When do Europa League and Conference League games start?
The league phase of the 2026/27 Champions League started on Tuesday, September 8 with wins for AEK Athens and Aston Villa in the early time slot.
Villa qualified for European football’s premier club competition twice over, backing up a top-four finish in the Premier League with victory in the Europa League final in May.
But with a staggered schedule now customary in the league phase era of the three big continental tournaments, when do this season’s Europa League and Conference League matches begin?
When does the Europa League start?
The league phase of the Europa League will kick off on Tuesday, September 16 and concludes with 18 fixtures at once on Monday, January 28 – a Bank Holiday in the UK.
Sunderland will be the first English team to play in the Europa League proper this season. Their league phase campaign begins with the visit of AZ on opening night.
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Bournemouth get started the next day, when they face Real Sociedad in San Sebastian, and it’s also a Wednesday start for Crystal Palace at home against Lech Poznan.
Scottish champions Celtic welcome Ferencvaros to Glasgow for their first league phase fixture on Wednesday, September 17.
The Europa League will have eight rounds of league phase fixtures. The first six will be played before Christmas, while matchdays seven and eight will again be played in the last two weeks of January.
A play-off round will add eight teams to the top eight from the league phase, populating a round of 16 to be played in March.
The final will be played in Frankfurt on Wednesday, May 26.
When does the Conference League start?
The 36 teams competing in this season’s Conference League must wait another month before their first matchday.
All 18 matchday one fixtures will be played on Thursday, October 15 – the same night as the second round of Europa League matches after a full slate in the Champions League on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Brighton & Hove Albion will play at home against Kauno Zalgiris of Lithuania in their first match, while Hearts host Denmark’s Nordsjaelland.
Conference League participants only play six league phase matches, the last of which will take place on Thursday, December 17. The finalists will meet in Istanbul in early June.
