2015/16 European Football Guide

There will be eight English and four Scottish clubs playing European football next season.

With all the berths now taken following the weekend's cup finals, our Andy Schooler guides you through when they will play, who they might face and when the draws will take place - as well as the latest odds.

Champions League

Chelsea (1st, Premier League)
Chelsea go straight into the group stage, the draw for which takes place on August 27. They will be one of the top seeds as, under new UEFA rules, the champions of Europe's top seven leagues will all be seeded. That means the champions of Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Germany and Russia will also claim a top seeding, so Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Bayern Munich and Zenit St Petersburg will join Chelsea in the top pot. This season's Champions League winners were due to gain the other place in that pot but given either Barcelona or Juventus - already domestic champions - will emerge victorious, the final seeding place will go to the Dutch champions, PSV Eindhoven, as the Eredivisie is rated the eighth-based in Europe on UEFA's ranking system. The opening set of group-stage matches takes place on September 15/16.

Manchester City (2nd, Premier League)
UEFA's rule change has come a year too late for City. However, the 2013/14 Premier League champions will still have decent hopes of receiving a kinder draw than in recent years as they look set to be in the second pot of seeds for the group draw, based on the latest co-efficient rankings. Other group-stage matches are scheduled for September 29/30, October 20/21, November 3/4, November 24/25 and December 8/9.

Arsenal (3rd, Premier League)
Arsenal's regular forays into the knockout stages of the competition have usually ensured their place among the top seeds for the group-stage draw but the change of rules means they will only be in the second pot this time around, alongside the likes of Real Madrid and their city rivals Atletico, meaning they could be drawn in the same pool as Barcelona or Juventus.
Manchester United (4th, Premier League)
Having only finished fourth in their domestic competition, United will have to win a two-legged play-off if they are to qualify for the group stages. If they do win that, they will take their place in the second seeds' pot for the group draw. The play-off tie will be drawn on August 7 and take place on August 18/19 and August 25/26. In that play-off, United will face a fellow 'non-champion' side, the draw keeping apart domestic champions and sides who have qualified by finishing second, third or fourth in their league. It means United cannot be drawn against Celtic.
Celtic (1st, Premiership)
As was the case 12 months ago, the Scottish champions will enter the tournament in the second qualifying round and will need to win three two-legged ties in order to reach the group stage. Their opening tie will see the first leg played on July 14 or 15, with the second leg the following week. They will discover their opponents on June 22. The draw for the third qualifying round will be held on July 17 with the tie scheduled for July 28/29 and August 4/5. Play-off round dates are shown above. As is also shown above, Celtic will only face other domestic champions during their bid to reach the group stage and will not come up against the likes of Manchester United and Valencia from some of Europe's bigger leagues.
The 2015/16 Champions League final will take place at the San Siro in Milan on May 28.
Chelsea are currently the English side regarded by Sky Bet as most likely to conquer Europe
fourth favourites for the trophy, behind Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Manchester City are , with rivals United at 16s. Arsenal are the outsiders of the English quartet at 20/1, while Celtic can be backed at 1,000/1 to win the trophy.

Europa League

Tottenham (5th, Premier League)
By finishing fifth in Premier League thanks to a final-day win at Everton, Spurs ensured they would kick-off another Europa League campaign in the group stage. That gets under way on September 17 with the draw on August 28. Other group matches will be played on October 1, October 22, November 5, November 26 and December 10.
Liverpool (6th, Premier League)
Arsenal's FA Cup success at the weekend was good news for Liverpool. They will now go straight into the group stage of the Europa League, avoiding a potential four extra games which would have been on the table had Villa claimed the trophy. Sixth place always looked likely to be good enough for a Europa spot once Chelsea won the Capital One Cup, their subsequent top-four finish confirming it.
Southampton (7th, Premier League)
Southampton claimed England's final Europa League place on Saturday when Arsenal, already assured of European football next season, won the FA Cup. The cup winners' Europa spot therefore passed onto the side finishing seventh in the Premier League, thus Southampton have a first European campaign in 12 years to show for their impressive season under Ronald Koeman. The bad news is they will now have to start their season on July 30. The second leg of their third qualifying round tie will take place seven days later - just two days before the opening Premier League fixtures. Saints will discover their first opponents on July 17. If they win that tie, Koeman and co will also have to negotiate a play-off before they can think about six group-stage games. The play-off round will be held on August 20 and 27, with the draw being made on August 7.
West Ham (Fair play table)
With England finishing among the top three of UEFA's Respect Fair Play rankings, the Premier League was awarded an extra place in the Europa League. It will be taken by West Ham, who finished top of the Premier League's fair play table. The down side is they will enter the competition in the first qualifying round, the first leg of which will take place on July 2 - more than five weeks before the start of the new domestic campaign. The Hammers will discover their opponents on June 22 when the draw is made. If they are to qualify for the group stages, West Ham will need to win no fewer than four two-legged ties. To win the trophy, West Ham will have to play 23 matches in Europe.
Inverness (Scottish Cup winners)
Thanks to Saturday's 2-1 victory over Falkirk in the Scottish Cup final, Inverness will start their Europa League campaign in the second qualifying round, as opposed to the first they would have been in had they only qualified via their third-placed Premiership finish. The second qualifying round takes place on July 16 and 23. The draw is on June 22.
Aberdeen (2nd, Premiership)
The Dons will kick-off their European season on July 2 with the first leg of their first qualifying round tie. The second leg takes place on July 9. Aberdeen fans will not have to wait long to discover their opponents - the draw for the first two qualifying rounds is made on June 22.
St Johnstone (4th, Premiership)
Inverness' cup final success at the weekend was good news for the Perth-based club, who will now compete in the Europa League for the fourth season in a row. With Inverness having qualified on two fronts (they had already secured European football by finishing third in the Premiership), one of their places went to the fourth-placed finishers, St Johnstone. Like Aberdeen, they will start in the first qualifying round (date details above).
The 2015/16 Europa League final will take place at St Jakob Park in Basel on May 18.