The2024–25 UEFA Europa League league phase began on 25 September 2024 and ended on 30 January 2025. A total of 36 teams competed in the league phase to decide the 24 places in theknockout phase of the2024–25 UEFA Europa League.
RFS made their debut appearance in the Europa League since the introduction of the group stage. A total of 23 national associations were represented in the league phase.
This was the first season with thesingle-league format, which replaced the group format used until theprevious season.[1] With the format change, the number of matches prior to the knockout phase increased from 96 to 144.Porto'sSamu Aghehowa was the first-ever goalscorer of the competition's league phase.[2]
Each team played eight matches, four at home and four away, against eight different opponents, with all 36 teams ranked in a single league table. Teams were separated into four pots based on their2024 UEFA club coefficients, and each team played two teams from each of the four pots – one at home and one away. The top eight ranked teams received a bye to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th were eliminated from all competitions, with no access to the2024–25 UEFA Conference League.
Teams were ranked according topoints (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams were equal on points upon completion of the league phase, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine their rankings:[3]
Goal difference;
Goals scored;
Away goals scored;
Wins;
Away wins;
Higher number of points obtained collectively by league phase opponents;
Superior collective goal difference of league phase opponents;
Higher number of goals scored collectively by league phase opponents;
Lower disciplinary points total (direct red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
During the league phase, criteria 1 to 5 were used to rank teams who had equal number of points. Should any teams have been equal on points and tied on the first five criteria, they were considered equal in position and sorted alphabetically. Criteria 6 to 10 was only used to break ties upon completion of all matches.[4]
The 36 teams were divided into four pots of nine teams each, with teams allocated to pots based on their 2024UEFA club coefficients.[5][6] The participants included:
The draw for the league phase pairings was held at theGrimaldi Forum inMonaco on 30 August 2024, 13:00CEST.[7][8] All 36 teams were manually drawn using physical balls. For every team manually drawn, a guest on stage pressed the button for the automated software to digitally draw their opponents at random, determining which of their matches were at home and which ones away. Each team faced two opponents from each of the four pots, one of which they faced at home and one away. Teams could not face opponents from their own association, and could only be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same association. The draw started with Pot 1, assigning opponents to all teams, one after the other, and continued with the other pots in ascending order until all teams were assigned their opponents.[9][10][11]
The switch to a primarily computer-based draw was made due to issues with the complexity and duration required by a manual draw.[12] The draw software, developed by AE Live, guaranteed total randomness within the framework of the draw conditions and prevented any deadlock situations. The software was reviewed by external auditorErnst & Young, which also provided review and control of the manual and digital draw operations on-site.[9]
The fixture list was announced on 31 August 2024, the day after the draw.[15][16][17] This was to ensure no calendar clashes with teams inChampions League andConference League playing in the same cities.[9]
In principle, each team did not play more than two home matches or two away matches in a row, and played one home match and one away match across both the first and last two matchdays. The matches were played on 25–26 September (exclusive week),[note 1] 3 October, 24 October, 7 November, 28 November, 12 December 2024, 23 January and 30 January 2025. All matches were played on Thursdays, except for the competition's exclusive week, which also included Wednesday fixtures, as well as a few select matches due to scheduling concerns. In principle, the scheduled kick-off times were 16:30, 18:45 and 21:00 CET/CEST. All fixtures on the final matchday were played simultaneously at 21:00.[19][20]
Times areCET orCEST,[note 2] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
^As part of the scheduling for the 2024–25 UEFA men's club season, each competition had an "exclusive week" in the calendar, with no other competitions scheduled during this week. For the Europa League, this took place on matchday 1 (25–26 September 2024).[18]
^CEST (UTC+2) for dates up to 26 October 2024 (matchdays 1–3), andCET (UTC+1) for dates thereafter (matchdays 4–8).
^abcdDue to theRussian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian teams were required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.[25] Therefore, Dynamo Kyiv played their home matches at Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, Germany, instead of their regular stadium,Olympic Stadium,Kyiv.
^The Tottenham Hotspur v Qarabağ match, originally scheduled for 21:00 (20:00UTC+1), was delayed to 21:35 (20:35UTC+1) due to late team arrival caused by heavy traffic.[56]
^abcdRFS played their home matches at Daugava Stadium, Riga, instead of their regular stadium,LNK Sporta Parks, Riga, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^abcdDue to theGaza war, Israeli teams were required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.[63] Therefore, Maccabi Tel Aviv played their home matches at Partizan Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia, instead of their regular stadium,Bloomfield Stadium,Tel Aviv.
^abcdUnion Saint-Gilloise played their home matches at King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, instead of their regular stadium,Joseph Marien Stadium, Brussels, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^abDue to a strain onIsrael–Turkey relations related to theGaza war, Turkish authorities requested the Beşiktaş v Maccabi Tel Aviv match to be played at a neutral venue. Therefore, Beşiktaş played their home match at Nagyerdei Stadion, Debrecen, Hungary, instead of their regular stadium,Beşiktaş Stadium,Istanbul. Following a request from local authorities, it was also playedbehind closed doors.[172]
Note: Between the 1999–2000 and 2008–09 seasons, the competition was still known as the UEFA Cup. All seasons are included following the competition's absorption of the Cup Winners' Cup.
Lazio
Athletic Bilbao
Manchester United
Eintracht Frankfurt
Lyon
Olympiacos
Rangers
Bodø/Glimt
Anderlecht
FCSB
Ajax
Galatasaray
Viktoria Plzeň
Ferencváros
Porto
Midtjylland
IF Elfsborg
Maccabi Tel Aviv
RFS
Ludogorets Razgrad
Dynamo Kyiv
Qarabağ
