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FULL LIST: Man United To Play Mourinho’s Fenerbahce In 2024/25 UEFA Europa League Draw[SEE DRAW TABLE]

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The UEFA Europa League is back with an exciting new format for the 2024/25 season.

As the tournament prepares to kick off, the inaugural league phase draw revealed the opponents of the 36 teams ready to battle it out for European glory.

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Held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Friday, August 30, the draw set the stage for a thrilling campaign featuring some of the continent’s most formidable clubs.

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will represent England in the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League, both eyeing success.

They’ll face tough competition from Italian clubs Lazio and Roma, Spain’s Real Sociedad and Athletic Club, and Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt and Hoffenheim, among others.

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READ ALSO: Six Challengers Await Chelsea In UEFA Conference League

The revamped format promises an exciting and unpredictable group stage.

The PUNCH reports that there will be a reunion between United and former manager, Jose Mourinho, who is now with the Turkish side, Fenerbahçe.

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All you need to know about the 36 teams competing in the 2024/25 league phase:

The line-up for the inaugural league phase of the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League is complete. UEFA.com profiles all the contenders.

This is as obtained from a Friday release on the Europa website titled, “UEFA Europa League: League Phase Draw.”

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The format of the Europa League has changed for this season, along the same lines as the new-look Champions League.

The number of clubs in the competition proper is now 36, all of whom are placed into one league but split into four pots of seeds.

Each participant plays eight games, facing two clubs from each pot, one at home and one away.

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The top eight at the end of the league phase, which runs until the end of January, will advance to the last 16, while the teams finishing from ninth to 24th will advance to a play-off round to decide the remaining last-16 spots.

READ ALSO: FULL LIST: UEFA Champions League Play-off Draw Unveiled

The bottom 12 in the league phase will be eliminated, with no clubs dropping down into the Conference League ahead of the knockouts, and no teams parachuting down from the Champions League as in the past.

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UEFA have said that dates for all fixtures will be announced on Saturday. The first group games will be played on September 25 and 26, a week after the opening matchday of the Champions League.

This season’s Europa League final will be played in Bilbao on May 21 next year. Atalanta won the trophy last season, beating Bayer Leverkusen in the final in Dublin.

36 competing teams:

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The 36 teams competing in the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League league phase are Qarabağ (AZE), Anderlecht, Union Saint-Gilloise (BEL), Ludogorets (BUL), Slavia Praha, Viktoria Plzeň (CZE), Midtjylland (DEN), Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur (ENG), Athletic Club, Real Sociedad (ESP), Nice, Lyon (FRA), Eintracht Frankfurt, Hoffenheim (GER), Olympiacos, PAOK (GRE), Ferencváros (HUN), M. Tel-Aviv (ISR), Lazio, Roma (ITA), RFS (LVA), Ajax, AZ, Twente (NED), Bodø/Glimt (NOR), Braga, Porto (POR), FCSB (ROU), Rangers (SCO), Elfsborg, Malmö (SWE), Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray (TUR), and Dynamo Kyiv (UKR).

Here is the full draw for the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League Phase:

Europa League Phase Pot 1

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Europa League Phase Pot 2

Europa League Phase Pot 3

Europa League Phase Pot 4

 

 

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Nigerian Women Are Built Different, Says Ogoke After D’Tigress Win As Practising Surgeon

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arah Ogoke, a practising surgeon and veteran member of Nigeria’s national women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, has hailed the mental strength and resilience of Nigerian women after the team clinched a historic fifth consecutive FIBA Women’s AfroBasket title.

Speaking during an interview with Arise TV on Tuesday, Ogoke credited discipline and resilience as the major factors in how she’s been able to combine her medical career and playing basketball.

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I’m built different. Nigerian women are built different. We do amazing things and the impossible. My secret is nothing short of discipline, resilience, determination, hard work, and focus,” she said.

The 35-year-old veteran, who specialises in podiatric medicine, the diagnosis and treatment of foot and ankle conditions, was named in the squad months after giving birth and suffering the loss of her father last year. She revealed that she had taken time off her medical duties to join the team for the tournament.

READ ALSO:Gov Aiyedatiwa Gifts Ondo-born Super Falcons Player N30m, House

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Absolutely, I’m using my vacation days to be here. My job is waiting for me when I go back,” she said.

Ogoke, who holds a degree in biology, drew parallels between the discipline of medical training and elite sport.

The four years that I spent in medical school, I learnt how to work diligently and steadily on a specific skill set over the course of a long period of time. That can be translated to the skills necessary to be successful in basketball.”

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A key figure in Nigeria’s basketball resurgence over the past decade, Ogoke has been part of every AfroBasket-winning squad since 2017. She attributed the team’s sustained dominance to the grit and mentality of Nigerian women.

READ ALSO:WAFCON: You’ve Inscribed Nigeria’s Name In Gold – FG To Super Falcons

The blood we have in our veins as Nigerian women is different. We have the tenacity, pride, grit that we just refuse to lose. We’ve held our crown since 2017, and we don’t plan on giving it up soon.”

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Reflecting on the final match where Nigeria was tied 41-41 at halftime against Mali, she revealed a wake-up call from the coach, Rena Wakama, pushed the team to step up.

Coach Rena wasn’t nice about it at all. She told us, ‘We were the better team, but this team here came to beat us. They didn’t come for vacation or just to be here. Their objective was to beat us, and if we let that happen, then let them do it.’ That woke us up, and we played like the team that we are.”

READ ALSO:Fire At Egbin Power Station Damages TCN Transformer

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Now, with Nigeria qualified for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, Ogoke says her focus and that of the team is on reaching new heights on the global stage.

“I see playing for Nigeria as a privilege and not a right. Every year that they reach out to me and ask me to be a part of the programme, I’m thankful because they don’t have to call me. Now that we’ve qualified for the World Cup, we’re hoping to build on our success at the Olympics and, by God’s good grace, bring home a medal.”

Following the team’s victory, President Bola Tinubu on Monday, gifted the D’Tigress $100,000 to each of the players, $50,000 each for the 11-man coaching and technical team, and bedroom flats at Renewed Hope Estate for every member of the team and coaching staff.

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NPFL: Bendel Insurance Announce Departure Of 25 Players

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Bendel Insurance have announced the departure of 25 players ahead of the 2025/26 Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, season.

Captain Meyiwa Oritseweyinmi, Austin Ogunye, and Bernard Ovoke are among the top stars who have left the Benin Arsenal.

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Other key players, who left the club are Moses Abioye, Uche Collins, Michael Enaruna, and Uche Collins.

READ ALSO:NPFL: Go For Victory, Enabulele Tasks Bendel Insurance FC

The Benin City club are expected to make new signings to replace the departed players before the commencement of the new campaign.

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Insurance finished in a respectable fifth position last season with 56 points from 38 games.

They will face El-kanemi Warriors in their opening fixture of the new season.

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PHOTO: Okocha Hosts Ex-coach Clemens Westerhof In Lagos

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Nigerian football icon Jay-Jay Okocha recently hosted his former Super Eagles coach, Clemens Westerhof, at his Lagos home.

Westerhof, who posted photos from the visit on Instagram on Friday, called it an “unforgettable night of my life” and thanked Okocha for his warm hospitality.

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Westerhof, a Dutch national, managed the Nigerian national team from 1989 to 1994.

READ ALSO:AFCON 2021: Jay Jay Okocha Names One Player Nigeria Didn’t Miss

Under his leadership, the Super Eagles won their second Africa Cup of Nations title in 1994 and made their FIFA World Cup debut the same year, impressively topping a group that included Argentina, Bulgaria, and Greece.

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Okocha made his national team debut during Westerhof’s tenure and later became one of Nigeria’s most iconic footballers.

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