2019–20 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round

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The 2019–20 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round began on 27 June and ended on 29 August 2019.[1]

A total of 178 teams compete in the qualifying system of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, which includes the qualifying phase and the play-off round, with 35 teams in Champions Path and 143 teams in Main Path. The 21 winners in the play-off round (8 from Champions Path, 13 from Main Path) advance to the group stage, to join the 17 teams that enter in the group stage, the 6 losers of the Champions League play-off round (4 from Champions Path, 2 from League Path), and the 4 League Path losers of the Champions League third qualifying round.[2][3]

Champions Path[edit]

The Champions Path includes all league champions which are eliminated from the Champions Path qualifying phase of the Champions League, and consists of the following rounds:

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Below are the participating teams of the Champions Path (with their 2019 UEFA club coefficients),[4] grouped by their starting rounds.[5]

Key to colours
Winners of play-off round advance to group stage
Notes

  1. Q3 Losers of Champions League third qualifying round (Champions Path).

  2. Q2 Losers of Champions League second qualifying round (Champions Path).

  3. Q1 Bye Losers of Champions League first qualifying round which receive a bye to the Europa League third qualifying round.

  4. Q1 Losers of Champions League first qualifying round.

  5. PR F Losers of Champions League preliminary round final.

  6. PR SF Losers of Champions League preliminary round semi-finals.

Main Path[edit]

The Main Path includes all cup winners and league non-champions which do not qualify directly for the group stage, and consists of the following rounds:

  • Preliminary round (14 teams): 14 teams which enter in this round.
  • First qualifying round (94 teams): 87 teams which enter in this round, and 7 winners of the preliminary round.
  • Second qualifying round (74 teams): 27 teams which enter in this round, and 47 winners of the first qualifying round.
  • Third qualifying round (52 teams): 15 teams which enter in this round (including 2 League Path losers of the Champions League second qualifying round), and 37 winners of the second qualifying round.
  • Play-off round (26 teams): 26 winners of the third qualifying round.

Below are the participating teams of the Main Path (with their 2019 UEFA club coefficients),[4] grouped by their starting rounds.[5]

Key to colours
Winners of play-off round advance to group stage
Notes

  1. CL Losers of Champions League second qualifying round (League Path).

Each tie is played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs advance to the next round. If the aggregate score is level, the away goals rule is applied, i.e. the team that scores more goals away from home over the two legs advances. If away goals are also equal, then extra time is played. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, i.e. if there are goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score is still level, the visiting team advances by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by penalty shoot-out.

For the Champions Path, in the draws for each round, teams (whose identity is not known at the time of the draws) are divided into seeded and unseeded pots, which may contain different numbers of teams, based on the following principles:

  • In the second qualifying round draw, 15 of the 16 losers of the Champions League first qualifying round (excluding 1 team which receives a bye to the third qualifying round as decided by an additional draw held after the Champions League first qualifying round draw) are seeded, and the three losers of the Champions League preliminary round are unseeded.
  • In the third qualifying round draw, the ten losers of the Champions League second qualifying round are seeded, and the loser of the first qualifying round which receives a bye (whose identity is known at the time of the draw) and the nine winners of the second qualifying round are unseeded.
  • In the play-off round draw, the six losers of the Champions League third qualifying round are seeded, and the ten winners of the third qualifying round are unseeded.

In the beginning of the draws, a seeded team is drawn against an unseeded team, with the order of legs in each tie decided by draw, until one of the pots is empty. Afterwards, the remaining teams from the non-empty pot are drawn against each other, with the order of legs in each tie decided by draw.

For the Main Path, in the draws for each round, teams are seeded based on their UEFA club coefficients at the beginning of the season, with the teams divided into seeded and unseeded pots containing the same number of teams. A seeded team is drawn against an unseeded team, with the order of legs in each tie decided by draw. As the identity of the winners of the previous round is not known at the time of the draws, the seeding is carried out under the assumption that the team with the higher coefficient of an undecided tie advances to this round, which means if the team with the lower coefficient is to advance, it simply take the seeding of its opponent.

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Prior to the draws, UEFA may form “groups” in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, but they are purely for convenience of the draw and do not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition. Teams from the same association or from associations with political conflicts as decided by UEFA may not be drawn into the same tie. After the draws, the order of legs of a tie may be reversed by UEFA due to scheduling or venue conflicts.

Schedule[edit]

The schedule was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland).[1]

Qualifying phase and play-off round schedule
Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Preliminary round 11 June 2019 27 June 2019 4 July 2019
First qualifying round 18 June 2019 11 July 2019 18 July 2019
Second qualifying round 19 June 2019 25 July 2019 1 August 2019
Third qualifying round 22 July 2019 8 August 2019 15 August 2019
Play-off round 5 August 2019 22 August 2019 29 August 2019

Matches may also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts.

Preliminary round[edit]

The draw for the preliminary round was held on 11 June 2019.[6]

Seeding[edit]

A total of 14 teams were involved in the preliminary round draw. Seven teams were seeded and seven teams were unseeded. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same tie, and if such a pairing was drawn or was set to be drawn in the final tie, the second team drawn in the current tie was moved to the next tie.

Summary[edit]

The first legs were played on 27 June, and the second legs on 2 and 4 July 2019.

Notes

  1. ^ Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Matches[edit]

First qualifying round[edit]

The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 18 June 2019.[7]

Seeding[edit]

A total of 94 teams were involved in the first qualifying round draw: 87 teams entering in this round, and the seven winners of the preliminary round. They were divided into nine groups: seven groups of ten teams, where five teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded; and two groups of twelve teams, where six teams were seeded and six teams were unseeded. Numbers were pre-assigned for each team by UEFA, with the draw held in two runs, one for Groups 1–7 with ten teams and one for Groups 8–9 with twelve teams.

Notes

  1. † Winners of the preliminary round. Teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw.

Summary[edit]

The first legs were played on 9, 10 and 11 July, and the second legs on 16, 17 and 18 July 2019.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Matches[edit]

Second qualifying round[edit]

The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 19 June 2019.[8]

Seeding[edit]

A total of 18 teams were involved in the second qualifying round Champions Path draw.

  • Seeded: 15 of the 16 losers of the Champions League first qualifying round (excluding the losers of the Champions League first qualifying round given a bye to the third qualifying round as decided by an additional draw held after the Champions League first qualifying round draw)
  • Unseeded: the three losers of the Champions League preliminary round

They were divided into three groups of six teams, where five teams were seeded and one team were unseeded.

A total of 74 teams were involved in the second qualifying round Main Path draw: 27 teams entering in this round, and the 47 winners of the first qualifying round. They were divided into seven groups: five groups of ten teams, where five teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded; and two groups of twelve teams, where six teams were seeded and six teams were unseeded. Numbers were pre-assigned for each team by UEFA, with the draw held in two runs, one for Groups 1–5 with ten teams and one for Groups 6–7 with twelve teams.

Notes

  1. † Winners of the first qualifying round. Teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw.

  2. ‡Roma and Antwerp were originally included in the draw but were later promoted to the group stage and third qualifying round respectively, after Milan and Mechelen were excluded from the competition.[9][10] They were replaced in the second qualifying round by Torino and Gent respectively (had they originally been included in the draw, both of them would also have been seeded).

Summary[edit]

The first legs were played on 23, 24 and 25 July, and the second legs on 30, 31 July and 1 August 2019.

Notes

  1. ^ Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Champions Path[edit]

Main Path[edit]

Third qualifying round[edit]

The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 22 July 2019.[11]

Seeding[edit]

A total of 20 teams were involved in the third qualifying round Champions Path draw.

  • Seeded: the 10 losers of the Champions League second qualifying round Champions Path
  • Unseeded: the loser of the Champions League first qualifying round which received a bye, and the 9 winners of the Europa League second qualifying round Champions Path

They were divided into two groups of ten teams, where five teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded.

Notes

  1. † Loser of the Champions League first qualifying round which received a bye.

A total of 52 teams were involved in the third qualifying round Main Path draw: 13 teams entering in this round, the 37 winners of the second qualifying round Main Path, and the two Champions League losers of the second qualifying round League Path. They were divided into five groups: four groups of ten teams, where five teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded; and one group of twelve teams, where six teams were seeded and six teams were unseeded. Numbers were pre-assigned for each team by UEFA, with the draw held in two runs, one for Groups 1–4 with ten teams and one for Group 5 with twelve teams.

Notes

  1. † Winners of the second qualifying round. Teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw.

  2. CL Losers of the Champions League second qualifying round. Teams in italics lost to a team with a higher coefficient, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw.

Summary[edit]

The first legs were played on 6, 7 and 8 August, and the second legs on 13, 14 and 15 August 2019.

Champions Path[edit]

Main Path[edit]

Play-off round[edit]

The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 August 2019.[12]

Seeding[edit]

A total of 16 teams were involved in the play-off round Champions Path draw.

  • Seeded: the six losers of the Champions League third qualifying round Champions Path
  • Unseeded: the 10 winners of the Europa League third qualifying round Champions Path

They were divided into two groups of eight teams, where three teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded.

A total of 26 teams, all winners of the third qualifying round Main Path, were involved in the play-off round Main Path draw. They were divided into three groups: two groups of eight teams, where four teams were seeded and four teams were unseeded; and one group of ten teams, where five teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded. Numbers were pre-assigned for each team by UEFA, with the draw held in two runs, one for Groups 1–2 with eight teams and one for Group 3 with ten teams.

Notes

  1. † Winners of the third qualifying round. Teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw.

Summary[edit]

The first legs were played on 22 August, and the second legs will be played on 29 August 2019.

Champions Path[edit]

Main Path[edit]

Top goalscorers[edit]

There were 872 goals scored in 314 matches in the qualifying phase and play-off round, for an average of 2.78 goals per match.[13]

References[edit]

External links[edit]


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