360 Live News: As Europe's second-tier club competition, the Europa League ranks second only to the Champions League in prestige. Its champion not only secures a spot in the following season's Champions League group stage but also earns direct entry into the UEFA Super Cup—an honor achieved by Sevilla in 2023, whose victory over Champions League winners Manchester City remains vividly etched in memory. However, some fans have asked our editor about the specifics of the 2025-2026 Europa League format.
In this article, we'll break down how the 2025-2026 Europa League format was designed. According to official announcements, this season continues the major reforms launched in 2024, eliminating the traditional group stage in favor of a “league phase” featuring 36 teams. Each team will face eight opponents from different seeding pots (four home, four away). Final standings will determine their fate: the top eight advance directly to the Round of 16; teams ranked 9th to 24th enter a playoff round, competing in two-legged ties for the remaining eight knockout spots; while those ranked 25th to 36th will exit European competition early.
The current 2025-2026 Europa League standings are as follows:
Dinamo Zagreb 2 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses - 6 points
Midtjylland 2 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses - 6 points
Aston Villa 2 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses - 6 points
Braga 2 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses - 6 points
Olympique Lyonnais 2W 0D 0L 6 points
Lille 2W 0D 0L 6 points
Porto 2W 0D 0L 6 points
Viktoria Plzeň 1W 1D 0L 4 points
Real Betis 1W 1D 0L 4 points
Freiburg 1W 1D 0L 4 points
Ferencváros 1W 1D 0L 4 points
Panathinaikos 1W 0D 1L 3 points
Celta Vigo 1W 0D 1L 3 points
Basel 1W 0D 1L 3 points
Al-Sadd 1W 0D 1L 3 points
Roma 1 win, 0 draws, 1 loss 3 points
BATE Borisov 1 win, 0 draws, 1 loss 3 points
Genk 1 win, 0 draws, 1 loss 3 points
Young Boys 1 win, 0 draws, 1 loss 3 points
Fenerbahçe 1 win, 0 draws, 1 loss 3 points
Ludogorets 1 win, 0 draws, 1 loss 3 points
Sturm Graz 1W 0D 1L 3 points
Stuttgart 1W 0D 1L 3 points
Steaua Bucharest 1W 0D 1L 3 points
Nottingham Forest 0W 1D 1L 1 point
Red Star Belgrade 0W 1D 1L 1 point
Bologna 0 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, 1 point
Celtic 0 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, 1 point
PAOK 0 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, 1 point
Maccabi Tel Aviv 0 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, 1 point
Nice 0 wins, 0 draws, 2 losses, 2 points
Rangers 0 wins, 0 draws, 2 losses, 2 points
Utrecht 0 wins, 0 draws, 2 losses 2 points
Feyenoord 0 wins, 0 draws, 2 losses 2 points
Red Bull Salzburg 0 wins, 0 draws, 2 losses 2 points
Malmö 0 wins, 0 draws, 2 losses 2 points
After reading this article, you should now understand how the 2025-2026 Europa League format is structured.