August 30th 2024.
On Friday evening, the Europa League draw took place, revealing the opponents for Manchester United and Tottenham in this season's revamped league format. Similar to the Champions League, Europe's second club competition has undergone significant changes. Instead of a group stage, there will now be a league format where each team will face eight different opponents, four at home and four away. This change is aimed at creating a more regular knockout format for future seasons.
Manchester United's journey in the Europa League will begin with a home match against Rangers at Old Trafford. They will also face a tough test away at Fenerbahce, where manager Jose Mourinho will be reunited with his former club. Additionally, United's coach Erik ten Hag will also face one of his former clubs, FC Twente, whom he played for in 2002.
Tottenham will also have a challenging road ahead, starting with an away match against Rangers. They will also travel to face Galatasaray and welcome Italian giants Roma to their home ground in one of the most highly anticipated ties of the league phase.
Meanwhile, Rangers will not only face Premier League opponents, but they will also have a showdown with Lyon during their campaign. This adds to the already exciting lineup of opponents that Tottenham and Manchester United will face.
As of now, no specific dates have been assigned for the matches, but this information is expected to be confirmed over the weekend. So what exactly is the new Europa League format? As mentioned earlier, the group stage has been eliminated, and instead, 36 teams will compete in a league format with each club facing eight different opponents, four at home and four away. This means that each team will play two more games than they did in the previous format.
After the league phase, the top eight teams will automatically progress to the round of 16. The remaining teams, from ninth to 24th place, will enter the knock-out play-offs, while the remaining teams will be eliminated from the competition. The knock-out stage will consist of two-legged ties leading up to the finals.
More updates on this exciting new format will be shared in the near future. In the meantime, fans can look forward to an action-packed and highly competitive Europa League season.
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