Maccabi will visit the Amsterdam Arena where they face Dutch giants Ajax, travel to to Portugal’s League Cup winner Sporting Braga, a long journey to Norway for an encounter with local Champions Bodo/Glimt as well as Turkish side Besiktas.
Under the new format Maccabi will host four home matches against Portuguese Cup winner Porto, Spanish side Real Sociedad, Danish Champions Midtjylland and Latvian Champions RFS.
Maccabi is the only club left flying the Israeli flag in Europe as they will joined by 35 other club representing 22 countries. Holland and Turkey will be represented by 3 clubs each, Belgium, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden each has 2 clubs while Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Norway, Romania, Scotland and Ukraine each have one club.
UEFA published the dates and kickoff times of Maccabi’s fixture list for the Europa league phase:
(Kickoff times in CET – Maccabi’s home venue will be published at a later stage).
Maccabi will begin their inaugural Europa league phase with a trip to Portugal where they face SC Braga on October 26th. Two back-to-back home matches at a venue which will be published at a later stage will see Maccabi host Danish side FC Midtjylland on October 3rd and Spain’s Real Sociedad on October 24th. Two away matches against Ajax at the Johan Cruyff Arena on November 7th and Besiktas of Turkey on November 28th. Maccabi then host FC RFC of Latvia on December 12th before heading for Norway where they face Bodo/Glimt at the Aspmyra stadium in Bodo on January 23rd. Maccabi’s will end the league phase with a home match as they host Portuguese giants FC Porto on January 30th.
Europa League phase fixtures:
MD1 September 26th: SC Braga vs Maccabi Tel Aviv (Estádio Municipal de Braga, 21:00)
MD2 October 3rd: Maccabi Tel Aviv vs FC Midtjylland (TBC, 18:45)
MD3 October 24th: Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Real Sociedad (TBC, 18:45)
MD4 November 7th: Ajax vs Maccabi Tel Aviv (Johan Crujff Arena, 21:00)
MD5 November 28th: Besiktas JK vs Maccabi Tel Aviv (Beşiktaş Stadium, 18:45)
MD6 December 12th: Maccabi Tel Aviv vs FC RFS (TBC, 21:00)
MD 7: January 23rd: Bodo/Glimt vs Maccabi Tel Aviv (Aspmyra stadion, Bodo 18:45)
MD 8: January 30th: Maccabi Tel Aviv vs FC Porto (TBC, 21:00)
The biggest change is to the group stage, which will become a single 36-team league phase. Each side faces eight different teams with four matches played at home while four away. The top eight overall advance directly to the round of 16; sides finishing from ninth to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the winners advancing through to the last 16. From then on it is a straight knockout.
Maccabi were one of twelve clubs to qualify through the Play-offs as they were joined in the new league phase by 7 domestic Cup winners who qualified qualify automatically along with five other teams by virtue of their domestic league placing. Last season’s Conference League winners, Olympiacos, were also guaranteed a spot with an additional 11 clubs transferring from the Champions League.
The league phase matches will be played in accordance with the league system, whereby each club plays eight opponents in single-leg ties. Each club plays two teams from each pot, four home and four away matches.
LEAGUE PHASE DRAW
Pot 1
- Roma (Italy)
- Manchester United (England)
- Porto (Portugal)
- Ajax (Holland)
- Rangers FC (Scotland)
- Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)
- Lazio (Italy)
- Tottenham Hotspur (England)
- SK Slavia Praha (Czech Republic)
Pot 2
- Real Sociedad (Spain)
- AZ Alkmaar (Holland)
- Sporting Braga (Portugal)
- Olympiacos (Greece)
- Olympique Lyon (France)
- PAOK (Greece)
- Fenerbahçe (Turkey)
- Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel)
- Ferencváros (Hungary)
Pot 3
- Qarabağ (Azerbaijan)
- Galatasaray (Turkey)
- Viktoria Plzeň (Czech Republic)
- Bodø/Glimt (Norway)
- Union Saint-Gilloise (Belgium)
- Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)
- Ludogorets (Bulgaria)
- Midtjylland (Denmark)
- Malmö (Sweden)
Pot 4
- Athletic Club (Spain)
- Hoffenheim (Germany)
- Nice (France)
- Anderlecht (Belgium)
- Twente (Holland)
- Beşiktaş (Turkey)
- Fotbal Club FCSB (Romania)
- RFS (Latvia)
- Elfsborg (Sweden)
Draw procedure
Four bowls are prepared for the draw, one for each of the four draw pots. Each bowl comprises nine balls containing the names of the teams forming the pot.
The 2024/25 UEFA Europa League season concludes at Bilbao’s Estadio de San Mamés
