Turkish Süper Lig quad Fenerbahçe, Trabzonspor, Başakşehir and Sivasspor will all kick off their European campaigns on Thrusday.

While defending champion Trabzonspor and Fenerbahçe will fight in the second-tier Europa League, Başakşehir and Sivasspor will battle it out in the third-tier Conference League.

Fenerbahçe will have revenge on mind when it hosts old foe Dynamo Kyiv in Istanbul for a Group B match.

The Ukrainian side ended Fenerbahçe's dream of returning to the Champions League in the second qualifying round earlier in the season.

Kyiv is set to play its home matches in the Polish city of Krakow as war continues to rage in their home country.

Trabzonspor, after a disappointing Champions League playoff against Copenhagen, will now travel to Hungary to open its Europa League Group H account against Ferencvaros.

Başakşehir, on the other hand, will pay a visit to Scottish side hearts for the opening match in Group A.

Turkish Super Cup winner Sivasspor, in the meanwhile, will be looking to use its home advantage to pick up a good start in the Conference League Group G against Czech side Slavia Praha.

Away from Türkiye, Premier League heavyweights Manchester United and Arsenal begin as the leading contenders for this season's Europa League, although Jose Mourinho's Roma is eyeing back-to-back continental titles after claiming the inaugural Europa Conference League earlier this year.

It is a long road to this season's final at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on May 31, 2023, with clubs facing a packed schedule in order to complete the group stage before the World Cup in Qatar starts on Nov. 20.

That means the likes of United and Arsenal will be relying on their squad depth to get them through some of their less glamorous Thursday night fixtures while they try to maintain challenges at the top of the Premier League.

Returning to the Champions League has to be the priority for both, although winning Europe's second-tier trophy is one way of getting there.

Eintracht Frankfurt was the surprise victors last season, beating Rangers in a breathless final in Seville, and it is notable that the last four winners of the trophy all began the campaign in the Europa League group stage, rather than dropping out of the Champions League.

The last club to fall out of Europe's elite club competition and go on to win the Europa League was Atletico Madrid in 2018.

Erik ten Hag's United should not face too many obstacles in advancing from Group E up against Real Sociedad, Sheriff Tiraspol and Neil Lennon's Omonia Nicosia.

Real Sociedad, who finished sixth in La Liga last season, will come to Old Trafford for its opening game with a 36-year-old David Silva in tow but without Alexander Isak following the Swedish striker's departure for Newcastle United.

Europa League winners in 2017 and runner-up in 2021, United will not fear its other opponents, even if perennial Moldovan champions Sheriff beat Real Madrid away in last season's Champions League.

Arsenal, off to a fine start in the Premier League, has landed in a Champions League group in the sense that all three opponents dropped out of the qualifying rounds of that competition.

Villarreal targets Conference League

But none of them will strike fear into Mikel Arteta's side, with Ruud van Nistelrooy's PSV Eindhoven having lost to Rangers in the Champions League playoffs.

It will also face Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt in Group A but start off away to FC Zurich.

The Swiss champions hardly come into the game – which will be played an hour away from Zurich in St. Gallen – in great shape, having failed to win in its domestic league so far and having sold Italian international striker Wilfried Gnonto to Leeds United.

Roma is an intriguing prospect as it looks to follow up its Conference League victory by winning a competition that Mourinho has got his hands on twice before, including with United in 2017.

Among its group-stage opponent will be Real Betis, whose coach Manuel Pellegrini was Mourinho's predecessor at Real Madrid over a decade ago.

Roma's city rival Lazio, or an ambitious Monaco, might also enter the Europa League with ambitions of winning the trophy although it is notable that the last 11 editions of the tournament have all been won by clubs from Spain, England, or Germany.

Meanwhile, leading contenders to succeed Roma as Europa Conference League winner include last season's Champions League semifinalist Villarreal and an expensively-assembled West Ham United squad.

Yet the charm of the Conference League lies in the presence of several genuine minnows for whom the chance of playing in the group stages of such a competition could be transformational.

For Ballkani, champions of Kosovo, and FC Vaduz, who come from Liechtenstein but play in the Swiss second division and qualified by virtue of winning their national cup, just being there is a remarkable achievement.