Thursday marks the return of the Europa League. It may be Europe's second tier competition, but that doesn't mean there isn't still a ton of drama and the prize at the end is incredibly valuable for the teams in this competition – a spot in the Champions League next season. The past three champions ,Villarreal, Frankfurt and Sevilla, wouldn't have qualified for the Champions League if they didn't win this competition.
The set up for the group stage is the same as the Champions League, but once we reach the knockout stage things are much different. The eight third place teams from the Champions League group stage drop down to face the eight second place teams from the Europa League group stage. Then, the winners of that round advance to the round of 16 to join eight group winners.
This is an important discussion to have because before the tournament starts, I don't think it makes much sense to bet a team to win the Europa League unless you really like a long shot. With the third place teams from the Champions League coming down, some of the big names instantly become one of the favorites to win the competition, which actually extends the odds of a lot of the teams that are at the top of the board right now.
For example, I really like Brighton to win the Europa League, but at 14/1 and being the second-favorite at bet365 it's not a number I can touch. Let's say hypothetically that Newcastle, Manchester United and RB Leipzig all finish third in their Champions League group and drop down to the Europa League. Brighton are no longer going to be the second-favorite and will probably be in the 20/1 range.