celtic face the same fate

Good morning and welcome to IBTimes UK's live coverage of the 2015/16 Europa League group stage draw live from Monaco.

Tottenham, Liverpool and Celtic represent the British interest in today's festivities, with the latter's place in this competition guaranteed earlier this week following a disappointing 4-3 aggregate loss to Malmo in the Champions League play-off round.

Stay tuned for live coverage of the draw, as well as an explanation of how it all works and details of which teams feature in each of the four pots.