There were three British representatives in Friday’s Monaco-based draw for the 2024/25 edition of European football’s secondary club competition, which, like the Champions League, has been subject to major changes by Uefa this term.
The traditional group stage has been replaced by a new opening league phase, with 36 teams playing eight matches - four at home and four away - with the top eight progressing directly through to the last 16 and the clubs that finish between ninth and 24th facing a two-legged knockout play-off round in the New Year. The teams that finish 25th or below will be eliminated from European competition altogether.
Friday’s semi-automated Europa League draw at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo mirrored that of the Champions League on Thursday, with a club drawn individually and manually from each pot by former Sweden midfielder Glenn Stromberg - a legendary figure with current Europa League holders Atalanta - and 2024/25 final ambassador and Athletic Bilbao hero Aritz Aduriz taking the Cristiano Ronaldo role from yesterday and pushing a button that saw the computer software then quickly formulate each club’s fixture list at random.
Tough draw: Rangers will face both Tottenham and Manchester United in the Europa League (Getty Images)
Clubs will face two teams from each pot and can only play a maximum of two teams from the same country, with domestic rivals kept apart at this stage of the competition to rule out any chance of an early showdown between Premier League heavyweights Tottenham and Manchester United.
However, both sides will end up facing Pot 1 rivals and two-time Europa League runners-up Rangers, who were first to find out their games and drew both English clubs having lost Dynamo Kyiv in Champions League qualifying earlier this month.
Philippe Clement’s side are set to host Manchester United at Ibrox after renovation work led to a brief spell at Hampden Park, while they will travel to face Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in addition to further tough tests at home to Lyon and away against current Conference League holders Olympiacos.
Rangers will also host Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium and travel to play Malmo in Sweden, in addition to a home tie against FCSB of Romania and a trip to France to take on Nice.The other big headline from Friday’s draw was 2016/17 Europa League winners United’s reunion with former manager Mourinho, now in charge of Turkish giants Fenerbahce.
The Red Devils will travel to Istanbul as part of an intriguing fixture list that also includes that home tie with Rangers plus a testing trip to Porto.
They are also at home to reigning Greek champions PAOK, Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt and Dutch outfit FC Twente, while they will be on the road against Viktoria Plzen of the Czech Republic - who ousted Hearts in the play-off round on Thursday night - and FCSB.
Two-time Uefa Cup champions Tottenham drew a high-profile home clash with Roma from Pot 1 as well as that trip to Rangers, with Ange Postecoglou’s men also hosting AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands and welcoming both Azerbaijani side Qarabag and Elfsborg of Sweden.As well as a visit to Glasgow, Spurs will also be away from home against Ferencvaros of Hungary and Turkish powerhouses Galatasaray, in addition to German side Hoffenheim.Uefa plan to confirm the exact dates and kick-off times for every match in the league phase on Saturday (August 31), with the opening matchday set to come across 25/26 September.
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