The ‘League Phase’ draw for the UEFA Europa League 2024-25 season took place today, 30th August in Monaco.
New Format for UEFA’s Champions League and Europa League
“Instead of 32 teams competing in eight groups of four, 36 clubs will participate this season in the ‘League Phase’. Each club will face eight different opponents, two each from four pots of nine, and qualify to the ‘Round of 16’ based on the final rankings.
There are no more home-and-away ties. Clubs will face four of their opponents at home, and the other four away. The top eight go through to the next round automatically, the next 16 will play-off against each other in two-legged ties, and the bottom eight will be eliminated altogether.”
Who Do Rangers FC Play Against?
Rangers discovered the eight teams they will compete against, and will hope to progress deep into the competition.
Home - Tottenham Hotspurs
Away - Manchester United
Home - Olympique Lyonnais
Away - Olympiacos
Home - Royale Union Saint-Gilloise
Away - Malmö
Home - FCSB
Away - Nice
The Light Blues have been drawn against two English and two French clubs, playing one of each home and one away. Tough trips await away to Manchester United and Nice while we play host to Tottenham Hotspurs and Olympique Lyonnais, hopefully once we have returned home to the freshly renovated Ibrox Stadium.
Other trips include visits to Greece and Sweden where we play 47-times Greek champions Olympiacos and 23-times Swedish champions Malmö respectively. Meanwhile, 27-times Romanian champions FCSB and 11-times Belgian champions Union SG will visit Glasgow.
When Do the Matches Take Place?
League Phase fixtures will be played across eight matchdays from September 2024 to January 2025:
Matchday 01: 25/26 September, 2024
Matchday 02: 3 October, 2024
Matchday 03: 24 October, 2024
Matchday 04: 7 November, 2024
Matchday 05: 28 November, 2024
Matchday 06: 12 December, 2024
Matchday 07: 23 January, 2025
Matchday 08: 30 January, 2025
All clubs will learn the dates, times, and the order in which they play against each of their opponents once the fixtures are announced on Saturday, 31st August.