Europa League 2024-25 Soccer

[Legion]

The league phase draw for the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League took place today, Friday 30 August.

Under the new format, teams will play eight matches in the new league phase (former group stage). They will no longer play three opponents twice – home and away – but will instead face fixtures against eight different teams, playing half of those matches at home and half of them away. To determine the eight different opponents, the teams will initially be ranked in four seeding pots. Each team will then be drawn to play two opponents from each of these pots, playing one match against a team from each pot at home, and one away.

The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the round of 16, while the teams finishing in 9th to 24th place will compete in a two-legged knock-out phase play-off to secure their path to the last 16 of the competition. Teams that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated, with no access to the UEFA Conference League.

In the knockout phase, the teams that finish between 9th and 16th will be seeded in the knockout phase play-off draw, meaning they will face a team placed 17th to 24th – with, in principle, the return leg at home. The eight clubs which prevail in the knockout phase play-offs will then progress to the round of 16, where they will each face one of the top-eight finishers, who will be seeded in the round of 16.

• Matchday 1: 25/26 September, 2024
• Matchday 2: 3 October, 2024
• Matchday 3: 24 October, 2024
• Matchday 4: 7 November, 2024
• Matchday 5: 28 November, 2024
• Matchday 6: 12 December, 2024
• Matchday 7: 23 January, 2025
• Matchday 8: 30 January, 2025

Knockout round play-offs: February 13 & 20, 2025

Round of 16: March 6 & 13, 2025

Quarter-finals: April 10 & 17, 2025

Semi-finals: May 1 & 8, 2025

Final: May 21, 2025 (Estadio de San Mames, Spain)

 

[Legion]

Here's a quick look at who the British teams will face.

Manchester United

• Rangers (H)
• Porto (A)
• PAOK (H)
• Fenerbahce (A)
• Bodo/Glimt (H)
• Viktoria Plzen (A)
• FC Twente (H)
• FCSB (A)

Rangers

• Tottenham (H)
• Manchester United (A)
• Lyon (H)
• Olympiakos (A)
• Union SG (H)
• Malmo (A)
• FCSB (H)
• Nice (A)

Tottenham

• Roma (H)
• Rangers (A)
• AZ Alkmaar (H)
• Ferencvaros (A)
• Qarabag (H)
• Galatasaray (A)
• Elfsborg (H)
• Hoffenheim (A)

 

[Dylan]

An entertaining game between Porto and Man United. It finished 3-3, United had been leading 2-0 then it was 3-2 to Porto before Harry McGuire rescued a point in injury time.

Bruno Fernandes was sent off on 81 minutes. United had 29 shots on goal in the match - more than I can remember them having for quite some time!

Rangers got thumped 4-1 by Lyon at Ibrox but it was also a pretty entertaining game. Not been a good couple of days for the Old Firm though as Scottish football once game takes a battering in Europe.

Tottenham beat Ferencvaros 2-1 in Hungary and are one of five teams that have won their opening two games in this new format for the Europa League this year

 

[Tom]

In the Europa League, which follows the same format as the Champions League, AZ Alkmaar face Galatasaray and Midtjylland will play Real Sociedad in the play-offs.

The winners of those ties will face either Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur in the last 16.

Twente will play Bodo/Glimt and Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce have been drawn against Anderlecht, with one of the winners of those two ties then facing Rangers.

United and Spurs were third and fourth in the 36-team Europa League group stage respectively, and with Rangers finishing eighth it meant all three British sides qualified automatically for the last 16.

Europa League play-off draw in full

Ferencvaros v Viktoria Plzen
Porto v Roma
AZ Alkmaar v Galatasaray
Midtjylland v Real Sociedad
Union Saint-Gilloise v Ajax
PAOK v FCSB
Twente v Bodo/Glimt
Fenerbahce v Anderlecht

The two-legged play-off ties are on 13 and 20 February, with the last-16 matches scheduled for 6 and 13 March.

 

[Best]

Here's the full draw for the rest of the Europa League

Round of 16
Left
FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) V S.S. Lazio (ITA)
FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR) V Olympiacos FC (GRE)
AFC Ajax (NED) V Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)
AZ Alkmaar (NED) V Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG)

Right
AS Roma (ITA) V Athletic Club Bilbao (ESP)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) V Rangers FC (SCO)
Fotbal Club FCSB (ROU) V Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
Real Sociedad de Fútbol (ESP) V Manchester United FC (ENG)

Quarter-Final
Left
FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR)/Olympiacos FC (GRE) V FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)/S.S. Lazio (ITA)
AZ Alkmaar (NED)/Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG) V AFC Ajax (NED)/Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)

Right
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR)/Rangers FC (SCO) V AS Roma (ITA)/Athletic Club Bilbao (ESP)
Fotbal Club FCSB (ROU)/Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) V Real Sociedad de Fútbol (ESP)/Manchester United FC (ENG)

Semi-Finals
Left
AFC Ajax (NED)/Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)/AZ Alkmaar (NED)/Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG) V FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)/S.S. Lazio (ITA)/FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR)/Olympiacos FC (GRE)

Right
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR)/Rangers FC (SCO) V AS Roma (ITA)/Athletic Club Bilbao (ESP) V Real Sociedad de Fútbol (ESP)/Manchester United FC (ENG)/Fotbal Club FCSB (ROU)/Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)

 

[Tom]

What a fantastic score for Rangers tonight, beating Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahçe 3-1 in Turkey!

 

[Dylan]

Round of 16 1st Leg Results

AZ Alkmaar (NED) 1 V 0 Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) 1 V 3 Rangers FC (SCO)
Fotbal Club FCSB (ROU) 1 V 3 Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
Real Sociedad de Fútbol (ESP) 1 V 1 Manchester United FC (ENG)
AFC Ajax (NED) 1 V 2 Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)
AS Roma (ITA) 2 V 1 Athletic Club Bilbao (ESP)
FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) 1 V 2 S.S. Lazio (ITA)
FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR) 3 V 0 Olympiacos FC (GRE)

 

[Tom]

Round of 16 2nd Leg Results

Athletic Club Bilbao (ESP) 3 V 1 AS Roma (ITA) - (Agg 4-3)
Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) 4 V 1 AFC Ajax (NED) - (Agg 6-2)
Olympiacos FC (GRE) 2 V 1 FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR) - (Agg 2-4)
S.S. Lazio (ITA) 1 V 1 FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) - (Agg 3-2)
Manchester United FC (ENG) 4 V 1 Real Sociedad de Fútbol (ESP) - (Agg 5-2)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) 4 V 0 Fotbal Club FCSB (ROU) - (Agg 7-1)
Rangers FC (SCO) 0 V 2 Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) AET - (Agg 3-3) Rangers FC (SCO) win on pens 3-2
Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG) 3 V 1 AZ Alkmaar (NED) - (Agg 3-2)

Quarter-Final
Left
FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR) V S.S. Lazio (ITA)
Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG) V Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)

Right
Rangers FC (SCO) V Athletic Club Bilbao (ESP)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) V Manchester United FC (ENG)

 

[David76]

It was a disappointing night for the 3 British clubs, all of them getting draws. Man United will be the happiest as they have their 2nd leg at home, but they must be frustrated that another error by Onana led to a goal and also conceding a goal from a free kick right at the end of the game.

Rangers played nearly 90 minutes (there were 12 minutes of added time) with 10 men, so they might be happy with a 0-0 scoreline going into the away leg.

Quarter-Finals 1st Leg Results
FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR) 2 V 0 S.S. Lazio (ITA)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) 2 V 2 Manchester United FC (ENG)
Rangers FC (SCO) 0 V 0 Athletic Club Bilbao (ESP)
Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG) 1 V 1 Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)

Quarter-Finals 2nd Legs
Thursday April 17th
20:00 Kick-offs
Athletic Club Bilbao (ESP) V Rangers FC (SCO) - (Agg 0-0) - Live on TNT Sports 2
Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) V Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG) - (Agg 1-1) - Live on TNT Sports 3
Manchester United FC (ENG) V Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) - (Agg 2-2) - Live on TNT Sports 1
S.S. Lazio (ITA) V FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR) - (Agg 0-2) - Live on TNT Sports 5

 

[Bandit]

What a game at Old Trafford.

Unbelievable scenes. United 2-0 up, Lyon come back to level to tie before having a player sent off. Lyon then scored twice in extra-time before United scored 3 goals in the last 6 minutes to go through 7-6 on aggregate!!

Rangers are out after losing 2-0 in Bilbao. Tottenham are in the semis after beating Frankfurt 1-0 in Germany. And Bodo/Glimt beat Lazio on penalties after drawing 3-3 on aggregate.