All UEFA competitions in the 2024/25 season will adopt a new Swiss model that sees several changes to how teams will compete.
It will be the 54th season of this club competition, the 16th since it became the Europa League after previously being known as the UEFA Cup.
It will also be the first season of the new format and it all kicks off on 11 July 2024 with the preliminary qualifying rounds and runs until the final on 21 May 2025.
The Sporting News takes a look at the Europa League's new setup and how this will affect Manchester United, who qualified by beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
MORE: Who has qualified for UEFA Champions League 2024/25?
What are the changes to the 2024/25 Europa League? New format, schedule
UEFA has introduced significant changes to its Champions League and Europa League formats, replacing the traditional round-robin stage from next season. Previously the competitions featured 32 teams divided into eight groups of four. Starting in the 2024/25 season, 36 clubs will compete in a single league phase, replacing the group stage and offering four additional teams the chance to take part.
In this new format, each team will play eight matches against eight different opponents instead of playing three teams home and away. Half of these matches will be at home, and the other half away. Teams will be initially seeded into four pots, and each team will be drawn to play two opponents from each pot, ensuring a mix of home and away games.
Who could Man United play in Europa League league phase?
Based on the new format information above, and the projected pots in the tweet below, Man United could have these matches for example:
- Matchday 1: Porto (A)
- Matchday 2: Rangers (H)
- Matchday 3: Salzburg (H)
- Matchday 4: Braga (A)
- Matchday 5: Athletic Club (H)
- Matchday 6: Hoffenheim (A)
- Matchday 7: Anderlecht (H)
- Matchday 8: Servette (A)
Europa League 2024/25 key dates, schedule
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: 13 & 20 February 2025
Round of 16: 6 & 13 March 2025
Quarter-finals: 10 & 17 April 2025
Semi-finals: 1 & 8 May 2025
Final: 21 May 2025
Where is the Europa League final?
The 2024/25 UEFA Europa League season will finish at the beautiful Estadio de San Mames in Bilbao, Spain, on 21 May 2025.
This stadium has a capacity of 53,289 and became the home of Athletic Club in September 2013, replacing the original San Mames that had served the club since 1913.
The old stadium hosted the second leg of the 1977 UEFA Cup final, where Athletic beat Juventus 2-1 but lost on away goals after a 1-0 loss in the first leg. It also hosted three matches during the 1982 FIFA World Cup finals.
Barcelona defeated Lyon at San Mames is the 2024 UEFA Women's Champions League final.