With the 2024-25 season in the books and Spurs crowned Europa League champions, we're back to do a way-too-early preview of next season's competition!

The upcoming campaign is much anticipated by us at Any Given Thursday thanks to a treasure trove of interesting contestants.

There's a group of obvious contenders, including clubs with appearances in last year's Champions League - Aston Villa, Bologna, and Stuttgart (the latter two also lifted surprise trophies in the Coppa Italia and DFB Pokal, respectively) - and those intimately familiar with Europa - Roma, Betis, Freiburg, and Lyon.

And there's a delightful accoutrement of underdog participants, including those qualified via the league - Celta Vigo, Rayo Vallecano, Utrecht, Samsunspor - and those who went on charming upset runs to win their domestic cups - Crystal Palace, Go Ahead Eagles, Aberdeen, Wolfsberger, Fredrikstad, and Sigma Olomouc.

On the pod, we briefly touch on each of these clubs (and more!), offering just a taste of what we can expect on their Europa League journey, plus the significances of their achievements to date. Then we look ahead to the early qualifying rounds, predict who will advance, and debate who the leading contenders are to hoist the trophy next May.

And yes, we do also address the crisis at Lyon.

Cheers to us!

On the pod today, we take a look back at the joyous 2024-25 Conference League season, which ended in a Chelsea triumph, but featured many raucous, riveting, and memorable moments.

It was a campaign for the UNDERDOG, and we revisit many of our favorites, including the incomparable NK Celje, the delicious Djurgårdens IF, and the fearless Jagiellonia Białystok, all of whom made deep tournament runs.

We laud the newbies, too – FC Noah, The New Saints (TNS), and Larne FC – for their very competitive debuts in group-stage European football, as well as Shamrock Rovers for highlighting the quickly-ascending Irish league (and their 16-year old striker).

We also tackle some of the biggest disappointments, including İstanbul Başakşehir and Heart of Midlothian (Hearts), and debate whether it's fair to include Fiorentina in this category.

Finally, we pay tribute to the best games and goals of the campaign, before waxing poetic about the virtues of our precious Conference League.

Cheers Enzo Maresca and all favorite underdogs!

Timecodes:

3:45 - Chelsea's run to the title 11:05 - Best storylines and underdogs 24:30 - Biggest disappointments and underachievers 39:00 - UECL game of the season 49:05 - UECL goal of the season 54:50 - What makes the Conference League so special?

Today we take a look back at the brilliant 2024-25 Europa League campaign in full, in which Tottenham Hotspur hoisted their third UEL/UEFA Cup trophy.

We begin by addressing the elephant in the room – the sacking of now-Spurs-legend Ange Postecoglou despite leading his side to the title. Is it a fair decision from Daniel Levy? What are the supporters feeling? And how do they move forward now without him?

Then we turn to the matter at hand: a recap of all the best and worst moments from the UEL season, including our favorite storylines, teams, games, and goals – as well as some things we might hope to forget.

Cheers (for the final time at Spurs) to Big Ange!

Timecodes

0:10 - The start and a quiz 6:30 - Ange Postecoglou sacked 16:20 - Final thoughts on Spurs title win 24:05 - The season in review 56:10 - Game of the season 1:06:55 - Goal of the season 1:15:55 - Do we like the League Phase format?