Rangers are set to face Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the newly restructured Europa League league phase.
The Scottish Premiership team will host Spurs at Ibrox and will travel to Old Trafford to play Manchester United, marking their first encounter in 14 years.
Each team will compete in eight fixtures during the ‘league phase,’ as this year’s men’s tournament adopts a significant overhaul, including the elimination of the group stage.
Manchester United will visit Fenerbahce to face former manager Jose Mourinho and also play against his former team, Porto, away.
Tottenham will host Roma and play away games against Galatasaray and Hoffenheim.
Rangers will also face challenging matches against Olympiakos, last season’s Conference League champions, and French side Nice.
The draw for this year’s competition utilized high-tech methods, with former Athletic Bilbao striker Aritz Aduriz replacing Cristiano Ronaldo to activate the AI algorithm that determined the matchups.
In the Conference League, Chelsea will host Shamrock Rovers from the League of Ireland, while The New Saints from Wales will travel to Italy to face Fiorentina.
Scottish Premiership side Hearts will play Copenhagen, who were defeated by Manchester City in the Champions League last 16 last season.
Northern Irish side Larne will welcome Shamrock Rovers and Belgian side Gent to Inver Park.
Who will British teams play in Europa League?
The order of matches for the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League will be confirmed on Saturday.
Manchester United
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Rangers (H)
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Porto (A)
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PAOK (H)
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Fenerbahce (A)
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Bodo/Glimt (H)
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Viktoria Plzen (A)
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FC Twente (H)
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FCSB (A)
Rangers
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Tottenham (H)
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Manchester United (A)
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Lyon (H)
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Olympiakos (A)
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Union SG (H)
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Malmo (A)
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FCSB (H)
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Nice (A)
Tottenham
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Roma (H)
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Rangers (A)
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AZ Alkmaar (H)
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Ferencvaros (A)
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Qarabag (H)
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Galatasaray (A)
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Elfsborg (H)
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Hoffenheim (A)
Who do British sides face in Conference League?
Chelsea
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Gent (H)
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Heidenheim (A)
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Astana (A)
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Shamrock Rovers (H)
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Panathinaikos (A)
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Noah (H)
Hearts
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Copenhagen (A)
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Heidenheim (H)
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Omonoia (H)
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Cercle Bruges (A)
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Petrocub (H)
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Dinamo-Minsk (A)
Larne
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Gent (H)
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Molde (A)
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Olimpija (A)
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Shamrock Rovers (H)
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St Gallen (H)
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Dinamo-Minsk (A)
The New Saints
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Fiorentina (A)
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Djurgarden (H)
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Astana (H)
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Shamrock Rovers (A)
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Panathinaikos (H)
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Celje (A)
How does the new format work?
In the expanded 36-team Europa League, each team will play eight matches—four at home and four away—against two opponents from each of the four seeding pots.
The top eight teams in the league phase will advance automatically to the last 16. Teams finishing in the 9th to 24th positions will enter a two-legged knockout play-off for a chance to join the last 16. Teams finishing 25th or lower will be eliminated and will not proceed to the Conference League.
The new format increases the number of matches from 125 to 189. Each team will play a minimum of eight games and a maximum of 17. The Europa League league phase will begin on September 25-26 and will continue until January 30, extending beyond the Christmas period.
In contrast, the Conference League maintains a six-game format, with teams playing three home and three away matches. The league phase will start on October 3 and conclude on December 19.
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