The 2025-26 Europa League begins this week, as Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa bid to keep the UEFA Cup in the Premier League after Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester United to the silverware last season.
MORE — List of all-time Europa League/UEFA Cup winners
Unai Emery’s Villa qualified as the sixth-place team on the Premier League table last season, while Forest’s bid to win the Europa League is due to Crystal Palace’s demotion to the Conference League.
Forest have already fired two managers this season in Nuno Espirito Santo and 2024-25 UEL winner Ange Postecoglou. What is their path to the knockout phase for new boss Sean Dyche? Who are on Villa’s fixture list? And when are the games and big dates for the entire season?
Read on for all you need to know about the 2025-26 Europa League.
When is the Europa League league phase and knockout phase? What dates are the Europa League games?
The Europa League league phase consists of eight matchdays from September 24 - January 29. The games are mostly on Wednesdays and Thursday.
The Europa League knockout phase begins February 19 and goes through the final on May 20, 2026 at Besiktas Stadium in Istanbul, Turkiye.
When are the knockout phase draws and dates? When is the 2025-26 Europa League Final?
The knockout round playoff draw is January 30, with two-legged ties staged February 19 and 26.
The draws for the Round of 16 and paths to the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final will be held on February 27, 2026.
As for game dates:
Playoff round: February 19 and 26
Round of 16: March 12 and 19
Quarterfinals: April 9 and 16
Semifinals: April 30 and May 7
Final: May 20, 2026 at Besiktas Stadium in Istanbul, Turkiye
2025-26 UEFA Europa League: Next fixtures
Matchday 5
Thursday, November 27
12:45pm ET kickoffs
Aston Villa vs Young Boys
Fenerbahce vs Ferencvaros
Viktoria Plzen vs Freiburg
Porto vs Nice
Feyenoord vs Celtic
Ludogorets Razgrad vs Celta Vigo
AS Roma vs Midtjylland
Lille vs Dinamo Zagreb
PAOK vs Brann
3pm ET kickoffs
Rangers vs Braga
Bologna vs Salzburg
Genk vs Basel
Go Ahead Eagles vs Stuttgart
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Lyon
Panathinaikos vs Sturm Graz
Nottingham Forest vs Malmo
Red Star Belgrade vs FCSB
Real Betis vs Utrecht
2025-26 UEFA Europa League league phase table
- Midtjylland — 4-0-0, +8 GD, 12 points
- Freiburg — 3-1-0, +5 GD, 10 points
- Ferencvaros — 3-1-0, +4 GD, 10 points
- Celta Vigo — 3-0-1, +5 GD, 9 points
- Braga — 3-0-1, +4 GD, 9 points
- Aston Villa — 3-0-1, +4 GD, 9 points
- Lyon — 3-0-1, +3 GD, 9 points
- Viktoria Plzen — 2-2-0, +4 GD, 8 points
- Real Betis — 2-2-0, +4 GD, 8 points
- PAOK — 2-1-1, +3 GD, 7 points
- Brann — 2-1-1, +3 GD, 7 points
- Dinamo Zagreb — 2-1-1, +1 GD, 7 points
- Genk — 2-1-1, +1 GD, 7 points
- Porto — 2-1-1, 0 GD, 7 points
- Fenerbahce — 2-1-1, 0 GD, 7 points
- Panathinaikos — 2-0-2, +1 GD, 6 points
- Basel — 2-0-2, +1 GD, 6 points
- AS Roma — 2-0-2, +1 GD, 6 points
- Lille — 2-0-2, 0 GD, 6 points
- Stuttgart — 2-0-2, 0 GD, 6 points
- Go Ahead Eagles — 2-0-2, -1 GD, 6 points
- Young Boys — 2-0-2, -4 GD, 6 points
- Nottingham Forest — 1-2-1, +1 GD, 5 points
- Bologna — 1-2-1, 0 GD, 5 points
- Sturm Graz — 1-1-2, -2 GD, 4 points
- Red Star Belgrade — 1-1-2, -2 GD, 4 points
- Celtic — 1-1-2, -3 GD, 4 points
- Red Bull Salzburg — 1-0-3, -2 GD, 3 points
- Feyenoord — 1-0-3, -3 GD, 3 points
- Ludogorets Razgrad — 1-0-3, -4 GD, 3 points
- FCSB — 1-0-3, -4 GD, 3 points
- Utrecht — 0-1-3, -4 GD, 1 point
- Malmo — 0-1-3, -5 GD, 1 point
- Maccabi Tel-Aviv — 0-1-3, -7 GD, 1 point
- Nice — 0-0-4, -5 GD, 0 points
- Rangers — 0-0-4, -7 GD, 0 points
Premier League clubs’ 2025-26 UEFA Europa League fixtures
Aston Villa
League phase
September 25 vs Bologna — Won 1-0
October 2 at Feyenoord — Won 2-0
October 23 at Go Ahead Eagles — Lost 2-1
November 6 vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv — Won 2-0
November 27 vs Young Boys
December 11 at Basel
January 22 at Fenerbahce
January 29 vs Red Bull Salzburg
Nottingham Forest
League phase
September 24 at Real Betis — Drew 2-2
October 2 vs Midtjylland — Lost 3-2
October 23 vs Porto — Won 2-0
November 6 at Sturm Graz — Drew 0-0
November 27 vs Malmo
December 11 at Utrecht
January 22 at Braga
January 29 vs Ferencvaros
2025-26 UEFA Europa League: Schedule, results
Matchday 1
Wednesday, September 24
Midtjylland 2-0 Sturm Graz
PAOK 0-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Malmo 1-2 Ludogorets Razgrad
Braga 1-0 Feyenoord
Real Betis 2-2 Nottingham Forest
Freiburg 2-1 Basel
Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 Fenerbahce
Red Star Belgrade 1-1 Celtic
Nice 1-2 AS Roma
Thursday, September 25
Go Ahead Eagles 0-1 Steaua Bucuresti
Lille 2-1 Brann
Ferencvaros 1-1 Viktoria Plzen
Salzburg 0-1 Porto
Stuttgart 2-1 Celta Vigo
Utrecht 0-1 Lyon
Rangers 0-1 Genk
Aston Villa 1-0 Bologna
Matchday 2
Thursday, October 2
Panathinaikos 1-2 Go Ahead Eagles
AS Roma 0-1 Lille
FCSB 0-2 Young Boys
Ludogorets Razgrad 0-2 Real Betis
Viktoria Plzen vs Malmo
Fenerbahce 2-1 Nice
Bologna 1-1 Freiburg
Brann 1-0 Utrecht
Celtic 0-2 Braga
Nottingham Forest 2-3 Midtjylland
Lyon 2-0 RB Salzburg
Genk 0-1 Ferencvaros
Maccabi Tel-Aviv 1-3 Dinamo Zagreb
Sturm Graz 2-1 Glasgow Rangers
Celta Vigo 3-1 PAOK
Porto 2-1 Red Star Belgrade
Feyenoord 0-2 Aston Villa
Basel 2-0 Stuttgart
Matchday 3
Thursday, October 23
RB Salzburg 2-3 Ferencvaros
Braga 2-0 Red Star Belgrade
Fenerbahce 1-0 Stuttgart
Brann 3-0 Rangers
Go Ahead Eagles 2-1 Aston Villa
Genk 0-0 Real Betis
FCSB 1-2 Bologna
Lyon 2-0 Basel
Celta Vigo 2-1 Nice
Lille 3-4 PAOK
Malmo 1-1 Dinamo Zagreb
Young Boys 3-2 Ludogorets Razgrad
Freiburg 2-0 Utrecht
Celtic 2-1 Sturm Graz
Feyenoord 3-1 Panathinaikos
Maccabi Tel-Aviv 0-3 Midtjylland
Nottingham Forest 2-0 Porto
AS Roma 1-2 Viktoria Plzen
Matchday 4
Thursday, November 5
Basel 3-1 FCSB
Red Star Belgrade 1-0 Lille
Nice 1-3 Freiburg
Utrecht 1-1 Porto
RB Salzburg 2-0 Go Ahead Eagles
Midtjylland 3-1 Celtic
Dinamo Zagreb 0-3 Celta Vigo
Malmo 0-1 Panathinaikos
Sturm Graz 0-0 Nottingham Forest
PAOK 4-0 Young Boys
Aston Villa 2-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Stuttgart 2-0 Feyenoord
Viktoria Plzen 0-0 Fenerbache
Ferencvaros 3-1 Ludogorets Razgrad
Rangers 0-2 AS Roma
Real Betis 2-0 Lyon
Braga 3-4 Genk
Bologna 0-0 Brann
