Spurs in the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League – new format explained, draw dates, key information
Mon 20 May 2024, 17:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Our 3-0 victory at Sheffield United on the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday rubber-stamped a fifth-place finish and a spot in next season’s UEFA Europa League.
It means we’ll return to the competition for the first time since 2020/21, although the tournament will take a different format to the one we last contested.
From next season (2024/25), the previous group stage, where teams were divided into groups of four, will become a single 36-team league stage.
Each club faces eight different teams once, four at home and four away. The top eight advance directly to the round of 16, while sides finishing from ninth to 24th will contest the knockout round play-offs, with the winners of all eight two-legged ties going through to the last 16.
From the last 16 onwards, the tournament then takes a straight knockout format, with two-legged ties through until a single-leg final on 21 May, 2025, at the Estadio de San Mamés in Bilbao, Spain.
For certain clubs to try to qualify for the initial league stage, there will be three qualifying rounds and then a play-off round in July and August.
However, by virtue of our fifth-place finish in the Premier League, we have qualified directly for the league stage.
The draw for the league stage will take place on 30 August, 2024, with match rounds pencilled in as follows...
Matchday 1: 25/26 September, 2024
Matchday 2: 3 October, 2024
Matchday 3: 24 October, 2024
Matchday 4: 7 November, 2024
Matchday 5: 28 November, 2024
Matchday 6: 12 December, 2024
Matchday 7: 23 January, 2025
Matchday 8: 30 January, 2025
The draw for the knockout round play-offs, for the clubs finishing ninth to 24th, will take place on 31 January, 2025, with the two legs of those ties set to be played on 13 and 20 February, 2025.
The draw for the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals will be held on 21 February, 2025, with match dates pencilled in as follows...
Round of 16: 6 and 13 March, 2025
Quarter-finals: 10 and 17 April, 2025
Semi-finals: 1 and 8 May, 2025
Final: 21 May, 2025
Dates are subject to change.
The 2024/25 UEFA Europa League winners gain a place in the league stage of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League, if they have not qualified via their domestic league.