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How the Europa League works

chriswallace85 said:
I'm not sure any German team outside of Bayern Munich and maybe Borussia Dortmund would phase me, and they're in a different competition.
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I’m not so sure. I was at the Leverkusen Champions League game when they beat Inter 1-0 (who went on to win the whole thing) a couple of years ago and they were very good. Especially the centre mid, Swiss fella called Granit, and the right wing back scored the winning goal Nordi something or other 🤔
 

Long gone are the days when the best players in the world played for Juventus and Milan. We’d absolutely be competitive against them. Think Leverkusen and Sociedad would be tough though.
 
Ongo Baglogian said:
Long gone are the days when the best players in the world played for Juventus and Milan. We’d absolutely be competitive against them. Think Leverkusen and Sociedad would be tough though.
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Even so it doesn’t really matter for the group stages. If you beat your 2 pot D (usually part time teams from Cyprus or something) teams that leaves you needing 1 win to get to the playoffs. Beat both your pot C and D teams that gets you within 1 win of the top 8. Only need to get 1 win and maybe a draw from your 4 pot A and B teams, which are usually a mixed bag for actually decent teams like Milan, Juventus, sociedad and Leverkusen and some shit like the Turks, Rangers/Hearts, and some shit French teams. We’ll be absolutely competitive certainly at home and no reason we can’t get top 8.
Crook Mackem said:
Why does it matter what pot we get put in if we have to play 2 from each anyway ?
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It absolutely does not matter to the club itself what pot you are in. This was the purpose of the format change - under the old format, pot 4 teams always got a group involving two of the big teams in the CL and made it impossible to get out of the group, and by extension impossible to get more points to move up pots.

This new format neutralises everything - there’s no advantage to being in each pot whilst maintaining a level of fairness in that everyone plays a mix of harder and easier teams - our pot only matters to our opponents and not to us.
 
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The UEFA Europa League league phase draw for the 2026-27 season will take place on Friday 28 August 2026.

The draw will set out Sunderland’s eight opponents for the league phase, with clubs drawn from four pots based on UEFA coefficient rankings.

Each team will be drawn to play two clubs from each pot, with fixtures then scheduled as four home and four away matches.

Further details on the draw and upcoming fixtures will follow in due course.

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EcosseMackem said:
Hilarious
Ever considered a career in comedy when you leave school
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You misunderstand my friend. The laughing emoji was meant to give it away. I’m a huge fan and have been since the 70s. It pisses me off that everything they release attracts a comment from some smart arse saying they’re now just a tribute act. My usual riposte is to invite them to say that to JJ.
 
mosi said:
You misunderstand my friend. The laughing emoji was meant to give it away. I’m a huge fan and have been since the 70s. It pisses me off that everything they release attracts a comment from some smart arse saying they’re now just a tribute act. My usual riposte is to invite them to say that to JJ.
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Ok - you're forgiven
I just get sick of that tribute act shite

I never thought I'd see the day come where there's a remote possibility of having a trip to see both the Stranglers and Sunderland at the same time
If we get Marseille away on Matchday 5 then it's on
 
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Now have an Europa League section on ASKSAF

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.

Sunderland supporters can now mark their calendars for the key dates in the 2026-27 UEFA Europa League campaign.

Régis Le Bris’ side will initially compete in the league phase, with fixtures set across the autumn and winter months, before the competition concludes in the spring of 2027.

League Phase Key Dates

* League Phase Draw: Friday 28 August 2026
* Matchday 1: 16–17 September 2026
* Matchday 2: 15 October 2026
* Matchday 3: 22 October 2026
* Matchday 4: 5 November 2026
* Matchday 5: 26 November 2026
* Matchday 6: 10 December 2026
* Matchday 7: 21 January 2027
* Matchday 8: 28 January 2027

Final

The 2026-27 UEFA Europa League final will be staged at the Waldstadion in Frankfurt on 26 May 2027.
 
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