USspur
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Draw on right now for the Europa league
USspur
Well-Known Member
USspur
Well-Known Member
Europa League opponents confirmed | Tottenham Hotspur
The draw for the new league stage of the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League has today (Friday 30 August) taken place and we’ve learned our opponents in the initial phase of the competition.
The draw for the new league stage of the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League has today (Friday 30 August) taken place and we’ve learned our opponents in the initial phase of the competition.
We will meet Roma (ITA),AZ Alkmaar (NED),Qarabağ (AZE) and Elfsborg (SWE) at home and Rangers (SCO),Ferencváros (HUN),Galatasaray (TUR) and Hoffenheim (GER) away.
We’re returning to the competition for the first time since 2020/21, with the tournament taking a different format to the one we last contested – the previous group stage, where teams were divided into groups of four, has now become a single 36-team league stage, where each club faces eight different teams once, four at home and four away.
The top eight advance directly to the round of 16, while sides finishing from ninth to 24th will contest the knockout round play-offs, with the winners of all eight two-legged ties going through to the last 16.
Other sides involved in the league stage are: Manchester United (ENG),Porto (POR),Ajax (NED),Frankfurt (GER),Lazio (ITA),Slavia Prague (CZE),Real Sociedad (ESP),Braga (POR),Olympiacos (GRE),Lyon (FRA),PAOK (GRE),Fenerbahçe (TUR),Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR),Viktoria Plzeň (CZE),Bodø/Glimt (NOR),Union SG (BEL),Dynamo Kyiv (UKR),Ludogorets (BUL),Midtjylland (DEN),Malmö (SWE),Athletic Club (ESP),Nice (FRA),Anderlecht (BEL),Twente (NED),Beşiktaş (TUR),FCSB (ROU),RFS (LVA).
Confirmed dates and kick-off times for each game will be confirmed in due course.
Designated round dates are as follows...
Matchday 1: 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
USspur
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Spurs in the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League – new format explained, draw dates, key information | Tottenham Hotspur
This season, we'll be competing in the Europa League and a new format of the competition awaits us.
This season, we'll be competing in the Europa League and a new format of the competition awaits us.
For the first time since the 2020/21 campaign, we're back in the tournament which we first won in its first edition back in 1972 when it was called the UEFA Cup. We also won the competition 40 years ago this year with a penalty shootout victory over Anderlecht at White Hart Lane in May, 1984.
This season in the competition, the previous group stage, where teams were divided into groups of four, will become a single 36-team league stage.
Each club faces eight different teams once, four at home and four away. The top eight advance directly to the round of 16, while sides finishing from ninth to 24th will contest the knockout round play-offs, with the winners of all eight two-legged ties going through to the last 16.
From the last 16 onwards, the tournament then takes a straight knockout format, with two-legged ties through until a single-leg final on 21 May, 2025, at the Estadio de San Mamés in Bilbao, Spain.
For certain clubs to try to qualify for the initial league stage, there will be three qualifying rounds and then a play-off round in July and August.
However, by virtue of our fifth-place finish in the Premier League, we have qualified directly for the league stage.
The draw for the league stage will take place this week on Friday 30 August, 2024, with match rounds pencilled in as follows...
Matchday 1: 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
The draw for the knockout round play-offs, for the clubs finishing ninth to 24th, will take place on 31 January, 2025, with the two legs of those ties set to be played on 13 and 20 February, 2025.
The draw for the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals will be held on 21 February, 2025, with match dates pencilled in as follows...
Round of 16: 6 and 13 March, 2025
Quarter-finals: 10 and 17 April, 2025
Semi-finals: 1 and 8 May, 2025
Final: 21 May, 2025
J.spurs
Well-Known Member
Founding Member
Some interesting games, Roma home, Galatasaray and Rangers away catch the eye. Glad the Qarabag game is home.
USspur
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Havocc
Well-Known Member
Founding Member
Suprised these aren’t in there, look at the front 3
Style And Glory
On My High Trojan Horse
Founding Member
Agreed. That's a formidable trio. Should make for a great game.
USspur
Well-Known Member
Postecoglou makes Spurs Europa League squad decision as Djed Spence is left out
The Tottenham Hotspur boss had a tough decision to make to ensure that the club complies with the rules and regulations of the competition
Here is Tottenham's group stage main squad list in full.
Goalkeepers
Guglielmo Vicario
Fraser Forster
Brandon Austin
Alfie Whiteman
Defenders
Radu Drăgușin
Destiny Udogie
Cristian Romero
Pedro Porro
Ben Davies
Micky van de Ven
Midfielders
Yves Bissouma
James Maddison
Archie Gray
Lucas Bergvall
Dejan Kulusevski
Brennan Johnson
Wilson Odobert
Pape Sarr
Rodrigo Bentancur
Forwards
Son Heung-min
Richarlison
Timo Werner
Dominic Solanke
USspur
Well-Known Member
Ange Postecoglou has left Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon out of his Europa League squad for the coming group stages.
Spurs had to submit their squad to UEFA for the competition by the end of play on Wednesday and in doing so they had to comply with the various regulations that are placed upon the numbers that can be selected. While Ange Postecoglou's Premier League squad is straight forward with everyone able to be registered within the squad, the Europa League requirements are far more awkward.
The first immediate difference from the Premier League rules is that the under-21s list is called the B list and in UEFA's eyes it only applies to players who have spent two years at the club, so that means new summer signings Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall do not apply so have to be registered in the main bunch instead.
The other major difference comes in the classification of homegrown players, which in European competition falls into two different categories. Of the squad, the rules then say that "as a minimum, eight of those 25 places are reserved exclusively for 'locally trained players' and no club may have more than four 'association-trained players' listed among those eight places. If a club has fewer than eight locally trained players in their squad, then the maximum number of players on List A is reduced accordingly".
There are two types of locally-trained player. One is 'club-trained players', who were on the club's books for three entire seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 and 21. The other is 'association-trained players', who were on another club's books in the same association for three entire seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 and 21.
Spurs have only two of the four required club-trained players in Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman, so had to reduce their squad to 23 players. They also had seven association-trained players, of which only four can go in their own category, meaning the other three had to be placed into the main group. Unfortunately there was only one spot left in that group.
That meant that not only did Reguilon miss out but also Spence, who joined the club in 2022 from Middlesbrough and has worked his way back into Postecoglou's thoughts this summer. That suggest summer arrival Gray will be called upon to play as a right-back when required in the competition.
A new squad list can be submitted with a handful of permitted changes if Spurs advance past the group stages where they will face Qarabag, Ferencvaros, AZ Alkmaar, Galatasaray, Roma, Rangers, Hoffenheim and Elfsborg over the coming months.
Spurs had to submit their squad to UEFA for the competition by the end of play on Wednesday and in doing so they had to comply with the various regulations that are placed upon the numbers that can be selected. While Ange Postecoglou's Premier League squad is straight forward with everyone able to be registered within the squad, the Europa League requirements are far more awkward.
The first immediate difference from the Premier League rules is that the under-21s list is called the B list and in UEFA's eyes it only applies to players who have spent two years at the club, so that means new summer signings Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall do not apply so have to be registered in the main bunch instead.
The other major difference comes in the classification of homegrown players, which in European competition falls into two different categories. Of the squad, the rules then say that "as a minimum, eight of those 25 places are reserved exclusively for 'locally trained players' and no club may have more than four 'association-trained players' listed among those eight places. If a club has fewer than eight locally trained players in their squad, then the maximum number of players on List A is reduced accordingly".
There are two types of locally-trained player. One is 'club-trained players', who were on the club's books for three entire seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 and 21. The other is 'association-trained players', who were on another club's books in the same association for three entire seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 and 21.
Spurs have only two of the four required club-trained players in Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman, so had to reduce their squad to 23 players. They also had seven association-trained players, of which only four can go in their own category, meaning the other three had to be placed into the main group. Unfortunately there was only one spot left in that group.
That meant that not only did Reguilon miss out but also Spence, who joined the club in 2022 from Middlesbrough and has worked his way back into Postecoglou's thoughts this summer. That suggest summer arrival Gray will be called upon to play as a right-back when required in the competition.
A new squad list can be submitted with a handful of permitted changes if Spurs advance past the group stages where they will face Qarabag, Ferencvaros, AZ Alkmaar, Galatasaray, Roma, Rangers, Hoffenheim and Elfsborg over the coming months.
Style And Glory
On My High Trojan Horse
Founding Member
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing that as I when I saw the list you posted, Spence immediately came to mind who I was led to believe was back in favour. This explains his omittance.
Ted the Yid
Moderator
Founding Member
This is the trophy we should be all over to win. Defence depth is a concern but it is winnable especially when you consider that the domestic cups will always have an element of luck about them. A bad away draw or one dodgy game or decision and it's all over, where as the Europa with the league system and then 2 legged knock outs mean that any of the mentioned can be corrected so less left to chance.
USspur
Well-Known Member
Style And Glory
On My High Trojan Horse
Founding Member
Spence looks thrilled by his inclusion.
ClemFandango
Lord High Chief of the Privvy
Founding Member
Apparently with Galatasaray getting knocked out of Europa, our potential knockout stage opponents are now either AZ or one of Real Sociedad and Midtjylland.
ClemFandango
Lord High Chief of the Privvy
Founding Member
And it's now officially either AZ Alkmaar or Real Sociedad. Draw tomorrow.
USspur
Well-Known Member
ClemFandango
Lord High Chief of the Privvy
Founding Member
I like that draw. Apparently since we’re out of the FA Cup will have a full week of rest before the AZ game.
The only downside is that if we get through then the first legs of the quarters and semis would be at home.
The only downside is that if we get through then the first legs of the quarters and semis would be at home.
Glenjamin
Moderator
Founding Member
Looking at that it's definitely not as easy as is being made out. Some decent teams in amongst that. No-one that should scare us but plenty of teams there could beat you on their day.
Dave
.....typing shite
Founding Member
Absolutely. They're all there on merit. Should beat AZ over two legs but Ajax, Lazio, Olympiacos, and Franfurt are all good sides and with serious pedigree in Europe.
J.spurs
Well-Known Member
Founding Member
Some very difficult away nights as well. As for AZ, they're a good team as well. You just know Troy Parrott will be itching to make a point like Marcus Edwards did for Sporting in the CL a few seasons back.
spurious
Well-Known Member
I'm taking my life in my hands asking for advice from you lot, but here's my dilemma: me and a buddy were planning on coming over to watch Spurs destroy the dreams of Nuno and Nottingham Forest on the 19th of April. Works with our schedules, night out in London town, all that. But...the second leg of the Europa League quarter-final is on the 17th.
Assuming our progress to that match is inevitable, of course. Given the short turnaround, would the PL be likely to delay the Forest match to the 20th, or postpone it altogether and squeeze it in on some awful Wednesday night?
In which case we'd find ourselves in London with nothing but booze and trouble to look forward to, rather than booze, trouble and a Spurs match. What is the advice of this august forum? Worth the risk? Maybe not?
Assuming our progress to that match is inevitable, of course. Given the short turnaround, would the PL be likely to delay the Forest match to the 20th, or postpone it altogether and squeeze it in on some awful Wednesday night?
In which case we'd find ourselves in London with nothing but booze and trouble to look forward to, rather than booze, trouble and a Spurs match. What is the advice of this august forum? Worth the risk? Maybe not?
Glenjamin
Moderator
Founding Member
I'd say it's unlikely we would play Thursday + Saturday but not unheard of.
USspur
Well-Known Member
The homegrown rule that will cost some Spurs players a place in the Champions League
As it stands, Thomas Frank will have to leave nine first-teamers out of his squad for Europe in the coming season due to UEFA regulations
www.nytimes.com Tottenham Hotspur are facing the prospect of having to leave a significant number of first-team players out of their Champions League squad in the coming season.
Qualification comes with the opportunity to play on club football’s grandest stage, and, crucially for a side who want to progress in the competition and remain in it for seasons to come, a huge cash injection to strengthen further via the transfer market. However, it also necessitates an increased focus on how their current ranks are constructed due to homegrown player rules.
The Premier League requires that its participating clubs’ squads “must contain no more than 17 players who do not fulfil the ‘homegrown player’ criteria”. According to the league’s rulebook, a homegrown player is “a player who, irrespective of nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to The Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons, or 36 months, before his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21)”.
Tottenham have eight fully fledged first-team players who fulfil this classification (Brandon Austin, Kevin Danso, Ben Davies, Archie Gray, Brennan Johnson, James Maddison, Dominic Solanke and Djed Spence),and also several academy graduates and homegrown talents who may remain with the squad for the season, so they are currently on target.
However, UEFA’s ‘locally trained’ rules will be much trickier to navigate.
As for last season’s Europa League, which they won to secure this Champions League spot, Tottenham will submit two lists: List A (the main squad) and List B (players born on or after January 1, 2004, who have been eligible to play for the club for an uninterrupted period of two years since turning 15).
The overall number of players (25) they include on List A is the same as for the Premier League, but the makeup of it will be markedly different. This is due to UEFA having a separate distinction between ‘association-trained’ and ‘locally trained’ players. In other words, where the Premier League does not pay attention to which English or Welsh team(s) developed a given player, UEFA necessitates that at least four of the eight association-trained players must have spent at least three entire seasons, or 36 months, between the ages of 15 and 21 at the club they’re currently with.
A quick glance at the eight senior players who qualify as homegrown demonstrates the pressing nature of the matter. Currently, only third-choice goalkeeper Austin is ‘locally trained’ compliant, and if Spurs do not address the issue, UEFA rules state they will have to leave three registration slots in their squad open for the coming season, reducing their total number of players from 25 to 22.
The situation has not been helped by Tottenham’s transfer activity.
Alfie Whiteman, a boyhood Spurs fan and an academy graduate, helped bolster their locally trained figures last season and earned a Europa League winner’s medal despite not playing in any of the games, but he has since been released. In his place, the club are likely to promote Antonin Kinsky to their European squad, having left him out of their Europa League group soon after signing him in January. Though this summer’s signings so far will improve Tottenham’s depth and quality, Mohammed Kudus, Mathys Tel and Kota Takai will never be eligible to fill homegrown status in the Premier League or UEFA competitions.
New defender Takai may be among the players to miss out (Hiroki Watanabe/Getty Images)
The proposed signing of Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest would be another addition to the association-trained contingent but not the ‘locally trained’ group. The need to strengthen a squad that new head coach Thomas Frank has declared should compete on all four fronts in the coming season must be balanced with UEFA’s squad-registration requirements, and there is some concern over the club’s ability to solve that puzzle.
Developing first-team-ready players through the academy is the optimal way out of this situation, as it requires no transfer fees and exposes young talent to elite football early in their development cycle. While it is largely dependent on the quality of those emerging from your youth setup, fellow Champions League qualifiers Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal are in good positions from a club-trained perspective, with the likes of Phil Foden, Curtis Jones and Bukayo Saka now seasoned operators in Europe’s premier competition.
Given Austin is likely to sit behind Guglielmo Vicario and Kinsky on the goalkeeping depth chart, Spurs are currently without a club-trained player in the squad who is expected to make a meaningful impact on the Champions League in the coming season.
Another avenue is to re-sign club-trained players who had moved on.
Arsenal moved for Wolverhampton Wanderers’ backup goalkeeper Dan Bentley last year as they sought to address their own homegrown concerns (which have since been addressed through the emergence of Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly),but fell short of the asking price for their former academy player.
Tottenham academy graduate Kyle Walker-Peters was available as a free agent earlier this summer after leaving Southampton at the end of his contract and could have provided full-back cover on either side, but he has now joined West Ham United — possibly an opportunity missed. Though Noni Madueke, Arsenal’s recent signing from Chelsea, spent four years at Spurs’ academy to the age of 16, he would not have been eligible for a club-trained or association-trained slot as he spent the majority of the eligibility period in the Netherlands with PSV.
Others who fit this bill include Oliver Skipp, Harry Winks, Nabil Bentaleb, Dennis Cirkin, Troy Parrott and a slew of centre-backs, such as Japhet Tanganga, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Milos Veljkovic. In any other circumstances, it is unlikely that any of these will head up Hotspur Way this summer, not least because Tottenham are very well-stocked in central defence.
Oh, and then there’s Harry Kane…
Walker-Peters, as a former Spurs player, could have been a handy signing (Steven Paston/PA Images via Getty Images)
Finding a way to manage the present while preventing any opportunity for Tottenham’s exciting young talents to demonstrate their qualities in the Champions League is another awkward quandary. If they were to return for Winks or Skipp, for example, how would that affect Lucas Bergvall or Archie Gray in midfield? On the same token, might a move for Carter-Vickers or Veljkovic harm Takai or Luka Vuskovic’s prospects of making the cut? With such a bloated first-team group already, it seems inevitable that quality players will be left disappointed when the club submit their final squad to UEFA after the summer transfer window closes on September 1.
As it stands, Frank will have to leave out nine first-team players. Takai, Manor Solomon, Bryan Gil, Yang Min-hyeok, Radu Dragusin (who suffered an ACL knee injury in February so will miss the new season’s opening months),Davies and Ashley Phillips (the latter two are association-trained) appear most likely to miss out at this point, but that’s only seven. And that’s before Gibbs-White, or any other potential incomings, necessitate more exclusions.
Fortunately, the long-term future looks brighter for Tottenham.
From 2026-27, Bergvall and Gray will be eligible to be registered in List B. The following season, they will become club-trained. The same will eventually apply to 18-year-old Vuskovic, should he remain at Spurs for three seasons or more.
But while their recent policy of attracting talented youngsters to their part of north London should bear fruit eventually, it won’t help them navigate this situation at present.
For now, Tottenham’s new-look boardroom has the unenviable task of addressing a pressing issue that could otherwise have a significant impact on the ability of Frank’s team to perform at their best in the Champions League next season.
USspur
Well-Known Member
Yid
Moderator
Founding Member
Fucking wounded...
spurious
Well-Known Member
I once attempted a bicycle kick playing for my old-farts five-a-side team. Broke my glasses and bloodied my nose.
USspur
Well-Known Member
USspur
Well-Known Member
Xabi smiling ear to ear watching this