The UEFA Europa League (UEL) league phase kicks off on Wednesday 16 September, running the same 36-club single-league format as the Champions League one tier up — every side plays 8 matches against 8 different opponents, four at home and four away, drawn two from each of four seeding pots. Finish in the top 8 and it's a bye straight to the round of 16; finish 9th-24th and a two-legged play-off round in February decides who joins them; finish 25th or lower and the European season is over. 144 league-phase matches, no dead rubbers, and this time round the pool of clubs includes three former Champions League regulars — Juventus, Milan and Marseille — dropped down a level, which tells you plenty about how competitive this year's field looks on paper.
The final: Stadion Frankfurt, Germany, 26 May 2027
The 2027 Europa League final goes to Stadion Frankfurt in Germany on Tuesday 26 May — the culmination of a season that starts today with 36 clubs and ends with just two of them standing. It's the third leg of UEFA's usual finals week, sandwiched between the Conference League final in Istanbul and the Champions League final in Madrid a little over a week later.
Defending champions: Aston Villa
Aston Villa go into the defence of their first-ever Europa League title after beating Freiburg 3-0 in the 2025/26 final at Beşiktaş Park, Istanbul — goals from Youri Tielemans, Emi Buendía and Morgan Rogers doing the damage under Unai Emery. It was Villa's second European trophy full stop, the first being the old European Cup back in 1982, and Emery now has a genuinely absurd record in this competition: this was his fifth Europa League/UEFA Cup final, and he has won four of them (three with Sevilla, one with Villa).
Top 3 favourites to win the Europa League 2026/27
Two Serie A heavyweights dropped down from the Champions League head the early market, with a Bundesliga side with recent pedigree in this exact competition close behind.
- 1. Juventus — narrow favourites, carrying a squad most rivals in this competition can't match on paper. Randal Kolo Muani leads the attack, with Manuel Locatelli anchoring midfield.
- 2. AC Milan — priced just behind Juventus. Luka Modrić brings Champions League-winning experience to Milan's midfield, while Christian Pulisic remains their most reliable source of goals and assists.
- 3. Bayer Leverkusen — Europa League runners-up as recently as 2024, when their unbeaten Bundesliga-winning side lost the final 3-0 to Atalanta. Patrik Schick, their top scorer with 22 goals in all competitions last season, is the obvious central threat again.
- Bournemouth are the shortest-priced English club, just ahead of Sunderland and a Crystal Palace side promoted into the Europa League after winning the Conference League last season. Worth remembering: Sevilla's all-time record of seven UEFA Cup/Europa League titles remains untouched by anyone in this season's field, and Marseille and Milan are both still chasing a first-ever win in this specific competition despite decades of European pedigree elsewhere.
How the format works
- All 36 clubs sit in a single league table across 8 matchdays — no groups.
- Each club plays 8 opponents: 2 from each of 4 seeding pots, one at home and one away.
- Matchday 1 is Wednesday 16 / Thursday 17 September; the league phase runs through Matchday 8 on Thursday 28 January 2027.
- Top 8 in the table advance straight to the round of 16.
- 9th-24th enter a two-legged knockout play-off round in February for the remaining last-16 places.
- 25th and below are eliminated — there is no drop-down safety net into the Conference League from here.
Matchday 1: the fixtures to watch
Wednesday's standout ties are Milan hosting Benfica, Bayer Leverkusen at home to Celje, and Anderlecht against Lyon, alongside Sunderland's first home European night in years against AZ Alkmaar and Sturm Graz vs Rennes. Thursday brings an even heavier card: Beşiktaş vs Marseille, Celtic vs Ferencváros, Crystal Palace's first game back in Europe's second tier at home to Lech Poznań, Juventus hosting NEC, and Real Sociedad vs Bournemouth — as good a spread of genuine European pedigree as any opening round in this competition's recent history.
Play free Europa League games on FootballDream
FootballDream's free UEFA competitions coverage isn't limited to the Champions League — follow the Europa League table, fixtures and squads as the league phase develops, and use the free Predictor and Player/Team Draft games across every UEFA competition FootballDream covers as fixtures are added through the season.