2025–26 UEFA Europa League league phase
International football club competition in Europe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2025–26 UEFA Europa League league phase began on 24 September 2025 and ended on 29 January 2026. A total of 36 teams competed in the league phase to decide the 24 places in the knockout phase of the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League.
Aston Villa, Bologna, Brann, Go Ahead Eagles and Nottingham Forest made their debut appearances since the introduction of the group stage (although Aston Villa and Brann had previously appeared in the UEFA Cup group stage). Go Ahead Eagles and Nottingham Forest made their debut appearances in a major UEFA competition group or league phase.
A total of 23 national associations were represented in the league phase.
Format
Each team played eight matches, four at home and four away, against eight different opponents, with all 36 teams ranked in a single league table (known as the Swiss system). Teams were separated into four pots based on their 2025 UEFA club coefficients, and each team played two teams from each of the four pots – one at home and one away. The top eight teams in the standings received a bye to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th contested the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th were eliminated from European competition.
Tiebreakers
Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams were equal on points upon completion of the league phase, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine their rankings:[1]
While the league phase was in progress, teams were ranked according to criteria 1–5 only, and if still tied, were given equal ranking and sorted alphabetically. Criteria 6–10 were only used after the final matches took place.
- Goal difference;
- Goals scored;
- Away goals scored;
- Wins;
- Away wins;
- Higher number of points obtained collectively by league phase opponents;
- Superior collective goal difference of league phase opponents;
- Higher number of goals scored collectively by league phase opponents;
- Lower disciplinary points total (direct red card or expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point);
- UEFA club coefficient.
Teams and seeding
The 36 teams were divided into four pots of nine teams each, with teams allocated to pots based on their 2025 UEFA club coefficients.[2][3] The participants included:
- 13 teams which entered at this stage
- 12 winners of the play-off round
- 7 losers of the Champions League play-off round (5 from the Champions Path, 2 from the League Path)
- 4 losers of the Champions League third qualifying round (League Path)
| Key to colours |
|---|
| Teams ranked 1 to 8 advanced to the round of 16 as a seeded team |
| Teams ranked 9 to 16 advanced to the knockout phase play-offs as a seeded team |
| Teams ranked 17 to 24 advanced to the knockout phase play-offs as an unseeded team |
|
|
|
|
Notes
- EL-PO Winners of play-off round
- CL-CH Losers of Champions League play-off round (Champions Path)
- CL-LP Losers of Champions League play-off round (League Path)
- CL-L3 Losers of Champions League third qualifying round (League Path)
Draw
The draw for the league phase pairings was held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 29 August 2025, 13:00 CEST, along with the draw for the Conference League league phase.[4] The automated draw software instantly conducted the full digital draw at random, determining the home and away matches for all clubs. Each team faced two opponents from each of the four pots, one of which they faced at home and one away. Teams could not face opponents from their own association, and could only be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same association. The draw results were then be revealed pot-by-pot, starting with Pot 1, with the intention of "maintaining suspense and clarity for viewers". This was a change of format from the previous season, where teams were individually drawn before their opponents were digitally determined.[5][6]
League phase table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Lyon |
8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 5 | +13 | 21 | Advance to round of 16 (seeded) |
| 2 |  Aston Villa |
8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 21 | |
| 3 |  Midtjylland |
8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 8 | +10 | 19 | |
| 4 |  Real Betis |
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 17[a] | |
| 5 |  Porto |
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 17[a] | |
| 6 | Braga |
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 17 | |
| 7 |  SC Freiburg |
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 17 | |
| 8 |  Roma |
8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 16 | |
| 9 |  Genk |
8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 16 | Advance to knockout phase play-offs (seeded) |
| 10 | Bologna |
8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 7 | +7 | 15 | |
| 11 | VfB Stuttgart |
8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 9 | +6 | 15 | |
| 12 |  Ferencváros |
8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 15 | |
| 13 | Nottingham Forest |
8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 7 | +8 | 14 | |
| 14 |  Viktoria Plzeň |
8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 14 | |
| 15 |  Red Star Belgrade |
8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 14 | |
| 16 | Celta Vigo |
8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 11 | +4 | 13 | |
| 17 |  PAOK |
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 14 | +3 | 12 | Advance to knockout phase play-offs (unseeded) |
| 18 | Lille |
8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 12 | |
| 19 |  Fenerbahçe |
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 12 | |
| 20 | Panathinaikos |
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 12 | |
| 21 |  Celtic |
8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 15 | −2 | 11 | |
| 22 |  Ludogorets Razgrad |
8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 15 | −3 | 10 | |
| 23 |  Dinamo Zagreb |
8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 16 | −4 | 10 | |
| 24 |  Brann |
8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 9 | |
| 25 |  Young Boys |
8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 16 | −6 | 9 | |
| 26 |  Sturm Graz |
8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 | −6 | 7 | |
| 27 |  FCSB |
8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 16 | −7 | 7 | |
| 28 |  Go Ahead Eagles |
8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 14 | −8 | 7 | |
| 29 | Feyenoord |
8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 6 | |
| 30 | Basel |
8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 6 | |
| 31 | Red Bull Salzburg |
8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 15 | −5 | 6 | |
| 32 | Rangers |
8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 14 | −9 | 4 | |
| 33 | Nice |
8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 15 | −8 | 3 | |
| 34 | Utrecht |
8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 1 | |
| 35 |  Malmö FF |
8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 15 | −11 | 1 | |
| 36 |  Maccabi Tel Aviv |
8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 22 | −20 | 1 |
- Away goals scored: Real Betis 5, Porto 3.
Results summary
Matches
The fixture list was announced on 30 August 2025, the day after the draw.[9][10][11] This was to ensure no calendar clashes with teams in the Champions League and Conference League playing in the same cities.
In principle, each team did not play more than two home matches or two away matches in a row, and played one home match and one away match across both the first and last two matchdays. The matches were played on 24–25 September (exclusive week),[note 1] 2 October, 23 October, 6 November, 27 November, 11 December 2025, 22 January and 29 January 2026. All matches were played on Thursdays, except for the competition's exclusive week, which also included Wednesday fixtures. In principle, the scheduled kick-off times were 16:30, 18:45 and 21:00 CET/CEST. All fixtures on the final matchday were played simultaneously at 21:00.[12][1]
Times are CET or CEST,[note 2] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Matchday 1
| Midtjylland | 2–0 | Sturm Graz |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[13] |
| PAOK | 0–0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
|---|---|---|
| Report[15] |
| Red Star Belgrade | 1–1 | Celtic |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[17] |
|
| Dinamo Zagreb | 3–1 | Fenerbahçe |
|---|---|---|
| Report[19] |
|
| Malmö FF | 1–2 | Ludogorets Razgrad |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[21] |
| Real Betis | 2–2 | Nottingham Forest |
|---|---|---|
| Report[25] |
|
| Go Ahead Eagles | 0–1 | FCSB |
|---|---|---|
| Report[32] |
|
| Aston Villa | 1–0 | Bologna |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[36] |
| Young Boys | 1–4 | Panathinaikos |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[38] |
| Red Bull Salzburg | 0–1 | Porto |
|---|---|---|
| Report[40] |
|
| Ferencváros | 1–1 | Viktoria Plzeň |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[44] |
|
| VfB Stuttgart | 2–1 | Celta Vigo |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[48] |
|
Matchday 2
| Roma | 0–1 | Lille |
|---|---|---|
| Report[50] |
|
| Fenerbahçe | 2–1 | Nice |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[58] |
|
| FCSB | 0–2 | Young Boys |
|---|---|---|
| Report[60] |
|
| Panathinaikos | 1–2 | Go Ahead Eagles |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[62] |
|
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 0–2 | Real Betis |
|---|---|---|
| Report[64] |
| Basel | 2–0 | VfB Stuttgart |
|---|---|---|
| Report[68] |
| Porto | 2–1 | Red Star Belgrade |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[70] |
|
| Feyenoord | 0–2 | Aston Villa |
|---|---|---|
| Report[72] |
| Genk | 0–1 | Ferencváros |
|---|---|---|
| Report[74] |
|
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 1–3 | Dinamo Zagreb |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[76] |
| Nottingham Forest | 2–3 | Midtjylland |
|---|---|---|
| Report[79] |
| Lyon | 2–0 | Red Bull Salzburg |
|---|---|---|
| Report[81] |
| Celta Vigo | 3–1 | PAOK |
|---|---|---|
| Report[83] |
|
| Sturm Graz | 2–1 | Rangers |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[85] |
|
Matchday 3
| Red Bull Salzburg | 2–3 | Ferencváros |
|---|---|---|
| Report[87] |
|
| Fenerbahçe | 1–0 | VfB Stuttgart |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[89] |
| Go Ahead Eagles | 2–1 | Aston Villa |
|---|---|---|
| Report[93] |
|
| Genk | 0–0 | Real Betis |
|---|---|---|
| Report[95] |
| Braga | 2–0 | Red Star Belgrade |
|---|---|---|
| Report[99] |
| Feyenoord | 3–1 | Panathinaikos |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[105] |
|
| Young Boys | 3–2 | Ludogorets Razgrad |
|---|---|---|
| Report[109] |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 0–3 | Midtjylland |
|---|---|---|
| Report[115] |
| Malmö FF | 1–1 | Dinamo Zagreb |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[117] |
|
| Nottingham Forest | 2–0 | Porto |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[119] |
| SC Freiburg | 2–0 | Utrecht |
|---|---|---|
| Report[123] |
Matchday 4
| Red Bull Salzburg | 2–0 | Go Ahead Eagles |
|---|---|---|
| Report[125] |
| Red Star Belgrade | 1–0 | Lille |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[133] |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 0–3 | Celta Vigo |
|---|---|---|
| Report[135] |
|
| Malmö FF | 0–1 | Panathinaikos |
|---|---|---|
| Report[137] |
|
| Nice | 1–3 | SC Freiburg |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[139] |
| Sturm Graz | 0–0 | Nottingham Forest |
|---|---|---|
| Report[141] |
| Aston Villa | 2–0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
|---|---|---|
| Report[143] |
| Viktoria Plzeň | 0–0 | Fenerbahçe |
|---|---|---|
| Report[147] |
| Ferencváros | 3–1 | Ludogorets Razgrad |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[149] |
|
| PAOK | 4–0 | Young Boys |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[151] |
| Rangers | 0–2 | Roma |
|---|---|---|
| Report[153] |
|
| Real Betis | 2–0 | Lyon |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[155] |
| VfB Stuttgart | 2–0 | Feyenoord |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[159] |
Matchday 5
| Roma | 2–1 | Midtjylland |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[161] |
|
| Aston Villa | 2–1 | Young Boys |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[163] |
|
| Viktoria Plzeň | 0–0 | SC Freiburg |
|---|---|---|
| Report[167] |
| Fenerbahçe | 1–1 | Ferencváros |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[169] |
|
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 3–2 | Celta Vigo |
|---|---|---|
| Report[177] |
|
| Bologna | 4–1 | Red Bull Salzburg |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[179] |
|
| Red Star Belgrade | 1–0 | FCSB |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[181] |
| Go Ahead Eagles | 0–4 | VfB Stuttgart |
|---|---|---|
| Report[183] |
|
| Nottingham Forest | 3–0 | Malmö FF |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[189] |
| Panathinaikos | 2–1 | Sturm Graz |
|---|---|---|
| Report[191] |
|
| Real Betis | 2–1 | Utrecht |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[195] |
|
Matchday 6
| Young Boys | 1–0 | Lille |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[197] |
| Midtjylland | 1–0 | Genk |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[199] |
| Utrecht | 1–2 | Nottingham Forest |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[201] |
|
| Dinamo Zagreb | 1–3 | Real Betis |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[205] |
| Sturm Graz | 0–1 | Red Star Belgrade |
|---|---|---|
| Report[211] |
|
| VfB Stuttgart | 4–1 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[213] |
|
| Panathinaikos | 0–0 | Viktoria Plzeň |
|---|---|---|
| Report[225] |
| Celta Vigo | 1–2 | Bologna |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[227] |
|
| SC Freiburg | 1–0 | Red Bull Salzburg |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[229] |
| Brann | 0–4 | Fenerbahçe |
|---|---|---|
| Report[231] |
|
Matchday 7
| Young Boys | 0–1 | Lyon |
|---|---|---|
| Report[235] |
|
| Viktoria Plzeň | 1–1 | Porto |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[237] |
|
| Fenerbahçe | 0–1 | Aston Villa |
|---|---|---|
| Report[239] |
|
| Feyenoord | 3–0 | Sturm Graz |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[241] |
| Malmö FF | 0–1 | Red Star Belgrade |
|---|---|---|
| Report[243] |
|
| PAOK | 2–0 | Real Betis |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[245] |
| SC Freiburg | 1–0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[247] |
| Brann | 3–3 | Midtjylland |
|---|---|---|
| Report[249] |
|
| Roma | 2–0 | VfB Stuttgart |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[251] |
| Red Bull Salzburg | 3–1 | Basel |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[253] |
|
| Ferencváros | 1–1 | Panathinaikos |
|---|---|---|
| Report[255] |
|
| Rangers | 1–0 | Ludogorets Razgrad |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[261] |
| Braga | 1–0 | Nottingham Forest |
|---|---|---|
| Report[265] |
Matchday 8
| Aston Villa | 3–2 | Red Bull Salzburg |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[270] |
| Basel | 0–1 | Viktoria Plzeň |
|---|---|---|
| Report[276] |
|
| Midtjylland | 2–0 | Dinamo Zagreb |
|---|---|---|
| Report[278] |
| Red Star Belgrade | 1–1 | Celta Vigo |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[280] |
|
| FCSB | 1–1 | Fenerbahçe |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[282] |
|
| Go Ahead Eagles | 0–0 | Braga |
|---|---|---|
| Report[284] |
| Lille | 1–0 | SC Freiburg |
|---|---|---|
| Report[288] |
| Nottingham Forest | 4–0 | Ferencváros |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[292] |
| Lyon | 4–2 | PAOK |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[294] |
|
| Panathinaikos | 1–1 | Roma |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[296] |
|
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 1–0 | Nice |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[298] |
| Real Betis | 2–1 | Feyenoord |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[300] |
|
| Sturm Graz | 1–0 | Brann |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[302] |
Notes
- As part of the scheduling for the 2025–26 UEFA men's club season, each competition had an "exclusive week" in the calendar, with no other competitions scheduled during this week. For the Europa League, this took place on matchday 1 (24–25 September 2025).
- Real Betis played their home matches at La Cartuja, Seville, instead of their regular stadium, Benito Villamarín, Seville, due to renovation works.[26]
- Due to the Gaza war, Israeli teams were required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.[77] Therefore, Maccabi Tel Aviv played their home matches at TSC Arena, Bačka Topola, Serbia, instead of their regular stadium, Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv.
- The Feyenoord v Panathinaikos match was originally scheduled for 18:45. The day prior to the match, the kick-off was initially moved forward to 16:30 due to adverse weather conditions.[103] However, on the day of the match, the kick-off time was pushed back to 21:00 due to a change in the weather forecast.[104]