2024–25 UEFA Europa League

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2024–25 UEFA Europa League

The 2024–25 UEFA Europa League is the 54th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 16th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.

Quick Facts Tournament details, Dates ...
2024–25 UEFA Europa League
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The San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao will host the final
Tournament details
DatesQualifying:
11 July – 29 August 2024
Competition proper:
25 September 2024 – 21 May 2025
TeamsCompetition proper: 25+11
Total: 45+31 (from 41 associations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played184
Goals scored541 (2.94 per match)
Attendance5,375,810 (29,216 per match)
Top scorer(s)Ayoub El Kaabi (Olympiacos)
Kasper Høgh (Bodø/Glimt)
7 goals each
All statistics correct as of 17 April 2025.
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This is the first season played under a new format, which replaced the 32-team group stage with a 36-team league phase.[1] This increases the total number of matches played in the competition (excluding qualifying rounds) from 141 to 189. The new format also does not allow teams to transfer from the Champions League league or knockout phase to the Europa League knockout phase, and thus Europa League winners (Atalanta in the 2023–24 edition) can no longer defend their title as the winner of the Europa League automatically qualifies for the Champions League league phase.

The final will be played on 21 May 2025 at the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao, Spain.[2] The winners of the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League will automatically qualify for the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League league phase and earn the right to play against the winners of the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League in the 2025 UEFA Super Cup.

Association team allocation

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Perspective

A total of 76 teams from 41 of the 55 UEFA member associations are participating in the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League. Among them, 32 associations had teams directly qualifying for the Europa League, while for the other 23 associations that did not have any teams directly qualifying, 9 of them had teams playing after being transferred from the Champions League. The association ranking based on the UEFA association coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[3]

  • The title holders of the Europa Conference League were given an entry in the Europa League (if they did not qualify for the Champions League or Europa League via league position).
  • Associations 1–12 each have two teams.
  • Associations 13–33 (except Russia[Note RUS]) each have one team.
  • 31 teams eliminated from the 2024–25 Champions League were transferred to the Europa League.

Association ranking

For the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2023 UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2018–19 to 2022–23.[4]

Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Europa League, as noted below:

More information Rank, Association ...
Association ranking for 2024–25 UEFA Europa League
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
1  England 109.570 2
2  Spain 92.998
3  Germany 82.481
4  Italy 81.926
5  France 61.164
6  Netherlands 59.900 +1 (UCL)
7  Portugal 56.216
8  Belgium 42.200 +1 (UCL)
9  Scotland 36.400 +1 (UCL)
10  Austria 34.000
11  Serbia 32.375 +1 (UCL)
12  Turkey 32.100 +2 (UCL)
13  Switzerland 31.675 1 +1 (UCL)
14  Ukraine 29.500 +1 (UCL)
15  Czech Republic 29.050 +1 (UCL)
16  Norway 29.000 +1 (UCL)
17  Denmark 27.825 +1 (UCL)
18  Russia 26.215 0 [Note RUS]
19  Croatia 25.400 1
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
20  Greece 25.225 1 +1 (UECL)
+1 (UCL)
21  Israel 25.000 +1 (UCL)
22  Cyprus 24.475 +1 (UCL)
23  Sweden 23.750 +1 (UCL)
24  Poland 20.750 +1 (UCL)
25  Hungary 20.625 +1 (UCL)
26  Romania 20.500 +1 (UCL)
27  Bulgaria 20.000 +1 (UCL)
28  Slovakia 19.750
29  Azerbaijan 16.625 +1 (UCL)
30  Kazakhstan 12.625
31  Slovenia 12.500 +1 (UCL)
32  Moldova 12.250 +1 (UCL)
33  Kosovo 11.041
34  Liechtenstein 11.000 0
35  Latvia 10.625 +1 (UCL)
36  Republic of Ireland 10.375 +1 (UCL)
37  Finland 10.200
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
38  Lithuania 10.000 0 +1 (UCL)
39  Armenia 9.875
40  Belarus 9.875 +1 (UCL)
41  Bosnia and Herzegovina 9.750 +1 (UCL)
42  Luxembourg 9.000
43  Faroe Islands 8.750 +1 (UCL)
44  Northern Ireland 8.583
45  Malta 8.250
46  Georgia 8.000
47  Estonia 7.582
48  Iceland 7.250
49  Albania 6.250
50  Wales 6.166 +1 (UCL)
51  Gibraltar 5.791 +1 (UCL)
52  North Macedonia 5.500
53  Andorra 5.165 +1 (UCL)
54  Montenegro 4.750
55  San Marino 1.999
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Distribution

More information Teams entering in this round, Teams advancing from the previous round ...
Teams entering in this round Teams advancing from the previous round Teams transferred from Champions League
First qualifying round
(12 teams)
  • 12 domestic cup winners from associations 22–33
Second qualifying round
(18 teams)
  • 5 domestic cup winners from association 16–21 (except Russia)[Note RUS]
  • 6 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–12
  • 1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 6
  • 6 winners from the first qualifying round
Third qualifying round
(26 teams)
Champions path
(12 teams)
  • 12 losers from Champions League second qualifying round (Champions path)
League path
(14 teams)
  • 3 domestic cup winners from associations 13–15
  • 9 winners from second qualifying round
  • 2 losers from Champions League second qualifying round (League path)
Play-off round
(24 teams)
  • 5 domestic cup winners from associations 8–12
  • 13 winners from third qualifying round
  • 6 losers from Champions League third qualifying round (Champions path)
League phase
(36 teams)
  • Europa Conference League title holders
  • 7 domestic cup winners from associations 1–7
  • 5 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–5
  • 12 winners from play-off round
  • 5 losers from Champions League play-off round (Champions path)
  • 4 losers from Champions League third qualifying round (League path)
  • 2 losers from Champions League play-off round (League path)
Knockout phase play-offs
(16 teams)
  • 16 teams ranked 9–24 from the league phase
Round of 16
(16 teams)
  • 8 teams ranked 1–8 from the league phase
  • 8 winners from the knockout phase play-offs
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The information here reflects the ongoing suspension of Russia in European football, and so the following changes to the default access were made:

  • The cup winners of association 16 (Norway) entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.

As the Europa League title holders (Atalanta) qualified for the Champions League via their domestic league's standard berth allocation, the following changes to the default access list were made:

  • The cup winners of associations 17 to 21 (except Russia)[Note RUS] (Denmark, Croatia, Greece and Israel) entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.

Teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:

  • UECL: Europa Conference League title holders
  • CW: Cup winners
  • 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.: League position of the previous season
  • UCL: Transferred from the Champions League
    • CH/LP PO: Losers from the play-off round (Champions/League path)
    • CH/LP Q3: Losers from the third qualifying round (Champions/League path)
    • CH/LP Q2: Losers from the second qualifying round (Champions/League path)

The third qualifying round was divided into Champions Path (CH) and Main Path (MP).

More information Entry round, Teams ...
Qualified teams for 2024–25 UEFA Europa League
Entry round Teams
League phase Greece Olympiacos (UECL) England Manchester United (CW) England Tottenham Hotspur (5th) Spain Athletic Bilbao (CW)
Spain Real Sociedad (6th) Germany Eintracht Frankfurt (6th) Germany TSG Hoffenheim (7th) Italy Roma (6th)
Italy Lazio (7th) France Nice (5th) France Lyon (6th) Netherlands AZ (4th)
Portugal Porto (CW) Turkey Galatasaray (UCL CH PO) Norway Bodø/Glimt (UCL CH PO) Denmark Midtjylland (UCL CH PO)
Sweden Malmö FF (UCL CH PO) Azerbaijan Qarabağ (UCL CH PO) Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv (UCL LP PO) Czech Republic Slavia Prague (UCL LP PO)
Netherlands Twente (UCL LP Q3) Belgium Union Saint-Gilloise (UCL LP Q3) Scotland Rangers (UCL LP Q3) Turkey Fenerbahçe (UCL LP Q3)
Play-off round Belgium Anderlecht (3rd) Scotland Heart of Midlothian (3rd) Austria LASK (3rd) Serbia TSC (3rd)
Turkey Beşiktaş (CW) Greece PAOK (UCL CH Q3) Cyprus APOEL (UCL CH Q3) Poland Jagiellonia Białystok (UCL CH Q3)
Hungary Ferencváros (UCL CH Q3) Romania FCSB (UCL CH Q3) Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad (UCL CH Q3)
Third qualifying round CH Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv (UCL CH Q2) Slovenia Celje (UCL CH Q2) Moldova Petrocub Hîncești (UCL CH Q2) Latvia RFS (UCL CH Q2)
Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers (UCL CH Q2) Lithuania Panevėžys (UCL CH Q2) Belarus Dinamo Minsk (UCL CH Q2) Bosnia and Herzegovina Borac Banja Luka (UCL CH Q2)
Faroe Islands (UCL CH Q2) Wales The New Saints (UCL CH Q2) Gibraltar Lincoln Red Imps (UCL CH Q2) Andorra UE Santa Coloma (UCL CH Q2)
MP Switzerland Servette (CW) Ukraine Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih (3rd) Czech Republic Viktoria Plzeň (3rd) Serbia Partizan (UCL LP Q2)
Switzerland Lugano (UCL LP Q2)
Second qualifying round Netherlands Ajax (5th) Portugal Braga (4th) Belgium Cercle Brugge (4th) Scotland Kilmarnock (4th)
Austria Rapid Wien (4th) Serbia Vojvodina (4th) Turkey Trabzonspor (3rd) Norway Molde (CW)
Denmark Silkeborg (CW) Croatia Rijeka (2nd) Greece Panathinaikos (CW) Israel Maccabi Petah Tikva (CW)
First qualifying round Cyprus Pafos (CW) Sweden IF Elfsborg (2nd) Poland Wisła Kraków (CW) Hungary Paks (CW)
Romania Corvinul Hunedoara (CW) Bulgaria Botev Plovdiv (CW) Slovakia Ružomberok (CW) Azerbaijan Zira (2nd)
Kazakhstan Tobol (CW) Slovenia Maribor (2nd)[Note SVN] Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol (2nd) Kosovo Llapi (2nd)
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Two teams not playing in a national top division took part in the competition: Corvinul Hunedoara (2nd tier) and Wisła Kraków (2nd tier).

Notes

  1. ^
    Russia (RUS): On 28 February 2022, Russian football clubs and national teams were suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5] The tables reflect Russia's ongoing suspension from UEFA competitions.[6]
  2. ^
    Slovenia (SVN): Cup winners Rogaška failed to obtain a UEFA licence, so the berth reserved for the cup winners was transferred to the second-placed team in the league, Maribor.

Round and draw dates

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The schedule of the competition is as follows.[7] Matches are scheduled for Thursdays, apart from the final, which takes place on a Wednesday, though exceptionally can take place on Tuesdays or Wednesdays due to scheduling conflicts. Compared to past seasons, one exclusive week was introduced where both Wednesday and Thursdays were matchdays, held on 25 and 26 September.[8][9][10]

More information Phase, Round ...
Schedule for 2024–25 UEFA Europa League
Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying First qualifying round 18 June 2024 11 July 2024 18 July 2024
Second qualifying round 19 June 2024 25 July 2024 1 August 2024
Third qualifying round 22 July 2024 8 August 2024 15 August 2024
Play-offs Play-off round 5 August 2024 22 August 2024 29 August 2024
League phase Matchday 1 30 August 2024 25–26 September 2024
Matchday 2 3 October 2024
Matchday 3 24 October 2024
Matchday 4 7 November 2024
Matchday 5 28 November 2024
Matchday 6 12 December 2024
Matchday 7 23 January 2025
Matchday 8 30 January 2025
Knockout phase Knockout phase play-offs 31 January 2025 13 February 2025 20 February 2025
Round of 16 21 February 2025 6 March 2025 13 March 2025
Quarter-finals 10 April 2025 17 April 2025
Semi-finals 1 May 2025 8 May 2025
Final 21 May 2025 at San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao
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Qualifying rounds

First qualifying round

The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 18 June 2024. The first legs were played on 11 July, and the second legs were played on 18 July 2024.

The winners of the ties advanced to the second qualifying round. The losers were transferred to the Conference League Main Path second qualifying round.

More information Team 1, Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score ...
First qualifying round
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Botev Plovdiv Bulgaria4–3Slovenia Maribor2–12–2
IF Elfsborg Sweden8–2Cyprus Pafos3–05–2
Paks Hungary2–4Romania Corvinul Hunedoara0–42–0
Sheriff Tiraspol Moldova2–2 (5–4 p)Azerbaijan Zira0–12–1 (a.e.t.)
Wisła Kraków Poland4–1[a]Kosovo Llapi2–02–1
Ružomberok Slovakia5–3Kazakhstan Tobol5–20–1
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Notes:
  1. Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Second qualifying round

The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 19 June 2024. The first legs were played on 25 July, and the second legs were played on 1 August 2024.

The winners of the ties advanced to the Main Path third qualifying round. The losers were transferred to the Conference League Main Path third qualifying round.

More information Team 1, Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score ...
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Third qualifying round

The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 22 July 2024. The first legs were played on 6 and 8 August, and the second legs were played on 13, 14 and 15 August 2024.

The winners of the ties advanced to the play-off round. The Champions Path losers were transferred to the Conference League Champions Path play-off round, while the Main Path losers were transferred to the Conference League Main Path play-off round.

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Play-off round

The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 August 2024. The first legs were played on 22 August, and the second legs were played on 29 August 2024.

The winners of the ties advanced to the league phase. The losers were transferred to the Conference League league phase.

More information Team 1, Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score ...
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League phase

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Brussels
Brussels
Brussels teams Anderlecht Union SG
Brussels teams
Anderlecht
Union SG
Location of Benelux teams of the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League league phase.

The league phase draw for the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League took place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 30 August 2024, 13:00 CEST.[11][12] The 36 teams were divided into four pots of nine teams each based on their UEFA club coefficient.

The 36 teams were manually drawn and then automated software digitally drew their eight different opponents at random, determining which of their matches were at home and which ones away. Each team faced two opponents from each of the four pots, one at home and one away. Teams could not face opponents from their own association, and could only be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same association.[13][14]

RFS made their debut appearance since the introduction of the group stage.

A total of 22 national associations were represented in the league phase.

Table

The top eight ranked teams received a bye to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th contested the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th were eliminated from all competitions, with no access to the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League.

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Italy Lazio 8 6 1 1 17 5 +12 19 Advance to round of 16 (seeded)
2 Spain Athletic Bilbao 8 6 1 1 15 7 +8 19
3 England Manchester United 8 5 3 0 16 9 +7 18
4 England Tottenham Hotspur 8 5 2 1 17 9 +8 17
5 Germany Eintracht Frankfurt 8 5 1 2 14 10 +4 16
6 France Lyon 8 4 3 1 16 8 +8 15
7 Greece Olympiacos 8 4 3 1 9 3 +6 15
8 Scotland Rangers 8 4 2 2 16 10 +6 14
9 Norway Bodø/Glimt 8 4 2 2 14 11 +3 14 Advance to knockout phase play-offs (seeded)
10 Belgium Anderlecht 8 4 2 2 14 12 +2 14
11 Romania FCSB 8 4 2 2 10 9 +1 14
12 Netherlands Ajax 8 4 1 3 16 8 +8 13
13 Spain Real Sociedad 8 4 1 3 13 9 +4 13
14 Turkey Galatasaray 8 3 4 1 19 16 +3 13
15 Italy Roma 8 3 3 2 10 6 +4 12
16 Czech Republic Viktoria Plzeň 8 3 3 2 13 12 +1 12
17 Hungary Ferencváros 8 4 0 4 15 15 0 12 Advance to knockout phase play-offs (unseeded)
18 Portugal Porto 8 3 2 3 13 11 +2 11
19 Netherlands AZ 8 3 2 3 13 13 0 11
20 Denmark Midtjylland 8 3 2 3 9 9 0 11
21 Belgium Union Saint-Gilloise 8 3 2 3 8 8 0 11
22 Greece PAOK 8 3 1 4 12 10 +2 10
23 Netherlands Twente 8 2 4 2 8 9 1 10
24 Turkey Fenerbahçe 8 2 4 2 9 11 2 10
25 Portugal Braga 8 3 1 4 9 12 3 10
26 Sweden IF Elfsborg 8 3 1 4 9 14 5 10
27 Germany TSG Hoffenheim 8 2 3 3 11 14 3 9
28 Turkey Beşiktaş 8 3 0 5 10 15 5 9
29 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv 8 2 0 6 8 17 9 6
30 Czech Republic Slavia Prague 8 1 2 5 7 11 4 5
31 Sweden Malmö FF 8 1 2 5 10 17 7 5
32 Latvia RFS 8 1 2 5 6 13 7 5
33 Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad 8 0 4 4 4 11 7 4
34 Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 8 1 1 6 5 18 13 4
35 France Nice 8 0 3 5 7 16 9 3
36 Azerbaijan Qarabağ 8 1 0 7 6 20 14 3
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Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: League phase tiebreakers

Results

Knockout phase

In the knockout phase, teams will play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The bracket structure for the knockout phase is partially fixed in advance using seeding, with teams' positions in the bracket determined by the final standings in the league phase. In the knockout phase, there is no country protection, with teams from the same association able to face each other in any round. Teams can also face opponents they played during the league phase.

The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:[3]

  • In the draw for the knockout phase play-offs, the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 9–16 were seeded, and the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 17–24 were unseeded. The draw was split into four sections based on the predetermined bracket, with the seeded teams in each section drawn against one of their two possible unseeded opponents. The seeded teams hosted the second leg.
  • In the draw for the round of 16, the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 1–8 were seeded, and the eight winners of the knockout phase play-offs were unseeded. Again, the draw was split into four sections based on the predetermined bracket, with the seeded teams in each section drawn against one of their two possible unseeded opponents. The seeded teams hosted the second leg.
  • In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the exact match pairings were predetermined based on the tournament bracket. A draw was conducted only to determine which team plays the first leg at home. The winner of semi-final 1 will be designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it is played at a neutral venue).

Bracket

Knockout phase play-offsRound of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
19Netherlands AZ426
14Turkey Galatasaray123 19Netherlands AZ112
4England Tottenham Hotspur033
4 England Tottenham Hotspur112
21Belgium Union Saint-Gilloise022
5Germany Eintracht Frankfurt101
12Netherlands Ajax (a.e.t.)213 12Netherlands Ajax112
5Germany Eintracht Frankfurt246
4 England Tottenham Hotspur
23Netherlands Twente224
9Norway Bodø/Glimt
9Norway Bodø/Glimt (a.e.t.)156 9 Norway Bodø/Glimt314
7Greece Olympiacos022
9 Norway Bodø/Glimt (p)213 (3)
17Hungary Ferencváros101
1Italy Lazio033 (2)
16Czech Republic Viktoria Plzeň033 16Czech Republic Viktoria Plzeň112
21 May – Bilbao
1Italy Lazio213
24Turkey Fenerbahçe325
10Belgium Anderlecht022 24Turkey Fenerbahçe123 (2)
8Scotland Rangers (p)303 (3)
8 Scotland Rangers000
18Portugal Porto123
2Spain Athletic Bilbao022
15Italy Roma134 15Italy Roma213
2Spain Athletic Bilbao134
2 Spain Athletic Bilbao
22Greece PAOK101
3England Manchester United
11Romania FCSB224 11Romania FCSB101
6France Lyon347
6 France Lyon246
20Denmark Midtjylland123
3England Manchester United (a.e.t.)257
13Spain Real Sociedad257 13Spain Real Sociedad112
3England Manchester United145

Knockout phase play-offs

The draw for the knockout phase play-offs was held on 31 January 2025, 13:00 CET.[15][16] The first legs were played on 13 February, and the second legs were played on 20 February 2025.

More information Team 1, Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score ...
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Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 21 February 2025, 13:00 CET.[17] The first legs were played on 6 March, and the second legs were played on 13 March 2025.

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Quarter-finals

The draw for the order of the quarter-final legs was held on 21 February 2025, 13:00 CET, after the round of 16 draw.[17] The first legs were played on 10 April, and the second legs were played on 17 April 2025.

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Semi-finals

The draw for the order of the semi-final legs was held on 21 February 2025, 13:00 CET, after the round of 16 and quarter-final draws.[17] The first legs will be played on 1 May, and the second legs will be played on 8 May 2025.

More information Team 1, Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score ...
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Tottenham Hotspur England1Norway Bodø/Glimt1 May8 May
Athletic Bilbao Spain2England Manchester United1 May8 May
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Final

The final will be played on 21 May 2025 at the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao. The winner of semi-final 1 will be designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes. However, if Athletic Bilbao advances to the final, they will host the match.

More information Winner SF1, v ...
Winner SF1 v Winner SF2
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Statistics

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.

Top goalscorers

As of 17 April 2025
More information Rank, Player ...
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See also

References

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