When is the Europa League draw? Start time, confirmed pots and how to watch for free

The draw for the league phase of the Europa League takes place today, with Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest among the teams hoping for glory in Europe’s second-tier competition.

The Premier League duo will also be joined by Rangers, with the Scottish side crashing out of the Champions League play-off round after being thrashed 9-1 on aggregate by Club Brugge. They follow Old Firm rivals into the competition following their shootout failure against Kazakh side Kairat Almaty.

A variety of top European sides, including FC Porto, AS Roma, Lyon and Real Betis, will vie for continental glory.

Though Villa and Forest come into the competition as former European Cup winners, entry into the Europa League marks the culmination of a successful 2024/25, and fans will be excited to see how both sides can do in a competition that both will believe they can win in 2026.

The draw will be held in Monaco on Friday, 29 August and begins at 12pm BST.

Uefa.com will offer a live stream on their website and YouTube channel.

The league phase has 36 teams with every team handed eight games. The 36 teams are split into four pots of eight teams based on their Uefa coefficient ranking, with each team drawn out individually. They then have eight opponents selected via Uefa's automated software, which uses specific fixture-selection criteria (for example, keeping sides from the same country apart).

The opponents then come from each pot, with two teams selected from each, one home and one away.

Teams cannot play another team from the same country and are not permitted to face more than two teams from one country.

Those finishing inside the top eight go straight into the last 16, then the next 16 teams advance to the play-off stage, with eight of those 16 teams progressing to the last 16.

Matchday 1: 24 & 25 September 2025

Matchday 2: 2 October 2025

Matchday 3: 23 October 2025

Matchday 4: 6 November 2025

Matchday 5: 27 November 2025

Matchday 6: 11 December 2025

Matchday 7: 22 January 2026

Matchday 8: 29 January 2026

Knockout phase play-offs: 19 & 26 February 2026

Round of 16: 12 & 19 March 2026

Quarter-finals: 9 & 16 April 2026

Europa League Premier League Aston Villa Nottingham Forest Rangers FC Porto AS Roma Lyon

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