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Everything You Need To Know About The 2024/25 UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League has entered a new era with an expanded format, marking its 16th year since the rebranding.
The competition is set to conclude on May 21, 2025.
Here are all the things you need to know ahead of the tournament.
How does the new format work?
The Europa League league phase begins on September 25th and will replace the traditional group stage. Instead of eight groups of four, all 36 teams will participate in one expanded league.
Teams will compete in eight matches, which will be randomly drawn before the first fixtures. Each team will host four home games and play four away matches, resulting in two additional matchdays scheduled to occur after the winter break.
When is the first main draw?
The league phase draw will take place on August 30th.
The top eight from the league phase automatically head straight into the round of 16 knockout stages.
Meanwhile, the teams who finish ninth to 24th will head to the play-offs and battle it out for a place in the next round.
Following that, the tournament will proceed in a straight knockout format leading up to the final on May 25th, to be held at San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao, Spain.
Each knockout round leading up to the final consists of two-legged matches.
When will the league phase take place?
Matchday One: September 25/26th 2024
Matchday Two: October 3rd 2024
Matchday Three: October 24th 2024
Matchday Four: November 7th 2024
Matchday Five: November 28th, 2024
Matchday Six: December 12th, 2024
Matchday Seven: January 23rd, 2025
Matchday Eight: January 30th, 2025
When will the knockout phase take place?
Knockout round play-offs: February 13th and 20th 2025
Round of 16: March 6th and 13th 2025
Quarter-finals: April 10th and 17th 2025
Semi-finals: May 1st and 8th 2025
Final: May 21st 2025
Who are the current Europa League holders?
Atalanta are the reigning champions after they beat Bayer Leverkusen in Dublin 3-0 thanks to an Ademola Lookman hat-trick that took them to victory.
They won’t be able to defend their title in 2024/25 due to the new format.
