A new European season starts on Wednesday, with the first round of the Europa League, with 36 teams promising real battles on the way to Frankfurt, where the final will be played on May 26, 2027. Thus, on Wednesday and Thursday, the European football scene is all about the second UEFA Cup. This, as a result of the new format applied for two years by the institution that runs continental football, which has chosen to discuss only the first round of the tournament this midweek, making it the arena of continental clashes.
Teams to beat
The Europa League has its contenders among the 36 participating teams, but of course the two Italian giants Milan and Juventus are the teams to beat. The red and blacks of coach Ruben Amorim make their debut at San Siro against Benfica, in a thrilling 90 minutes to establish supremacy from the start. Ruben Amorim has in mind, for the first match in the Europa League, a starting lineup already ready to rush the opponent, very offensive and of course dynamic. It will be a fast Milan, with players who know how to pass the opponent in one-on-one duels, but it must also be a Milan capable of suffering, because the Portuguese know how to keep the ball and, consequently, in the phase without the ball there will be a lot of running.
Love against the past
However, if Amorim seemed surprised by Lazio in the first half, the same cannot be said against Benfica, a team he knows very well and has faced 13 times during his career between Braga and Sporting Lisbon, with a more than satisfactory balance of six wins, four losses and three draws. This time, however, the level is raised. It is true that the Europa League is long and it is not necessary to win all the matches (with 16 points, qualification for the 1/8 stage is almost certain), but it is equally undeniable that at this moment Milan needs a performance that lives up to its name.
How the format works
As for the calendar, the Europa League championship phase will end in January, while the Conference League, where Egnatia will also be, starts in mid-October and ends in December. Each team in the Europa League will play a total of 8 matches in this phase, facing eight different opponents, with a single ranking, while in the Conference it will only play 6 matches. However, in both tournaments, the first eight ranked teams will go directly to the 1/8 of the competition, while from the 9th to the 24th place will play a playoff match to determine the other eight qualified teams. This midweek begins a long season for 72 teams in total, but at the end of both tournaments only two will be able to lift the trophies: who will triumph in Frankfurt and Istanbul? Time will tell...
Europa League - League Stage
18:45 Ararat Armenia - Sparta Prague
18:45 Omonia Nicosia - Celta Vigo
21:00 AC Milan - Benfica
21:00 Anderlecht - Lyon
21:00 Bayer Leverkusen - NK Celje
21:00 Hapoel Beer Sheva - Dinamo Zagreb
21:00 Olympiacos - Jagiellonia Bialystok
21:00 Sturm Graz - Rennes
21:00 Sunderland - AZ Alkmaar
