Rangers are set to take on both Manchester United and Tottenham in the revamped Europa League's new league phase. The Scottish Premiership club will host Tottenham at Ibrox, while they travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United for the first time in 14 years.
This season introduces a major change to the tournament's format, replacing the traditional group stage with a league phase, where each team plays eight matches. Following the Champions League's lead, the Europa League has adopted this radical new structure.
Manchester United’s schedule includes an away trip to Fenerbahce, where they’ll be reunited with former manager Jose Mourinho. They'll also travel to Porto, another of Mourinho's old teams. Tottenham, on the other hand, will welcome Roma at home and have away fixtures against Galatasaray and Hoffenheim.
Rangers’ other challenges include a tough away game against last season’s Conference League champions, Olympiakos, and a visit to French side Nice.
The draw for these fixtures was conducted using advanced technology similar to the one used for the Champions League draw. However, this time, it was former Athletic Bilbao striker Aritz Aduriz who activated the AI algorithm to determine the matchups, replacing Cristiano Ronaldo from the previous day’s draw.
In the Conference League, Chelsea will face the League of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers at home, while Welsh team The New Saints travel to Italy to take on Fiorentina.
Hearts, another Scottish Premiership side, will play Copenhagen, who were eliminated by Manchester City in last season’s Champions League round of 16. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s Larne will host both Shamrock and Belgian side Gent at Inver Park.
Here’s a breakdown of the matchups:
Manchester United
- Rangers (Home)
- Porto (Away)
- PAOK (Home)
- Fenerbahce (Away)
- Bodo/Glimt (Home)
- Viktoria Plzen (Away)
- FC Twente (Home)
- FCSB (Away)
Rangers
- Tottenham (Home)
- Manchester United (Away)
- Lyon (Home)
- Olympiakos (Away)
- Union SG (Home)
- Malmo (Away)
- FCSB (Home)
- Nice (Away)
Tottenham
- Roma (Home)
- Rangers (Away)
- AZ Alkmaar (Home)
- Ferencvaros (Away)
- Qarabag (Home)
- Galatasaray (Away)
- Elfsborg (Home)
- Hoffenheim (Away)
Chelsea
- Gent (Home)
- Heidenheim (Away)
- Astana (Away)
- Shamrock Rovers (Home)
- Panathinaikos (Away)
- Noah (Home)
Hearts
- Copenhagen (Away)
- Heidenheim (Home)
- Omonoia (Home)
- Cercle Bruges (Away)
- Petrocub (Home)
- Dinamo-Minsk (Away)
How the New Format Works
The Europa League now features 36 teams, with each playing eight matches four at home and four away against two teams from each of the four seeding pots. The top eight teams will advance directly to the round of 16, while those finishing between ninth and 24th place will compete in a two-legged knockout play-off for a spot in the last 16. Teams finishing 25th or lower will be eliminated from the competition, without a chance to enter the Conference League.
The new format increases the number of matches from 125 to 189, with each team playing a minimum of eight and a maximum of 17 games. Europa League action kicks off on September 25-26, and the league phase will run until January 30, extending beyond the traditional pre-Christmas finish.
In the Conference League, the format remains slightly different, with teams playing six games—three at home and three away. This phase begins on October 3 and concludes on December 19.
