The big clubs join the Europa League on Friday, when the draw for the group stages will be conducted.
For others, the journey has already begun in the qualifying rounds that have been played throughout the summer.
With a place in next season’s Champions League, as part of the prize for the winner, there is added incentive for teams to clinch the trophy.
The draw will take place at Grimaldi Forum – which hosted the Champions League group stage draw on Thursday – at 1pm.
The Europa League Player of the Season award for 2016-17 will also be presented at the ceremony. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba are the nominees.
The group stage of the Europa League comprises 48 teams, divided into four pots of 12 teams each, with the 12 groups containing one team from each pot. Each group cannot contain more than one team from the same association.
Pot 1: Arsenal, Zenit St. Petersburg, Lyon, Dynamo Kiev, Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao, Lazio, AC Milan, Viktoria Plzen, FC Salzburg, FC Copenhagen, Braga
Pot 2: Steaua Bucharest, Ludogorets Razgrad, BATE Borisov, Everton, Young Boys, Marseille, Real Sociedad, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Lokomotiv Moscow, Austria Vienna, Hertha Berlin, Nice
Pot 3: Astana, Partizan Belgrade, Hoffenheim, Cologne, NK Rijeka, Vitoria Guimaraes, Atalanta, Zulte Waregem, Zorya Luhansk, Rosenborg, Sheriff Tiraspol, Hapoel Beer-Sheva
Pot 4: Apollon Limassol, Istanbul Basaksehir, Konyaspor, Vitesse Arnhem, Slavia Prague, Red Star Belgrade, Skenderbeu, FC Zlin, AEK Athens, FC Lugano, Vardar Skopje, Ostersunds
Arsenal have the highest coefficient (105.192) of any team in the group stage, while Ostersund have the lowest (3.945).
The first games of the 2017-18 Europa League group stage take place on September 14, and the final matches will be played on December 7.
The Europa League group-stage draw can be watched via stream on UEFA.com.