time European Cup champion Juventus will meet big-spending Manchester City in the group stage of the Europa League. The two clubs were drawn together Friday in Group A along with Austrian side Salzburg and Polish team Lech Poznan. City spent heavily in the offseason – around 120 million pounds ($187 million) – to try and establish itself among the top English clubs. Among its marquee signings was Italy striker Mario Balotelli, who joined from Inter Milan. Juventus, meanwhile, is trying to regain its European luster. In addition to its two European Cups, the Turin club also won Europe's second-tier competition three times. City will hope Balotelli's experience of playing in Italy will give them an edge. Balotelli will have unhappy memories of playing Juventus after being the victim of racial taunts from the club's fans over the past two seasons. Last season, the Italian league banned a section of Juventus fans for chanting discriminatory slogans about Balotelli during an Italian Cup game against Napoli – despite appeals to stop over the public address system. Two seasons ago, Juve was ordered to play a home game behind closed doors for another incident of racism aimed at Balotelli, who is of Ghanian descent. Defending champion Atletico Madrid will play in Group B with Bayer Leverkusen, Rosenborg and Aris, while three-time champion Liverpool faces Steaua Bucharest, Napoli and FC Utrecht in Group K. Liverpool's new coach, Roy Hodgson, almost led Fulham to the title last season, but Uruguay striker Diego Forlan's winning goal in extra time gave Atletico the trophy. Metalist Kharkiv and Debrecen are in Group I with former European Cup winner PSV Eindhoven and Sampdoria. Metalist Kharkiv and Karpaty Lviv were each deducted nine points and fined $25,000, and all Karpaty players had penalties of $5,000 to $10,000 imposed over an April 2008 game that ended 4-0 to Metalist. Karpaty was drawn Friday in Group J along with Paris Saint-Germain, former champion Sevilla, and Borussia Dortmund, a former European Cup winner. Barcelona agrees fee for Liverpool's Mascherano Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson criticized Javier Mascherano Friday after the club accepted Barcelona's offer for the unsettled Argentina midfielder. Mascherano, who has been angling for a move away from Anfield, is expected in Spain for a medical this weekend. Liverpool had rejected two previous Barca bids for Mascherano, and also one from Inter Milan. Hodgson was forced to leave him out of the team at Manchester City Monday when he insisted he was not in the right frame of mind to play. Barcelona said on its website (www.fcbarcelona.com) the two clubs had agreed on a transfer that would send Mascherano to the Catalan club for four seasons. “The deal depends on the utility star passing a medical at Barca and then signing the contract. Mascherano will arrive in Barcelona this weekend,” the club said. Spanish media reported the deal was worth around 22 million euros ($28 million). Liverpool confirmed on its website a transfer fee had been agreed but did not disclose what it was. Mascherano would become Barca's third signing of the closed season after the arrivals of Spain striker David Villa and Brazilian full back Adriano Correia.
