Europa League new draw explained: New format, teams, pots and how to find out the fate of Manchester United and Tottenham
The Europa League is set to look very different this season, as major changes have been made to the competition’s format and draw.
Instead of a group stage, UEFA second-tier tournament Now there will be 36 teams in the league stage, in which each team will play eight matches.
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This represents a huge difference to the usual system and also means that the usual draw process has been changed for this campaign.
And here, talkSPORT.com takes a look at when it will happen and how it will work…
Europa League draw: date and how to follow it
The 2024/25 Europa League draw will take place on Friday, August 30.
It will be held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Proceedings begin at 12pm UK time.
There will be full coverage of the draw on talkSPORT 2.
To watch talkSPORT 2 via the website, Click here for the live stream.
You can also listen through this talkSPORT AppOn DAB digital radio, via your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
It will also be available to watch live for free on UEFA.com. You can find out more Here,
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Europa League draw: new format
The draw has also been changed this year due to the new league stage.
Teams will be seeded into four pots of nine based on their club’s European coefficient at the start of the season.
Instead of being divided into groups, each team will now play against two opponents from each pot, with one team playing at home and the other away.
Clubs cannot play other clubs from their own country and can only play two teams from the same country during the league stage.
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Along with the change in the format, there has also been a change in the selection of teams.
All 36 teams will be selected based on physical balls, but their opponents will now be decided by automated software.
The software will randomly select a team’s opponent, whether the match will be home or away, and will also display the tie on screen during the draw.
The draw will begin with Pot 1, in which teams will be assigned opponents one by one, and this will continue for all the other pots until every team knows their fate.
Europa League draw: Teams and pots
Pot 1: Roma, Manchester United, PortoAjax, Rangers, Eintracht FrankfurtTottenham, Lazioslavia prague
Pot 2: Royal SocietyAZ Alkmaar, Braga, Olympiacos, Lyon, PAOK, FenerbahceMaccabi Tel Aviv, Ferencvaros
Pot 3: Karabakh, GalatasarayViktoria Plzen, Bodo/Glimt, Union Saint-Gilloise, Dynamo Kiev, Ludogorets Razgrad, Midtjylland, Malmo
Pot 4: Athletic Bilbao, Hoffenheim, GoodAnderlecht, FC TwenteBesiktas, FCSB, FK RFS, IF Elfsborg
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Europa League draw: match dates
The first matches of the Europa League stage will take place next month between September 25 and September 26.
The match start time will be confirmed closer to the match date.
- Match Day 1: September 25-26, 2024
- Match Day 2: October 3, 2024
- Match Day 3: October 24, 2024
- Match Day 4: November 7, 2024
- Match Day 5: November 28, 2024
- Match Day 6: December 12, 2024
- Match Day 7: January 23, 2025
- Match Day 8: January 30, 2025