UEFA Europa League

The UEFA Europa League is Europe's second-tier club competition, run by UEFA and sitting one rung below the Champions League. Its league phase gathers 36 clubs in a single combined table, each playing eight matches against eight different opponents. The top eight advance straight to the round of 16, while teams finishing ninth through 24th contest a knockout play-off for the remaining places. Qualifying begins in midsummer, the league phase starts in September, and the knockout rounds run through to a one-off final at a neutral venue in May.

Thursday is the night to block out. Most matchdays split into two kick-off windows in Central European time — an early slot around 18:45 and a main slot at 21:00 — so a full evening of fixtures spans roughly five hours. Budget about two hours per match including halftime, and note that knockout ties before the final are played over two legs. Because those Central European kick-offs land differently in every time zone, the countdown timers on each fixture page here show exactly when a game starts in your local time.