Europa League Betting Odds

Understanding the New Europa League Format

For the 2024/25 season, there is a completely new format in place for the UEFA competitions, including the Europa League. Instead of the classic group stage which many of us have come to love, the participating clubs now square off in a 'league phase' instead. As a result, there are also 36 teams in the competition instead of 32.

The qualification stage has remained unchanged and can be fairly complicated, with many associations competing in this stage. Therefore, we recommend visiting the official UEFA Europa League website for more information. In this section, instead, we will focus on the new league phase and how it changed the competition.

As said, 36 clubs now compete against each other in the so-called league phase, which has completely eliminated the group format. Instead of playing six games against three opponents, each club now plays eight games against eight different teams (home or away). The four ranking pots, which were also used for the group draw, remain to decide the opponents.

Two from each pot are drawn for a club, in an attempt by UEFA to ensure a good range of quality. Clubs finishing in positions 1-8 immediately qualify for the knockout stage, which has remained unchanged, while those in positions 9-16 and 17-24 must face each other in a knockout play-off tie (two legs).

Those finishing in positions 9-16 are seeded in the play-off tie and thus play the return leg at home. In conclusion, this means that the clubs taking part in the Europa League must play at least 8 games (at most 10) instead of 6 to reach the knockout stage. Those who get knocked out of the league phase are not sent down to the Conference League, it should be noted.