Teams That Will Struggle in the New Europa League Season

Which Teams Are in for a Tough Ride in the 2025–26 Europa League Group Stage?

The group stage of the 2025-26 Europa League tournament will begin on the 24th of September. The new season of the league will include 36 teams competing for the prestigious European championship. Each of the teams competing in the group stage of the tournament will have four home and four away matches.

With each side playing eight different opponents in the group stage, it is clear that it isn’t always a completely level playing field. Interestingly, one of the positive effects of gambling, especially in casino games, is that it encourages players to develop a deeper understanding of strategies and patterns. This kind of knowledge can help you make smarter decisions and gamble responsibly. Similarly, gaining insight into the teams’ form and challenges can help fans and bettors anticipate which squads are likely to face a tough time in the Europa League group stage. Here, in this article, we will discuss those teams in detail.

Understanding the New League Format

The 2025/26 Europa League season will be the 55th edition of the competition, and the 17th edition since it was renamed as the UEFA Europa League (from the UEFA Cup). Last year, UEFA introduced a completely different league-style format instead of the usual four-team groupings for the initial phase of the competition.

The first phase of the league will be played over the course of eight matchdays running from September to January 2026. The top eight teams with the highest points at the end of this phase will automatically progress to the round of 16. But the 9th to 24th placed teams will have to play in a knockout play-off round to earn a spot in the next round.

Teams That Are in for a Tough Ride

With football, one never knows what will occur when a competition begins. Offsets are possible, and underdogs can beat more experienced teams based on several factors. From current projections, however, some teams are likely to face challenges once the Europa League begins in top gear. Some of the reasons that could see this happen include:

• The opponents they’re playing against.
• Current form of the team and coach.
• Their record of performance in previous European competitions.
• A demanding schedule due to the high stakes of their domestic leagues and other competitions.

Based on these factors, we have identified a few teams that are in for a tough time this season. They include:

Fenerbahçe

Before the season began, Fenerbahçe appeared to have been perfectly set up for glory in the Europa League with the legendary José Mourinho as the team’s manager. However, after the Turkish Club’s unfortunate defeat in the Champions League qualifiers, the club sacked the Portuguese coach and appointed Domenico Tedesco as his replacement.

With a new coach that now has a few weeks to get things in order for the competition, the chances of Fenerbahçe making it out of the group stage appears to be quite slim at the moment. The team has to adapt to an entirely new system while competing in a demanding European competition.

Celtic

Considering Celtic’s road to this year’s Europa League, it’s easy to see why the competition will likely be tough for them. The team lost its place in the UCL to Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty, in one of the most surprising offsets of the qualifiers.

Things got even worse after the Europa League draws as Celtic was paired up with some of the toughest teams in the competition. Some of the clubs Celtic will be up against include:

• Feyenoord
• Braga
• Roma
• Bologna

FC Utrecht

FC Utrecht is another team that is in for a tough time in this competition due to past history. Firstly, this team hasn’t been in the proper stage of a European competition since the 2010–11 season. Even back then, the team finished bottom of its group.

The limited experience notwithstanding, Utrecht earned a place in the Europa League this year by finishing fourth in the Eredivisie last season. While it hopes to surprise its opponents, Utrecht will be playing against some of the strongest clubs in the competition including Lyon, Porto, Nottingham Forest and Real Betis.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

Maccabi Tel Aviv is one of the underdogs in the Europa League. The club's best performance in the competition has been reaching the Round of 32, back in 2013/14 and again in 2020/21. On both occasions, the team did not go past the group stages. Maccabi also participated in the new league structure last season but finished in spot 29 out of the 36 clubs.

This season, Maccabi will be visiting away Aston Villa, one of the prime favorites to win the title. Some of the other heavyweights the club will be facing are the highly experienced Dinamo Zagreb, a highly powerful Lyon squad, and a tactically impressive Midtjylland side.

Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest is one of two English teams in this season's Europa League. Despite its strong showing in the domestic league last season, the club is in for a bumpy ride in its inaugural Europa League run in several decades.

Nottingham Forest will be going into the league with a new squad that has limited experience in the competition. On the flip side, Ange Postecoglou who recently took over from Nuno Espírito Santo as the club’s new manager is a man with a lot of experience. He won the UEFA Europa League title with Spurs last season and now has the opportunity to do it once more with an entirely new squad. In addition to the gap in experience, Nottingham Forest will also have to deal with the pressure of a two-games-a-week schedule, something they are not accustomed to.

Go Ahead Eagles

Netherlands’ Go Ahead Eagles is another team that is appearing in the Europa League for the first time. In fact, the club’s last appearance in any European competition was about a decade ago.

Go Ahead Eagles won a place in the competition with an excellent domestic league performance. But the Europa League is a much bigger test of team depth and stamina compared to the local Dutch league. The club’s first match is against league favorite Aston Villa. After this, Go Ahead Eagles will also face other tough opponents like VfB Stuttgart, Lyon, Nice and Braga.

Toughest Matches of the Group Stage for Each Team

Conclusion

The teams listed here are in for a tough ride when the Europa League begins later this month. This does not mean that they have a total zero chance of success. In fact, underrated teams can go on to win their toughest matches and come out on top. However, betting on these teams will be a bigger risk compared to bets on stronger teams with greater chances of success.