UEFA ELSchedule

Starting from the 24/25 season, 36 clubs will participate in the UEFA Europa League main stage, and all participating clubs will be ranked together.

Each team will play eight different teams in the main stage, with half of the games being played at home and the other half away from home.

The result of each game will determine the ranking in the main stage. A win is worth 3 points, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss.

The top 8 teams in the main stage will automatically advance to the top 16 knockout rounds, while the teams ranked 9th to 24th will participate in a two-round knockout play-off, with the winner getting another 8 promotion places.

Teams ranked 25-36 will be eliminated directly.

Play-off format:

Teams ranked 9-16 are seeded teams and will face teams ranked 17-24 for two rounds. The second round will be played at the home court of the seeded team. The winner advances to the knockout round of 16.

The knockout rounds are divided into four rounds: the top 16, the top 8, the semi-finals and the final. Except for the final, there will be two legs of home and away matches. The finals will be a single-round showdown at a neutral location (selected in advance each year). A tie within 90 minutes will lead to a 30-minute overtime; the winner in overtime will be crowned champion; a tie after overtime will result in a penalty shootout.

The winner will participate in the Champions League next season

If two or more teams have the same points at the end of the main draw, the criteria will be applied in the following order to determine their ranking:

a. Higher goal difference

b. Score more goals

c. More goals scored in away games

d. Win more games

e. More away games won

f. Mutual competition points

g. Goal difference between games

h. Number of goals scored against each other

i. Fair play points

j. Club coefficient