This season, the redesigned Europa League structure had a spectacular debut, enthralling spectators and changing the nature of the game.  It’s evident that the modifications have surpassed projections and revitalized Europe’s second-tier club championship ahead of the season’s finale in Bilbao.

Last September, the 54th edition got underway with a new strategy, chief among them being the addition of a 36-team league phase.  This was done in an effort to make the competition more evenly distributed, assure high-profile matches, and make sure every goal and point mattered from the beginning.

The new structure has already shown its value in its first year following six years of preparation, numerous trial runs, and in-depth discussions with European football stakeholders.  This was particularly clear on the last matchday of the league phase in January, when all 18 games began at the same time and several important results were still up in the air.

Teams have more chances to score points because of the wider range of opponents.  There are 144 distinct matchups in the league phase, compared to just 48 in the previous group stage arrangement, since each club now faces eight opponents rather than just three.  Smaller teams, like Czech team Viktoria Plzen, who made an impression by upsetting Real Sociedad, winning points away at Eintracht Frankfurt, and putting up a fierce battle against league leaders Lazio Rome in the round of 16, are made possible by this diversity.

Exciting matches like Manchester United’s 3-3 draw with Porto and Galatasaray Istanbul’s spectacular 3-2 victory over Tottenham have also been added by high-profile matches.

 The competition was given new life by the heightened unpredictability, demonstrating that a bad start does not necessarily mean disaster.  PAOK  This was exemplified by Thessaloniki, who won the next three games and secured a playoff position after dropping their first four games by just one point, escaping elimination for the seventh time in a row.

The playing field is now noticeably more even as a result of all these considerations.  According to statistics, the pot 4 teams with the lowest rankings scored 25% more points per game than they did in the 2021–24 cycle (1.33 vs. 1.06).  The difference between teams in pot 1 and pot 4 decreased from 1.02 to just 0.56 points per game as top-seeded clubs saw their average points per game fall from 2.08 to 1.89.

 These findings support the growing opinion that the new format is effective.  It creates a positive impression for the competition’s future and excites clubs, supporters, and business partners alike.  Marchetti stated, “We have no doubt that this format will be a huge success that surpasses all previous achievements.”  “It will firmly establish itself.”