Europa League 2024/25 draw: Man Utd, Tottenham and Rangers learn fate

The draw for the reformatted first phase of the 2024/25 Europa League has been completed, with Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Rangers among the sides to find out their fate.

Like the Champions League, the competition has undergone a makeover to rid itself of the traditional group stage phase, replaced by a Swiss-style model that will see all 36 teams compete for knockout round qualification in one extended table.

The teams were put into four pots, based on their varying co-efficient levels, and they will now play eight fixtures decided by a supercomputer – the idea is that there will be more competitive games earlier on in the competition.

Here’s how the draw unfolded for the three British teams, with accompanying pot guide.

Pots for Europa League league phase draw

• Pot One: AS Roma, Manchester United, Porto, Ajax, Rangers, Eintracht Frankfurt, Lazio, Tottenham, Slavia Prague.

• Pot Two: Real Sociedad, AZ Alkmaar, Braga, Olympiakos, Lyon, PAOK, Fenerbahce, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Ferencvaros.

• Pot Three: Qarabag, Galatasaray, Viktoria Plzen, Bodo/Glimt, Union SG, Dynamo Kyiv, Ludogorets, Midtjylland, Malmo.

• Pot Four: Athletic Club, Hoffenheim, Nice, Anderlecht, Twente, Besiktas, FK RFS, Steaua Bucharest, Elfsborg.

Manchester United

Manchester United have received the most favourable draw for the three British teams involved.

Rangers will travel to Old Trafford as one of the two pot one teams drawn, alongside Porto – the Red Devils will have to head to Portugal and put in an impressive display to get a result.

PAOK came out of pot two, joined by Jose Mourinho-managed Fenerbahce – that should make for a really entertaining encounter when United head out to Turkey.

Bodo/Glimt and FC Twente are the two other visitors to Manchester, with United’s campaign rounded off with away days at Viktoria Plzen, usually a staple of Champions League groups in years gone by, and FCSB.

Man Utd’s eight confirmed league phase fixtures

• Rangers (H)
• Porto (A)
• PAOK (H)
• Fenerbahce (A)
• Bodo/Glimt (H)
• Viktoria Plzen (A)
• FC Twente (H)
• FCSB (A)

Tottenham

Tottenham‘s Europa League campaign will see them endure a number of testing away days, most notably when they travel to Ibrox to take on Rangers, rivals of Ange Postecoglou’s former employers Celtic.

Roma, formerly managed by ex-Spurs boss Jose Mourinho, will head to north London as the other pot one opponents, while AZ Alkmaar and Ferencvaros are the two teams who emerged from pot two.

Qarabag and Elfsborg are winnable home games for Postecoglou’s side, but trips to Galatasaray and Hoffenheim are less appealing.

Tottenham’s eight confirmed league phase fixtures

• Roma (H)
• Rangers (A)
• AZ Alkmaar (H)
• Ferencvaros (A)
• Qarabag (H)
• Galatasaray (A)
• Elfsborg (H)
• Hoffenheim (A)

Rangers

Rangers have been dealt a rough hand in terms of pot one opponents, picking out both Tottenham and Manchester United.

The Scottish Premierhship giants will also face up to Lyon, Union Saint-Gilloise and FCSB at home, with their games on the road taking them to last season’s Conference League winners, Olympiacos, Malmo and Ligue 1 side Nice, who are under the INEOS ownership umbrella.

Rangers’ eight confirmed league phase fixtures

• Tottenham (H)
• Manchester United (A)
• Lyon (H)
• Olympiacos (A)
• Union Saint-Gilloise (H)
• Malmo (A)
• FCSB (H)
• Nice (A)

When does the Europa League league phase begin?

Matchday one will be spread across two days, the 25th and 26th September.

There will then be regular intervals of either two or three weeks between matchdays, culminating in the eighth and final fixtures which will be played on Thursday 30 January 2025.