Return of the UEFA Europa League

Preview of Europa League group stage heading into Matchday 1

On Thursday, the group stages of the Europa League will get underway, with 32 clubs eyeing a trip to Budapest for this season’s final.

In what is the 14th edition of the Europa League under its current guise, the second in this current format with 32 sides promises to be another great year of action.

Here is a look at the format, some facts about the teams taking part in this season’s action and what to look forward to on Thursday ahead of the first set of group games.

Current format of the Europa League

As previously mentioned, this is the second Europa League campaign under the current format, which has 32 teams participating. There were a dozen automatic qualifiers, 10 sides that won their Europa League playoff round ties and 10 teams that were transferred to this point via Champions League qualifying.

After six matchdays of group play, the top teams from each of the eight groups will enter the Round of 16. The runners-up will play against a third-place finisher from a Champions League group in the knockout round playoffs.

The eight winners of that stage will face a Europa League group winner in the following stage.

The teams that finish third in the Europa League group stage will continue continental football in the Europa Conference League, where they will be paired against a team that finished second in the third-tier competition’s group stage.

The winner of the Europa League will get to enjoy a lovely trophy along with a berth in next season’s UEFA Champions League. In case the 2022-23 Europa League winner also qualifies for next year’s Champions League via domestic performance, the third-place side from France will take the vacated place in the UCL group stage.

Starting in the 2024-25 season, the Europa League will once again be revamped, with the group stage being replaced by one large table containing 36 teams. So, don’t get too comfortable with the current format, despite the newness of it.

Some facts and figures in this season’s group stage

Among this season’s 32 group stage participants, only Manchester United has won the Europa League tournament before, going all the way in 2016-17.

Sporting Braga and Arsenal are both former Europa League finalists. Other sides, namely PSV and Feyenoord, won the tournament under the UEFA Cup banner, with the likes of Lazio, AS Roma, and Crvena zvezda all reaching the final in those times.

Of the 32 teams this season, 13 featured in the same stage a year ago. Another four were in the Champions League, while seven were in the Conference League. The remaining eight teams were either eliminated in qualifying or did not make Europe at all.

Both Lazio and PSV have entered this competition’s group stage for the 10th time in 14 editions, a record. Conversely, there are four sides that will play in UEFA’s second tier club competition for the first time: Union Berlin, Union St. Gilloise, Bodø/Glimt, and Nantes.

Both Union Berlin and Bodø/Glimt played in the Europa Conference League a year ago, the latter reaching the quarterfinals before bowing out to eventual winners Roma. Union St. Gilloise will be making its UEFA club competition group stage debut this campaign.

With Union Berlin’s Europa League proper debut, that makes them the 18th different German side to participate in this tournament’s main round. That now leaves them outright leaders in that department, with England (17) and Italy (14) rounding out the top three most diverse nations in this respect.

The sides competing in this year’s Europa League hail from 23 different national associations, with France having the most representatives (three). England, Spain, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey and Cyprus each have two teams each.

A look at the groups

Group A features pre-tournament favorites Arsenal alongside PSV, Bodø/Glimt and Zürich. The first two clubs are expected to make the knockout round.

Group B pits Dynamo Kyiv, Rennes, Fenerbahçe and AEK Larnaca. Interestingly, Dynamo and Fenerbahçe met in the second round of Champions League qualifying earlier this summer, with the Ukrainian side prevailing in extra time.

Group C has the inaugural Conference League winners Roma, with Ludogorets, Real Betis and HJK Helsinki. Jose Mourinho’s Giallorossi and Betis will almost surely compete for top spot, while Ludo and HJK will push for third.

In Group D, Sporting Braga, Malmö, Union Berlin and Union St. Gilloise will make for a fascinating section, with all four clubs being reasonably competitive in aims of progression.

Manchester United heads Group E, where, alongside Real Sociedad, will be expected to fight for the group win. Sheriff Tiraspol and Omonoia Nicosia round out the section, with third place likely the ceiling for both sides.

In Group F, Lazio battles Conference League finalists Feyenoord as well as Midtjylland and Sturm Graz. The Italian and Dutch sides will be strong favorites to get out of the group.

Group G has Olympiakos Piraeus, Qarabag, Freiburg and Nantes. This will be an intriguing group, with two European regulars taking on two lesser-known names from a “Big 5” league.

As for Group H, Crvena zvezda, AS Monaco, Ferencvaros and Trabzonspor will take part in what promises to be another entertaining quartet.

Matches to look forward to in the first round

Among Thursday’s opening fixtures, the tie that stands out is Manchester United and Real Sociedad. Los Txuri-Urdin have never defeated the Red Devils in four attempts, including a recent Round of 32 meeting in this tournament where United progressed courtesy of a 4-0 away win.

Former UEFA Cup finalists Lazio and Feyenoord will meet at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. The Dutch club’s last European outing was a painful one – a Conference League defeat to Lazio’s local rivals Roma. Lazio and Feyenoord met in the second group stage of the 1999-2000 Champions League, Feyenoord winning 2-1 in Italy while the other match ended goalless.

A match that will have a pair of debutants in this tournament, Union Berlin welcome Union St. Gilloise in the battle of the Unions. The German Union finished third in its Conference League group behind Feyenoord and Slavia Praha a year ago. This is the Belgian side’s first foray in a UEFA club competition, losing to Rangers in Champions League qualifying last month.

As mentioned before, Fenerbahçe and Dynamo Kyiv already met over the summer in Champions League qualifying. They will get re-acquainted on Thursday with the Turkish side as hosts. July’s matches were the fifth and sixth all-time meeting between the two, with Fener still winless across the head-to-head (0-3-3).

Finally, Crvena zvezda hosts AS Monaco in an interesting battle. Both teams won their Europa League groups a year ago but fell in the last 16 to Rangers and Braga, respectively. The Serbian champs conceded an 89th minute own goal to lose their Champions League playoff tie to Maccabi Haifa. As for Monaco, the principality club lost out on automatic Champions League qualifying due to a 96th minute goal in the last matchday of the Ligue 1 season last May away to Lens. They also lost in Champions League qualifying, eliminated by PSV in extra time.