Tottenham Awaits Europa League Draw in Monte Carlo
Tottenham will discover their Europa League opponents at the end of August when the draw for the newly-formed league phase is conducted in Monte Carlo.
August promises to be a pivotal month at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Ange Postecoglou’s side gears up for the 2024/25 campaign. With the Premier League season set to kick off with an away trip to Leicester City, the squad may undergo significant changes by the end of the month due to anticipated transfers before the summer window closes.
Fans and club members are also eagerly anticipating the Europa League draw, marking Tottenham’s return to European competition after a year away.
The Lilywhites are considered strong contenders for the trophy, with the final scheduled for May 21, 2025, at the impressive San Mames stadium in Bilbao, Spain.
The 2024/25 season introduces a new format for UEFA club competitions, including the Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League. These tournaments will now feature a league phase instead of the traditional group stage.
In this new format, 36 teams will participate, with each team in the Champions League and Europa League playing eight games, an increase from the previous six group fixtures.
The opponents for the league phase will be determined based on seeding in four pots, each containing nine teams. The club’s coefficient at the start of the season will decide the seeding.
For the Europa League draw on Friday, August 30, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo, Tottenham will be in Pot 1, alongside teams like Manchester United, Roma, and Porto.
Teams in the league phase cannot face opponents from their own country and can be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same nation. The new format necessitates a revised draw process, as the traditional method would be too lengthy, involving nearly 1000 balls and at least 36 different bowls on stage.
UEFA has confirmed that all 36 teams will be manually drawn using physical balls, with automated software randomly selecting eight opponents across the four pots for each team. These selections will be revealed on screen in the draw hall and broadcast on television. The software will also decide which matches will be played at home and which away.
The draw will start with Pot 1, assigning eight opponents for each of the nine teams one by one, and will proceed with the remaining pots in descending order until all teams have their eight rivals.
UEFA guarantees that the software will ensure complete randomness within the set parameters, avoiding any deadlock situations. Although teams will know their eight opponents once the draw is completed, the exact match dates and kick-off times will be confirmed the following day, on Saturday, August 31.
This delay ensures there are no calendar clashes with teams across all UEFA’s club competitions playing in the same cities. The first round of fixtures in the newly-formed Europa League league phase will take place on Wednesday, September 25, and Thursday, September 26, with the eighth and final fixture scheduled for Thursday, January 30.
As Tottenham prepares for a challenging season, the Europa League draw represents an exciting milestone in their campaign. The club’s performance in the league phase will be crucial as they aim to progress and potentially lift the trophy in Bilbao next May.
