Richarlison marked his first start of the season with a second-half winner to help Tottenham edge past AZ Alkmaar by a 1-0 score and earn a third consecutive Europa League win.

The Brazil international chipped home from the penalty spot in the 53rd-minute, which ensured he avoided a post-match dressing down after he initially would not give the ball to stand-in captain James Maddison.

When Maddison did get the ball back, he quickly had a change of heart and let Richarlison take the spot-kick and score for the first time since May after a troublesome calf injury to help Spurs clinch a seventh win from eight games.

Ange Postecoglou made nine changes from the 4-1 win over West Ham with Mikey Moore was handed his first start at home.

Moore should have marked it with a goal in the fifth minute, but headed wide from close-range after an excellent inswinging cross by Timo Werner.

AZ lost Ruben van Bommel, the son of former Netherlands international Mark, to an injury after 12 minutes, but a fine run by Ernest Poku created an opportunity for ex-Spurs forward Troy Parrott, but his low effort was blocked.

Chances remained limited before the match burst into life when a wonderful outside of the boot pass by Lucas Bergvall sent Werner away only for the RB Leipzig loanee to side-foot weakly straight at Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro.

The visitors responded when Sven Mijnans’ corner found Alexandre Penetra, but his powerful header was superbly clawed away by Fraser Forster in the 29th-minute.

Penetra was involved again two minutes later when he dived in on Maddison inside the area and despite the Spurs midfielder going down, a quick VAR check showed it had been a clean tackle.

Werner sent another effort wide moments later after Richarlison won the ball back before a slack pass by the German attacker forced Forster to rush out to deny Mijnans.

With the breakthrough yet to arrive, Postecoglou made another half-time substitution – like against West Ham – with Werner replaced by Brennan Johnson.

Moore was moved out to his favoured left wing position and responded with a dazzling run and pass into Johnson, but his effort was blocked before the 17-year-old then nearly picked out Richarlison.

Tottenham had gone up a gear and the opener did arrive in the 53rd-minute after Bergvall was brought down by Dekker inside the penalty area.

Richarlison chipped home the spot-kick for his first goal of the season but only after an awkward moment with Maddison beforehand.

Maddison required Rodrigo Bentancur to intervene and convince Richarlison to let go of the ball, but after Spurs vice-captain Maddison got the ball back, he had change of heart and let the Brazil international take the spot-kick.

Moore produced more magic soon after when he skipped past Seiya Maikuma and fizzed an effort wide.

AZ had threatened though moments earlier when Radu Dragusin appeared to be fouled but play continued and Bentancur had to slide in to thwart Poku.

Forster was called into action in the 74th-minute with a crucial low save to deny Mayckel Lahdo, but the visitors’ hopes of a late equaliser were dealt a blow when Maxim Dekker was sent off after he received two yellow cards in quick succession as Tottenham held on to stay perfect in the competition

Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho is gearing up to face Manchester United for the fifth time since his 2018 sacking on Thursday. United travel to Istanbul in search of their first Europa League win of the season, having started the league phase with frustrating draws against FC Twente and FC Porto.

Erik ten Hag will again be the centre of attention as intense scrutiny of his position rumbles on despite Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Brentford at Old Trafford.

But Mourinho’s reunion with the club he coached from the summer of 2016 to the end of 2018 is also understandably a hot topic.

During an appearance at the FWA Northern Managers’ Awards dinner on Sunday night, Ten Hag expressed his excitement to do battle with Mourinho.

“It’s a big game for both of us… he is a winner, he’s won so many trophies, I think he’s an example for many, many managers so I really enjoy to play against them,” the Dutchman explained.

Mourinho will undoubtedly be relishing the challenge just as much – and the opportunity to apply further pressure on Ten Hag from his former employers.

The 61-year-old threw shade at Ten Hag at the end of last season as he appeared on TNT Sports’ coverage of the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.

Jadon Sancho featured at Wembley in the final appearance of his second stint with the Bundesliga giants.

He rejoined on loan from United in January after a public fallout with Ten Hag, during which he essentially labelled his boss a liar for criticism of his attitude in training.

The 2024-25 Europa League league phase will get underway on September 25 and then conclude on January 30, with 36 teams participating in the new-look format.

Each team will play eight games against different opponents – four at home and four away – with all of the sides then being ranked in one group to determine whether they will advance to the next stage.

The total number of matches in the league phase will therefore rise to 144, up from 96 in the previous format, and Manchester United are among the favourites to challenge for the trophy this season.

Here, Sports Mole provides the Europa League fixtures, draw dates and the knockout rounds for the new-look competition, which should bring plenty of drama.

Gameweek One

Wednesday September 25

AZ Alkmaar vs. Elfsborg
Bodo/Glimt vs. Porto
Manchester United vs. FC Twente
Galatasaray vs. PAOK
Dynamo Kiev vs. Lazio
Ludogorets Razgrad vs. Slavia Prague
FC Midtjylland vs. Hoffenheim
Nice vs. Real Sociedad
Anderlecht vs. Ferencvaros

Thursday September 26

Fenerbahce vs. Union SG
Malmo vs. Rangers
Roma vs. Athletic Bilbao
Ajax vs. Besiktas
Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Viktoria Plzen
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Qarabag FK
Braga vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv
Lyon vs. Olympiacos
FCSB vs. Rigas Futbola Skola

Gameweek Two

Thursday October 3

Lazio vs. Nice
Slavia Prague vs. Ajax
Real Sociedad vs. Anderlecht
Olympiacos vs. Braga
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. FC Midtjylland
Ferencvaros vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Qarabag FK vs. Malmo
Hoffenheim vs. Dynamo Kiev
RFS vs. Galatasaray
Porto vs. Manchester United
Rangers vs. Lyon
PAOK vs. FCSB
Viktoria Plzen vs. Ludogorets Razgrad
Union SG vs. Bodo/Glimt
Athletic Bilbao vs. AZ Alkmaar
FC Twente vs. Fenerbahce
Besiktas vs. Eintracht Franfkurt
Elfsborg vs. Roma

Gameweek Three

Wednesday October 23

Braga vs. Bodo/Glimt
Galatasaray vs. Elfsborg

Thursday October 24

Roma vs. Dynamo Kiev
Eintracht Frankfurt vs. RFS
PAOK vs. Viktoria Plzen
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. Real Sociedad
Ferencvaros vs. Nice
Qarabag FK vs. Ajax
FC Midtjylland vs. Union SG
Porto vs. Hoffenheim
Rangers vs. FCSB
Tottenham Hotspur vs. AZ Alkmaar
Lyon vs. Besiktas
Fenerbahce vs. Manchester United
Malmo vs. Olympiacos
Athletic Bilbao vs. Slavia Prague
Anderlecht vs. Ludogorets Razgrad
FC Twente vs. Lazio

Gameweek Four

Wednesday November 6

Besiktas vs. Malmo

Thursday November 7

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Slavia Prague
Olympiacos vs. Rangers
Galatasaray vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Bodo/Glimt vs. Qarabag FK
Union SG vs. Roma
Ludogorets Razgrad vs. Athletic Bilbao
Nice vs. FC Twente
FCSB vs. FC Midtjylland
Elfsborg vs. Braga
Manchester United vs. PAOK
Ajax vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv
Lazio vs. Porto
AZ Alkmaar vs. Fenerbahce
Viktoria Plzen vs. Real Sociedad
Dynamo Kiev vs. Ferencvaros
Hoffenheim vs. Lyon
RFS vs. Anderlecht

Gameweek Five

Thursday November 28

Lazio vs. Ludogorets Razgrad
AZ Alkmaar vs. Galatasaray
Qarabag SK vs. Lyon
Dynamo Kiev vs. Viktoria Plzen
Athletic Bilbao vs. Elfsborg
Anderlecht vs. Porto
Besiktas vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv
RFS vs. PAOK
Manchester United vs. Bodo/Glimt
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Roma
Slavia Prague vs. Fenerbahce
Real Sociedad vs. Ajax
Braga vs. Hoffenheim
Ferencvaros vs. Malmo
FC Midtjylland vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
Nice vs. Rangers
FC Twente vs. Union SG
FCSB vs. Olympiacos

Gameweek Six

Wednesday December 11

Fenerbahce vs. Athletic Bilbao

Thursday December 12

Roma vs. Braga
Olympiacos vs. FC Twente
PAOK vs. Ferencvaros
Viktoria Plzen vs. Manchester United
Union SG vs. Nice
Ludogorets Razgrad vs. AZ Alkmaar
Malmo vs. Galatasaray
Hoffenheim vs. FCSB
Porto vs. FC Midtjylland
Ajax vs. Lazio
Rangers vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Slavia Prague vs. Anderlecht
Real Sociedad vs. Dynamo Kiev
Lyon vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. RFS
Bodo/Glimt vs. Besiktas
Elfsborg vs. Qarabag FK

Gameweek Seven

Tuesday January 21

Galatasaray vs. Dynamo Kiev

Wednesday January 22

Besiktas vs. Athletic Bilbao

Thursday January 23

Porto vs. Olympiacos
AZ Alkmaar vs. Roma
Fenerbahce vs. Lyon
Qarabag FK vs. FCSB
Viktoria Plzen vs. Anderlecht
Bodo/Glimt vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv
Malmo vs. FC Twente
Hoffenheim vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester United vs. Rangers
Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Ferencvaros
Lazio vs. Real Sociedad
PAOK vs. Slavia Prague
Union SG vs. Braga
Ludogorets Razgrad vs. FC Midtjylland
RFS vs. Ajax
Elfsborg vs. Nice

Gameweek Eight

Thursday January 30

Roma vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
Ajax vs. Galatasaray
Rangers vs. Union SG
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Elfsborg
Slavia Prague vs. Malmo
Real Sociedad vs. PAOK
Braga vs. Lazio
Olympiacos vs. Qarabag FK
Lyon vs. Ludogorets Razgrad
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. Porto
Ferencvaros vs. AZ Alkmaar
Dynamo Kiev vs. RFS
FC Midtjylland vs. Fenerbahce
Athletic Bilbao vs. Viktoria Plzeň
Nice vs. Bodo/Glimt
Anderlecht vs. Hoffenheim
FC Twente vs. Besiktas
FCSB vs. Manchester United

Knockout stage
Knockout round playoffs: February 13 and February 20, 2025
Round of 16: March 6 and March 13, 2025
Quarter-finals: April 10 and April 17, 2025
Semi-finals: May 1 and May 8, 2025
Final: May 21, 2025

Draw dates
Knockout round playoffs: January 31, 2025
Round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final: February 21, 2025