The 2024/25 season is already underway in Europe. Last weekend the action began in Portugal, Turkey and the Netherlands, while LaLiga EA Sports will do the same this Thursday, August 15 with the Athletic-Getafe duel in San Mamés (17:00 CEST). Like last season, the calendar will extend over nine and a half months, until May 25, 2025, except for the forced rescheduling of one or several days.
Matchday 1 includes Betis-Girona on Thursday at 9:30 p.m., while on Friday Celta-Alavés (7:00 p.m.) and Las Palmas-Seville (9:30 p.m.) will be played. On Saturday it will be the turn of FC Barcelona’s debut with the visit to Valencia (9:30 p.m.). Previously, Osasuna will host Leganés starting at 7:00 p.m. On Sunday there will be two matches: Real Sociedad-Rayo (7:00 p.m.) and Mallorca-Real Madrid (9:30 p.m.), while Monday closes the date with Valladolid-Espanyol (7:00 p.m.) and Villarreal-Atlético (21 :30).
Portugal, Türkiye and the Netherlands, the first to start
The Turkish Super League was the first to start this summer. The tournament began on Friday, August 9, with Galatasaray’s narrow victory against Hataysport (2-1). On matchday 1 that ended this Monday, José Mourinho’s Fenerbahce debuted by winning at home against Adana (1-0) with a goal from the experienced Edin Dzeko. As usually happens in this tournament, a head-to-head match is expected from start to finish between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, with Okan Buruk’s team being the current champions.
For its part, the Eredivisie also got its season underway on Friday with Groningen’s rout of the NAC (4-1). The defending champion, PSV Eindhoven, made its debut with a ‘little hand’ against Waalwijk (5-1) on Saturday, while Ajax won by a narrow margin against Heerenveen (1-0). The other league that started on August 9 was the Portuguese one. Sporting CP began its title defense by defeating Río Ave at home (3-1). Their main rivals in the fight for the championship, Benfica and Porto, had mixed luck in their debut. The ‘eagles’ fell to Famalicao (2-0) and the ‘dragons’ beat Gil Vicente at home (3-0).
The Premier, Ligue 1 and Serie A, on par with LaLiga
In addition to LaLiga, three other major European leagues begin this weekend. In the Premier the ball will roll this Friday, August 16 at Old Trafford with United-Fulham. The great game of the day will be Chelsea-City on Sunday at Stamford Bridge, in what could be a difficult debut for the champions, although the Blues have just had a poor pre-season in the United States.
Ligue 1 also begins on Friday, a tournament with much less appeal due to the number of figures that Paris Saint-Germain has lost. After the departures of Leo Messi and Neymar Jr. last summer, Kylian Mbappé has gone to Real Madrid and, at the moment, there are no signings capable of covering the loss of Bondy. Luis Enrique’s men make their debut against Le Havre as visitors. In the case of Serie A, matchday 1 starts on Saturday with Genoa-Inter and Parma-Fiorentina.
The Bundesliga will be the last major European league to start
The last of the major European leagues to start 2024/25 will be the Bundesliga. The hosts of the last Euro Cup postponed their first matchday to Friday, August 23, with Mönchengladbach-Leverkusen being the opening match. Bayern Munich will seek revenge after last season’s fiasco starting on Sunday the 25th, with a visit to Wolfburg. UEFA expects all domestic leagues to conclude by May 31, as the FIFA Club World Cup begins on June 15, 2025, which will take place in the United States.
Changes to the calendar of European competitions
In that sense, the European competition calendars will undergo some modifications this season due to their new formats. The Europa League and the Conference League will emulate the Champions League by replacing the group stage with a league stage with 36 clubs, of which the top 8 advance to the round of 16, while those from 9th to 24th must compete in a ‘play off’ to complete the final table. The league phase of the Champions League begins on September 17, while in the Europa League it will begin on September 25. Finally, the Conference will begin its league on October 3.
