The “puzzle” of the League Phase of the Europa League was completed with Olympiakos and PAOK learning opponents! Today at 14:00 (sport-fm.gr, COSMOTE SPORT 1)the first historic draw of the new format of the event will be held with Conference League holder and them champions of Greece to learn their eight opponents, being in the second capacity group.
With the new format, the 36 Europa League teams will be in a single group and they will play 8 matches in the league stage (former group stage). They will no longer face three opponents twice (home and away) but face 8 different teams, playing four matches at home and four aways.
The top eight teams in the single standings will automatically advance to the round of 16, while the teams finishing 9th to 24th will compete in double knockout play-off matches to secure their place in the round of 16 competition. The teams that will finish from 25th to 36th place are excludedwithout moving them to the Conference League.
In the knockout phase, the teams between 9th and 16th places will face a team that finished between 17th and 24thwith the second match at home. The eight teams that win the knockout stage play-offs will advance to the round of 16, where they will each face one of the top eight teams, who will have already qualified for the round of 16.
From the round of 16 onwards, the competition will continue to follow the existing knockout format, leading to the neutral venue of the final, San Mamés Bilbao.
The 36 teams of the League Stage of the Europa League
1st capacity group (9 groups)
Roma
Manchester United
Porto
Ajax
Rangers
Eintracht Frankfurt
Lazio
Tottenham
Slavia Prague
2nd capacity group (9 groups)
Society
Alkmaar
Braga
Olympic
Lyon
PAOK
Fenerbahce
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Ferentsvaros
3rd capacity group (9 groups)
Karabagh
Galatasarai
Bodo/Glimt
Victoria Plzen
Union Saint-Jiloise
Dynamo Kyiv
Ludogorets
Midland
Malme
4th capacity group (9 groups)
Athletic Bilbao
Hoffenheim
Nis
Anderlecht
Twenty
Besiktas
Steaua
Stripe
Elfsborg
Source: Sport Fm
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