When the second legs of the 2025-26 UEFA Europa League semi-finals get underway on Thursday 7 May, the first-leg scores will still be on the board. Four clubs remain, two berths in the Frankfurt final are at stake, and every goal scored in the return fixtures is added to a total that began a week earlier.
Both matches are scheduled for 21:00 Central European Time, which is 20:00 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The first legs took place on Thursday 30 April. That gap is short but familiar: clubs reset over the weekend, then spend Monday to Wednesday preparing specifically for one opponent and one scoreline.
How the two-leg format actually works
A Europa League semi-final is not decided by a single result. It is an aggregate tie: each club plays once at home and once away, and the team with the higher combined score over the two matches advances. A 2-1 first-leg win means the winning team starts the second leg ahead 2-1 on aggregate, not 1-0.
If the aggregate is level after the second leg's normal 90 minutes, the match goes to extra time. Extra time consists of two 15-minute periods. The away goals rule does not apply at any stage. If the teams are still level after extra time, the tie is settled by a penalty shootout of five kicks each, followed by sudden death if needed.
This setup has been standard since the start of the 2021-22 season. UEFA abolished the away goals rule across its club competitions after determining that a goal scored away from home should no longer be treated as worth more than a goal scored at home. The change means a 2-2 first leg and a 1-1 first leg are both simply level ties heading into the return match.
What the change to the away goals rule means
The old rule existed because travelling in Europe was once harder and home advantage was bigger. By the 2010s, UEFA's view had shifted: the rule encouraged home teams to sit deep and away teams to play for a narrow loss. Its removal was meant to make first legs more equal and second legs more direct.
That has a practical effect on Thursday. A side defending a one-goal lead no longer has to worry that conceding once at home is a fatal result. It only becomes fatal if the opponent scores twice and no equaliser follows. A side chasing the tie can attack away from home knowing that a single goal brings the aggregate back to level, not to some inferior position because of where it was scored.
For a reminder of how the other European semi-final stage was balanced after the first legs, see our separate notes on the Champions League semi-final first legs.
What the winners are playing for
The two aggregate winners meet in the 2026 UEFA Europa League final at Frankfurt Arena on Wednesday 20 May 2026. The final is a single match. If it is level after 90 minutes, extra time and penalties are also used, with no replay.
Winning the Europa League means more than lifting a trophy. The champion is guaranteed a place in the league phase of the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League, which brings a substantial share of prize money and broadcast revenue even before a match is played. The Europa League winner also faces the winner of the Champions League in the UEFA Super Cup, usually staged in August.
That reward explains why a semi-final second leg can be more tense than a domestic cup final. For a club outside its league's Champions League places, one goal in May offers a route into Europe's richest club competition that would otherwise require finishing higher in the table.
What tends to decide a semi-final second leg
The first goal is the most important event. If the club trailing on aggregate scores it, the tie returns to level and the stadium changes. If the club defending the lead scores it, the opponent now needs two goals without reply in the remaining time.
Substitutes and bench depth grow in importance after the hour mark. UEFA competitions permit five substitutions during normal time, with a sixth available if the match reaches extra time. A manager who saves one quick attacker for the final 30 minutes of normal time, or for extra time, is betting that a tired defence will leave space late. That bet decides many two-legged ties.
Set pieces are another pressure point. Defending a corner in the 78th minute of a tied second leg is not the same as defending one in a group match, because the cost of a single error is immediate elimination. Teams that are leading on aggregate tend to drop their defensive line and protect the penalty area, which invites exactly the kind of cross and second ball that produces late drama.
UEFA's official Europa League page carries live scores, line-ups and the official tie-by-tie bracket. Local broadcast partners hold the rights in each country, so kickoff times can be confirmed through the broadcaster showing the fixture.
How UEFA's competition structure got here
The 2025-26 Europa League began with 36 clubs in a single league phase, a format UEFA introduced for the 2024-25 season to replace the old 32-team group stage. Each club played eight league-phase matches before the knockout rounds began. The eight best teams went directly to the round of 16; the clubs placed ninth to 24th faced a two-legged knockout play-off to join them.
By the semi-final stage, the field has been cut from 36 to four. Because the semi-finals are still two-legged, the clubs that survive this week will have played at least fourteen competitive matches in the competition by the time they reach Frankfurt, and the finalists will add one more.
The league phase expansion means some semi-finalists have already met earlier in the same competition. That creates scouting familiarity and, occasionally, a tactical grudge. A club that lost in the league phase has no automatic disadvantage in a knockout tie, but the coaching staff will use every minute of that earlier meeting in preparation.
The scheduling reality for clubs and broadcasters
UEFA places the Europa League semi-final second legs on Thursday because the Champions League uses Tuesday and Wednesday for its own semi-finals. That keeps both competitions from competing for the same evening audience and gives broadcasters three consecutive nights of knockout football across Europe.
The second legs are played simultaneously, not staggered. That is a deliberate choice: simultaneous kickoffs prevent a team from knowing the result in the other tie before it completes its own match. It also means fans following both matches need a second screen or a live goals feed.
For the clubs, the Thursday calendar creates a short turnaround to the following Sunday's domestic fixtures. This can shape team selection in the second leg, particularly if a club is still competing for a league title or a domestic trophy. Managers rarely say so before the match, but the bench is often chosen with the weekend in mind as much as the tie itself.
How to follow without losing the thread
If you only watch the second legs, you will see a result that may look like a draw or a narrow defeat but still sends a team through. That is the aggregate in action. The best way to follow is to check the first-leg score before kickoff, then track the aggregate in real time rather than the single-match score.
UEFA's match centres display the aggregate line at the top of the screen during second legs in most competitions. It resets only if the tie goes to extra time; from that point, the scores in the extra 30 minutes stand alone, and the team that scores more in extra time advances.
When penalties arrive, the aggregate is abandoned. Only the kicks count. A team can go through despite losing the second leg by a goal, and a team can go out despite winning it by two. That is the nature of the format, and it is why the phrase second leg specialists exists in every language that covers European football. BBC Sport's Europa League page carries live text and match reports for viewers who want the aggregate tracked alongside the action.
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