Roma And Bologna Find Out Their 2025-26 UEFA Europa League Opponents

The Europa League draw has been completed with Italian representatives Roma and Bologna finding out their opponents for the league phase. 

Gian Piero Gasperini’s side qualified for Europe’s secondary club competition after finishing fifth in Serie A last year. Albeit under the stewardship of legendary boss Claudio Ranieri.

As for the Rossoblu, they earned their place after winning the 2024-25 Coppa Italia final. Dan Ndoye scored the only goal of the game against Milan at the Stadio Olimpico.

The pots for the league phase 🔢#UELdraw pic.twitter.com/a39i8Rvtrc

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) August 29, 2025

Europa League Draw – Who Will Roma And Bologna Play?

With the UCL fixtures for the 2025-26 league phase already determined, the likes of Napoli, Inter, Atalanta and Juventus know their fate.

Now, it’s time for Roma and Bologna to plan their European adventure over the coming months. Both sides will be quietly confident of making the knockout stages next year.

Gian Piero Gasperini and Vincenzo Italiano have been tasked with delivering success in Europe this season and the fixtures have been favorable to both managers. The Giallorossi were placed in pot 1 with Italiano’s men in pot 4.

Roma will face the likes of  Scottish Premiership giants Celtic and Rangers. They will also play French duo Lille and Nice as well as Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart.

For Bologna, they’ll take on the likes of Tel-Aviv, Brann, FCSB and Celta Vigo. The Rossoblu will also face a British double-header against Aston Villa and Celtic.

Roma Europa League Fixtures

? Lille, Viktoria Plzen, Midtjylland, Stuttgart

?  Rangers, Celtic, Nice, Panathinaikos

Bologna Europa League Fixtures

? Salzburg, Celtic, Freiburg, Brann

?  Aston Villa, Tel-Aviv, FCSB, Celta Vigo

This season's league phase line-up 🤝#UELdraw pic.twitter.com/vVrDnLf1IQ

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) August 29, 2025

Europa League Format Explained

The Europa League format works exactly the same as the Champions League and Conference League. The changes were incorporated last season with the group stages now eradicated.

There will be 36 participants as opposed to 32 and all teams will enter into a league phase. Every club will play four home games and four away games.

Teams are seeded by putting them into pots numbered 1-4 with nine clubs in each. One is for the stronger teams working down to four.

In terms of automatic qualification, the playoffs and elimination, they work by the following:

• Teams finishing 1st-8th automatically qualify for the last 16
• Those who finish 9th-24th enter into the playoffs with the winners progressing to the last 16
• Clubs who place 25th-36th are eliminated altogether. Nobody drops into the UECL.

Italy’s Most Successful Europa League Clubs

Naturally, Italian soccer clubs have enjoyed strong success in the Europa League/UEFA Cup. Inter have five final appearances and three successes to their name.

The Nerazzurri won the competition in 1991, 1994 and 1998. Their most recent final appearance came in 2020 against LaLiga side Sevilla.

Italy’s second most successful club in the UEL is Juventus. They also have three victories which were achieved in 1977, 1990 and 1993. The Old Lady finished runners-up in 1995.

Next up is Parma. The Crusaders beat Juve in the 1995 finale and also won the competition in 1999. The only other Serie A victors are Napoli (1989) and Atalanta.

La Dea entertained their victory in 2024 under the guidance of Gian Piero Gasperini. Will the wily veteran boss deliver Roma’s first win in the competition in 2026?