2' min
The Europa League 2024/2025, along with the Champions League and the Conference League, will debut with a new format. The group stage is being replaced by a single league featuring 36 teams in one unified standings. Each team will play eight matches, four at home and four away. At the end of this initial phase, the top eight teams will advance directly to the Round of 16. Teams finishing from ninth to twenty-fourth will compete in playoffs for the remaining Round of 16 spots.
After the second qualifying round, the third qualifying round matches are scheduled for August 8 and 15, 2024. The playoffs will follow on August 22 and 29. The first matchday of the league phase will be held on September 25-26, 2024, with subsequent matchdays on October 3, October 24, November 7, November 28, December 12, January 23, 2025, and the final matchday on January 30, 2025. The knockout phase playoffs will take place on February 13 and 20, 2025, followed by the Round of 16 on March 6 and 13. The quarterfinals are set for April 10 and 17, with the semifinals on May 1 and 8. The Europa League final will be held on May 21, 2025, at the Estadio de San Mamés in Bilbao, Spain, which has a capacity of over 50,000.
Regarding the draw dates, the playoff draw will take place on August 5. The league phase draw is scheduled for August 29. The playoff draw for the knockout phase will be on January 31, 2025. Draws for the Round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals will occur on February 21, 2025.
The last two editions of the Europa League have seen tears of both despair and joy for two Italian teams. On May 31, 2023, at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, José Mourinho’s Roma, winners of the previous year's Conference League, succumbed to Sevilla on penalties (4-1), a team known for its expertise in this competition. This year, Atalanta under Gian Piero Gasperini celebrated a resounding 3-0 victory over Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen, the German champions, thanks to a stunning hat-trick by Ademola Lookman. The Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, on May 22 was the stage for Gasperini's historic success with Atalanta.
