The 2024–25 UEFA Europa League league phase began on 25 September 2024 and will end on 30 January 2025. A total of 36 teams are competing in the league phase to decide the 24 places in the knockout phase of the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League.
RFS made their debut appearance in the Europa League since the introduction of the group stage. A total of 23 national associations are represented in the league phase.
This is the first season with the single-league format, which replaces the group format used until the previous season.[1] With the format change, the number of matches prior to the knockout phase will increase from 96 to 144. Porto's Samu Omorodion was the first-ever goalscorer of the competition's league phase.[2]
Format
Each team will play eight matches, four at home and four away, against eight different opponents, with all 36 teams ranked in a single league table. Teams were separated into four pots based on their 2024 UEFA club coefficients, and each team will play two teams from each of the four pots – one at home and one away. The top eight ranked teams will receive a bye to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th are eliminated from all competitions, with no access to the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League.
Tiebreakers
Teams will be ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points upon completion of the league phase, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine their rankings:[3]
Goal difference;
Goals scored;
Away goals scored;
Wins;
Away wins;
Higher number of points obtained collectively by league phase opponents;
Superior collective goal difference of league phase opponents;
Higher number of goals scored collectively by league phase opponents;
Lower disciplinary points total (direct red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
During the league phase, criteria 1 to 5 will be used to rank teams who have equal number of points. Should any teams be equal on points and tied on the first five criteria, they will be considered equal in position and sorted alphabetically. Criteria 6 to 10 will only be used to break ties upon completion of all matches.[4]
Teams and seeding
The 36 teams were divided into four pots of nine teams each, with teams allocated to pots based on their 2024 UEFA club coefficients.[5][6] The participants include:
ECL Europa Conference League title holders (now known as the Conference League)
EL-PO Winners of play-off round
CL-CP Losers of Champions League play-off round (Champions Path)
CL-LP Losers of Champions League play-off round (League Path)
CL-L3 Losers of Champions League third qualifying round (League Path)
Draw
The draw for the league phase pairings was held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 30 August 2024, 13:00 CEST.[7][8] All 36 teams were manually drawn using physical balls. For every team manually drawn, automated software digitally drew their opponents at random, determining which of their matches were at home and which ones away. Each team will face two opponents from each of the four pots, one of which they will face at home and one away. Teams could not face opponents from their own association, and could only be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same association. The draw started with Pot 1, assigning opponents to all teams, one after the other, and continued with the other pots in ascending order until all teams were assigned their opponents.[9][10][11]
The switch to a primarily computer-based draw was made due to issues with the complexity and duration required by a manual draw.[12] The draw software, developed by AE Live, guaranteed total randomness within the framework of the draw conditions and prevented any deadlock situations. The software was reviewed by external auditor Ernst & Young, which also provided review and control of the manual and digital draw operations on-site.[9]
The fixture list was announced on 31 August 2024, the day after the draw.[14][15][16] This was to ensure no calendar clashes with teams in Champions League and Conference League playing in the same cities.[9]
In principle, each team will not play more than two home matches or two away matches in a row, and will play one home match and one away match across both the first and last two matchdays. The matches will be played on 25–26 September (exclusive week),[note 1] 3 October, 24 October, 7 November, 28 November, 12 December 2024, 23 January and 30 January 2025. All matches will be played on Thursdays, except for the competition's exclusive week, which also includes Wednesday fixtures. In principle, the scheduled kick-off times will be 16:30, 18:45 and 21:00 CET/CEST. All fixtures on the final matchday will be played simultaneously at 21:00.[18][19]
Times are CET or CEST,[note 2] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
^As part of the scheduling for the 2024–25 UEFA men's club season, each competition will have an "exclusive week" in the calendar, with no other competitions scheduled during this week. For the Europa League, this will take place on matchday 1 (25–26 September 2024).[17]
^CEST (UTC+2) for dates up to 26 October 2024 (matchdays 1–3), and CET (UTC+1) for dates thereafter (matchdays 4–8).
^ abcdDue to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian teams are required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.[24] Therefore, Dynamo Kyiv will play their home matches at Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, Germany, instead of their regular stadium, Olympic Stadium, Kyiv.
^The Tottenham Hotspur v Qarabağ match, originally scheduled for 21:00 (20:00 UTC+1), was delayed to 21:35 (20:35 UTC+1) due to late team arrival caused by heavy traffic.[55]
^ abcdRFS will play their home matches at Daugava Stadium, Riga, instead of their regular stadium, LNK Sporta Parks, Riga, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^ abcdDue to the Israel–Hamas war, Israeli teams are required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.[62] Therefore, Maccabi Tel Aviv will play their home matches at Partizan Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia, instead of their regular stadium, Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv.
^ abcdUnion Saint-Gilloise will play their home matches at King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, instead of their regular stadium, Joseph Marien Stadium, Brussels, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
Note: Between the 1999–2000 and 2008–09 seasons, the competition was still known as the UEFA Cup. All seasons are included following the competition's absorption of the Cup Winners' Cup.
