Europa League qualifying: Draw, scores & guide to every stage
Some of Europe’s top teams will be competing in the Europa League this season and the competition has been ongoing since the start of the summer
Manchester United qualified for the Champions League by virtue of the fact that they won the Europa League and plenty of top clubs will be aiming to replicate that this season.
Arsenal will compete in the tournament this year having finished fifth in the Premier League, as will Ligue 1 giants Lyon and La Liga outfit Villarreal, so fans are guaranteed top-level football.
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Those teams will enter at the group stage and the field of teams they could be drawn against is now set ahead of Friday’s draw.
The various routes to the group stage can be somewhat confusing and complex, but Goal has your complete guide to every round, featuring fully updated draws, scores and qualified teams and an explanation of how each stage works.
THE GROUP STAGE LINEUP
The Europa League group stage will feature 48 teams spread across 12 four-team groups. Sixteen teams automatically qualify for the group stage of the competition and they are then joined by the 22 winners of the play-off as well as the 10 losers of the Champions League play-off.
Teams are divided into four pots of 12 for the draw according to their UEFA club coefficient, which is a rating based on their recent performances in the Champions League and Europa League and the strength of the domestic league they play in.
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The group-stage draw will be held on August 25 in Monaco and matches will then start on September 14, running until December 7. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage, where they will be joined by the eight Champions League teams that finished third in their groups.
PLAY-OFF ROUND
A total of 44 teams enter the play-offs for a place in the group stage of the Europa League, with the 15 losers of the Champions League third qualifying round dropping into the tournament alongside the 29 winners from the third qualifying round.
Last year’s finalists Ajax were drawn against Rosenborg, while AC Milan took on Macedonian outfit Skendija. Premier League side Everton were handed a tricky tie against Hajduk Split and 2008 winners Zenit faced Dutch team Utrecht.
THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND
The draw for the third qualifying round took place at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on July 14. This stage of the competition features 58 teams, with 25 new clubs joining the 33 winners of the second qualifying round.
The likes of Everton, AC Milan, PSV Eindhoven and Zenit were among the 25 new teams to join the tournament at this point.
Teams were separated into four groups of 12 teams (six seeded, six unseeded) and one group of 10 teams (five seeded, five unseeded). Seeding for the third qualifying round was based on UEFA coefficient and those teams who emerged from the second qualifying round took the higher coefficient of the two teams from that tie, regardless.
Seeded teams are shown in bold.
The first legs of the third qualifying round are scheduled to take place on July 27, with the second legs due to be contested on August 3.
SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND
Seeded teams are shown in bold.
The second qualifying round comprised 16 new teams and the 50 winners of the ties in the first qualifying round.
The draw for the second qualifying round was held immediately after the first qualifying round draw on June 14. Teams were divided into three groups of 10 (five seeded, five unseeded) and three groups of 12 (six seeded, six unseeded).
For the purposes of seeding, due to the fact that the second qualifying round draw occurred before the victors of the first qualifying round were known, the highest coefficient from each tie was used regardless. For example, if the team with the lower coefficient progressed, they assumed the higher coefficient.
FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND
Seeded teams are shown in bold.
The first qualifying round comprised of 100 teams entering at the very first stage of the competition. The teams were divided into 10 groups with five seeded and unseeded teams in each group based on UEFA coefficient.
The draw for the first qualifying round took place on June 19 in Nyon and matches started on June 29.