Manchester United have today found out who they will play in the UEFA Europa League this season, which is set up differently to the last time they played in the competition. United qualified for the competition this season by lifting the Emirates FA Cup, beating Manchester City 2-1.
The Europa is much different this season, scrapping the group stage and bringing in a league with each team playing eight matches. United were drawn against Rangers (H), FC Porto (A), PAOK (H), Fenerbahce (A), Bodø Glim(H)t, Viktoria Plzen (A), FC Twente (H) and FCSB (A).
United will play each of the eight teams once; four matches at home and four matches away. The top eight teams in the league will reach the round of 16 stage, with the ninth to twenty-fourth place playing a play off round to earn a place in the round of 16.
The remaining teams in the league stage will be eliminated from the competition. The remainder of the competition is still the same from the quarter final stage. It should be an interesting season for United, who now have eight more matches, at least, to contend with this season.
What are the changes to the UEFA Europa League ahead of the 2024/25 season?
The group stage has now gone. Each participant in the competition, after qualifying rounds, will play in a league system which is based on the Swiss Model. There will be 36 teams in the competition, coming from four league stage pots – each team playing eight matches before the next round.
Where a team finished in the league system will dictate their next step in the competition. For example, team finishing first to eighth place will reach the round of 16 stage in the Europa League. Ninth to twenty-fourth will face a play-off round – home and away – to reach the round of 16.
Teams that finish from twenty-fifth to thirty-sixth place will be eliminated from the Europa League. This will guarantee more matches for club, which is not going to be great for teams like United, who at the time will be participating in the Premier League, Europa League and the Carabao Cup.
After the initial stages, the Europa League will continue to run in the same way as it was from the round of 16 stage with home and away legs in that round, the quarter-final and the semi-final and a one-legged final played at the end of the season. It could be a good money-maker for smaller clubs.
How will the draw for the UEFA Europa League new league stage work?
Every team in the competition will be drawn against two teams from each of the four Europa League pots. In the league format, teams will not play each other home and away, as has been the case in prior seasons of the competition. Each team will play four home matches and four away matches.
The eight matches will be against each team once – no repeat fixtures in the league stage – home and away leg matches will commence in the round of 16 stage – or in the play-off round for those teams finishing ninth to twenty-fourth in the league system.
It means that for teams winning the UEFA Europa League from the 2024/25 season, a total of 17 matches will be played from the starts of the League Stage to the final – with those teams who has to qualify playing a lot more matches than they would have in previous seasons.
When will the UEFA Europa League matches take place?
The League Stage matches will take place on the following dates, which are yet to be arranged;
25/26 September, 3 October, 24 October, 7 November, 28 November, 12 December, 23 January 2025 and the 30 January.
The Knockout round play-offs – 13 and 20 February with the Round of 16 – 6 and 13 March. The Quarter-finals – 10 and 17 April with the Semi-finals – 1 and 8 May. The Final will be played at the Estadio de San Mamés in Bilbao, Spain on Wednesday 21 May 2025.
Written by Paul
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