Manchester United will travel to face Turkish giants Fenerbahce, now coached by former United manager José Mourinho, as part of their eight matches in the league phase of the revamped Europa League. The draw for this new-look competition took place in Monaco on Friday.
United, who won the Europa League under Mourinho’s guidance in 2017, will reunite with their former coach, who recently took charge of Fenerbahce after the Turkish side was knocked out of the Champions League in the third qualifying round.
In addition to the clash with Fenerbahce, United will host 2022 Europa League runners-up Rangers at Old Trafford and travel to Portugal to face Porto, another club Mourinho once managed. The match against Porto adds an extra layer of intrigue, given Mourinho’s successful past with the Portuguese side.
Tottenham Hotspur, the other English club in the competition, will also face Rangers, though their encounter will be an away fixture. Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham will also play at home against Roma and travel to Istanbul to take on Turkish champions Galatasaray.
This season marks a significant change in the Europa League’s format, mirroring the alterations made to the Champions League. The competition now features 36 teams in the main draw, divided into four pots of seeds. Each team will play eight games, with matches against two clubs from each pot one at home and one away.
The top eight teams at the end of the league phase, which runs until the end of January, will advance directly to the last 16. Teams finishing between ninth and 24th will enter a play-off round to determine the remaining last-16 spots. The bottom 12 teams will be eliminated from the competition, with no further opportunities in the Conference League, and the traditional dropping down from the Champions League has also been scrapped.
