Andalusians and people from Castellón are already waiting for their rivals in the second continental league.
If on Thursday 31 August all eyes are on the Champions League, with UEFA avoiding the group stage of the first major continental tournament, it will be the turn of its ‘younger sister’, the Europa League, on Friday 1 September.
Luck will decide important things this Friday in Monaco, where Manuel Pellegrini’s Real Betis and Quique Setién’s Villarreal have qualified for the closing stages without having to overcome previous rounds and are already waiting for their rivals in the second continental league.
Group stage draw of the 2023-2024 Europa League, with Betis and Villarreal: when is it, how does it work, format, seeded teams, seeded teams and drums
When and where is the Europa League draw?
The draw for the Europa League will take place on Friday 1 September from 1pm at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
How the Europa League draw works
As reported by UEFA, the 32 who have qualified for the Europa League group stage will, as always, compete against each other in eight groups of four teams each. It will not be a pure draw, but will depend on the famous drums, selected on the basis of the clubs’ coefficients for their participation in European competitions in recent years. Unlike the Champions League, there is no hype of champions, but everyone is ranked based on their previous performance.
There are two other restrictions on the draw: teams representing the same federation cannot play against each other and UEFA reserves the right to restrict other combinations for political reasons. It should be remembered that the Russian and Belarusian teams are still excluded due to the war with Ukraine, as reported by UEFA on its official website.
The Europa League drums
At this point, most of the teams that make up each of the drums are waiting for the resolution of the previous round, which ends next Thursday. Neither Spaniard needs to go through these duels to secure their presence in the group stage, as LaLiga maintains two regular spots per campaign come what may.
Villarreal, who were crowned champions of the Europa League in the academic year 2020-2021, have enough points to be part of Pot 1. However, Betis are in Pot 2, which means they can take on weight rivals such as Rome, Liverpool, Atalanta or Ajax.
For now, these are the drums of the second continental competition:
- Pot 1: West Ham, Liverpool, Rome, Ajax, Villarreal, Bayer Leverkusen, Atalanta.
- Pot 2: Rennes, Real Betis.
- Drum 3: currently empty.
- Drum 4: TSC, Napkin.
How to watch the Europa League draw on TV?
The draw for the Europa League can be followed live on television via the Champions League on M+.
Competition 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.
- Preliminary round draw: December 18, 2023.
- First leg of the preliminary round: 15 February 2024.
- Return from the preliminary round: February 22, 2024.
- Drawing round of 16: February 23, 2024.
- Round of 16 1st leg: March 7, 2024.
- Round of 16 second stage: March 14, 2024.
- Draw for quarter-finals, semi-finals and final: 15 March 2024.
- First leg of the quarter-finals: April 11, 2024.
- Return of the quarter-finals: April 18, 2024.
- First leg of the semi-finals: May 2, 2024.
- Return of the semi-finals: May 9, 2024.
- End: May 22, 2024.
Source: Goal