Europa League 2023/24: All you need to know ahead of the group stage draw

The 2023/24 season is truly in full swing, and we fans have kept our eyes on what will happen in Europe this season.

After Manchester City won the Premier League and the Champions League last season, the expectations are obviously high for them to replicate a similar type of performance this time around as well.

In the Europa League, Sevilla won the competition once again last season, the seventh in the club’s history. But they will be playing in the Champions League this season and won’t be featuring in the Europa League, at least for now.

If they drop out of the Champions League group stages, they might find themselves fighting for the Europa League once again. The same can be said about other Premier League teams as well, which will make the tournament attractive as we move towards the knock-out rounds.

Liverpool, West Ham and Brighton are the three Premier League teams who will be looking to win this competition this time around, but they are expected to face stiff competition from the likes of teams like AS Roma and Marseille. The mighty Reds failed to get into the top four last season, but we all know Jurgen Klopp’s side are capable of doing wonders in Europe.

Here we take a look at all the details: Which teams have qualified? When is the group-stage draw? Where is the final being played?

At this moment, all eyes will be on Liverpool and West Ham. The Hammers won the Europa Conference League last season and they will be eyeing for another European glory. German side Bayer Leverkusen and Roma are serious contenders.

Jose Mourinho’s side finished as runners-up in the Europa League last season, and the Portuguese will look to add another European trophy to his resume.

The 2023-24 season will be the last season of Europa League football, and after that, a new format will kick in.

When is the Europa League draw? 

The group stage of the 2023/24 Europa League is scheduled to take place in midday on Friday 1 September at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

The exact time of the draw is yet to be confirmed. The number of teams in the competition has been reduced from 48 to 32, and those sides will be divided into eight groups of four.

Before the draw takes place, the qualification play-off round will be over, and we will get the final six teams. Once the group stage draw takes place, the fixtures will be released and fans will be able to buy Europa League tickets for the group stage matches.

The last-16 draw will be held on February 23, 2024 and the draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals will be on March 15, 2024.

When does the group stage start?

The UEFA Europa League group stage kicks off in September. It will begin on September 21 and will run until December 14 over six matchdays before a break in January.

Here are the group stage dates:

Matchday 1: September 21 2023

Matchday 2: October 5 2023

Matchday 3: October 26 2023

Matchday 4: November 9 2023

Matchday 5: November 30 2023

Matchday 6: December 14 2023

Who have qualified for the group stages? 

The confirmed teams so far are:

England: West Ham, Liverpool, Brighton & Hove Albion

Spain: Real Betis, Villarreal

Italy: Atalanta, Roma

Germany: SC Freiburg, Bayer Leverkusen

France: Toulouse, Rennes, Marseille

Portugal: Sporting CP

Austria: Sturm Graz

Swizterland: Servette

Belgium: Genk

There are still 20 more teams that will join the play-off rounds. Of which 10 teams who will be eliminated from the Champions League will join and further 10 teams will join from the Europa League play-off rounds.

These are the teams who are in play-off rounds:

Scotland: Aberdeen

Belgium: Union Saint-Gilloise

Sweden: BK Hacken

Netherlands: Ajax

Serbia: Cukaricki

Ukraine: Zorya Luhansk

Austria: LASK

Switzerland: Lugano

Czech Republic: Sparta Prague, Slavia Prague

Croatia: Dinamo Zagreb

Cyprus: Aris Limassol

Slovakia: Slovan Bratislava

Slovenia: Olimpija Ljubljana

Faroe Islands: KI

Hungary: Ludogorets

Azerbaijan: Qarabag

Moldova: Sheriff Tiraspol

Bosnia: Zrinjski Mostar

Greece: Olympiacos

How to watch Europa League 

The group stage draw will be shown live from Monaco on 1 September on TNT Sports.

All the Europa League matches from the group stage to the final over the course of the season will be shown live on TNT Sports.

Can Liverpool win the competition? 

The 2022-23 was a bit of a disappointment for Liverpool as they dropped off the pace from the lofty standards that had set for themselves.

It isn’t a bad sign though. They are looking to rebuild the team following the loss of some of their influential players and the Europa League is a good competition for them to get back to whether they truly belong.

In a way, it comes as a full circle. The last time Liverpool were in this competition was in 2015-16 when Klopp first came to the club to replace Brendan Rodgers.

He took the Reds to the final of the Europa League where they lost to Sevilla. After that, the Reds had gone through a massive phase of redevelopment, and that earned them huge success both in Europe and in the Premier League.

After last season, it felt like the club really need some new faces and redevelopment. In a way, Klopp is faced with the same challenge that he had when he took charge.

If the Reds finish second in their group, they will have to face one of the teams who placed third in their Champions League group in a play-off to reach the round of 16, which won’t be a bad thing though.

Liverpool could face the likes of PSV Eindhoven, and Galatasaray – the losers from the Champions League play-off round. Due to UEFA rules, Liverpool can’t face Brighton who have automatically qualified for the competition last season.

They can’t also face West Ham before the knock-out rounds. The Reds have bolstered their midfield this season, but they are likely to add more players to their ranks in the final few hours of the summer transfer window.

Liverpool are pitted in Pot 1 of the Europa League which means they won’t face the likes of Villarreal, Roma, Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta along with West Ham.

The Reds have made a strong start to the new campaign, having won two out of their last three games, drawing their other one. Klopp will want his side to carry the momentum by the time the group stage kicks in, so that they can make a solid start in Europe.

The tournament could see Klopp making the best use of the club’s academy resources which could be beneficial for the team in the long run.