UEFA Europa League 2015-16

The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League will be the 45th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 7th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.

Format changes
The UEFA Executive Committee held in May and September 2013 approved the following changes to the UEFA Europa League starting from the 2015–16 season (for the three-year cycle until the 2017–18 season):
 * The title holders of the UEFA Europa League will qualify for the UEFA Champions League, and therefore no Europa League berth will be reserved for them (however it is still possible for them to defend their title if they drop down to the Europa League after Champions League elimination).
 * All associations will have a maximum of three teams entering the Europa League (previously associations 7–9 have four entrants)
 * The number of teams directly qualifying for the group stage will be increased to 16 teams from the top 12 associations (from the previous six teams from the top six associations)
 * Should the domestic cup winners qualify for the Champions League, the cup runners-up will no longer be granted a spot in the Europa League, and the spot will be given to the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions.

Association team allocation
A total of 192 teams from all 54 UEFA member associations are expected to participate in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League. The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:
 * Associations 1–51 (except Liechtenstein) each have three teams qualify.
 * Associations 52–53 each have two teams qualify.
 * Liechtenstein and Gibraltar each have one team qualify (Liechtenstein organises only a domestic cup and no domestic league; Gibraltar as per decision by the UEFA Executive Committee)
 * The top three associations of the 2014–15 UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking each gain an additional berth.
 * Moreover, 33 teams eliminated from the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League are transferred to the Europa League.

Association ranking
For the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2014 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2009–10 to 2013–14.

Distribution
The table below shows the default access list. Changes will need to be made in the following cases:
 * If the Champions League title holders or the Europa League title holders have qualified for the Europa League through domestic performance, their berth in the Europa League is vacated, and cup winners of the highest-ranked associations are moved to a later round accordingly.
 * Depending on whether the Champions League title holders or the Europa League title holders have qualified for the Champions League through domestic performance, changes to the default access list of the Champions League may need to be made (see here). In some cases, the number of losers of the Champions League third qualifying round which are transferred to the Europa League is increased or decreased from the default number of 15. In the earlier case, cup winners of the lowest-ranked associations are moved to an earlier round accordingly, while in the latter case, cup winners of the highest-ranked associations are moved to a later round accordingly.

Redistribution rules
A Europa League place is vacated when a team qualifies for both the Champions League and the Europa League, or qualifies for the Europa League by more than one method. When a place is vacated, it is redistributed within the national association by the following rules:
 * When the domestic cup winners (considered as the "highest-placed" qualifier within the national association with the latest starting round) also qualify for the Champions League, their Europa League place is vacated. As a result, the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions qualify for the Europa League, with the Europa League qualifiers which finish above them in the league moved up one "place" (the 2015–16 season will be the first with this particular arrangement where the domestic cup runners-up are no longer guaranteed a place in the Europa League in this scenario).
 * When the domestic cup winners also qualify for the Europa League through league position, their place through the league position is vacated. As a result, the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions qualify for the Europa League, with the Europa League qualifiers which finish above them in the league moved up one "place" if possible.
 * For associations where a Europa League place is reserved for the League Cup winners, they always qualify for the Europa League as the "lowest-placed" qualifier. If the League Cup winners have already qualified for European competitions through other methods, this reserved Europa League place is taken by the highest-placed league team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions.
 * A Fair Play place is taken by the highest-ranked team in the domestic Fair Play table which have not yet qualified for European competitions.

Teams
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:
 * CW: Cup winners
 * 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position
 * LC: League Cup winners
 * P-W: End-of-season European competition play-offs winners
 * FP: Fair Play
 * UCL: Transferred from the Champions League
 * GS: Third-placed teams from the group stage
 * PO: Losers from the play-off round
 * Q3: Losers from the third qualifying round

Round and draw dates
The tentative schedule of the competition, to be officially confirmed, is as follows (all draws held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).

Matches in the qualifying, play-off, and knockout rounds may also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts.

Qualifying rounds
In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2015 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.

First qualifying round
A total of 104 teams play in the first qualifying round.


 * 🇷🇴 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Liga I
 * 🇮🇱 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Israeli Premier League
 * 🇨🇾 Runners-up of 2014–15 Cypriot First Division
 * 🇨🇾 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Cypriot First Division
 * Runners-up of 2014–15 Danish Superliga
 * Third-placed team of 2014–15 Danish Superliga
 * Runners-up of 2014–15 Prva HNL
 * Third-placed team of 2014–15 Prva HNL
 * 🇵🇱 Runners-up of 2014–15 Ekstraklasa
 * 🇵🇱 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Ekstraklasa
 * 🇧🇾 Runners-up of 2014 Belarusian Premier League
 * 🇧🇾 Third-placed team of 2014 Belarusian Premier League
 * Runners-up of 2014–15 Scottish Premiership
 * Third-placed team of 2014–15 Scottish Premiership
 * 🇸🇪 Winners of 2014–15 Svenska Cupen
 * 🇸🇪 Runners-up of 2014 Allsvenskan
 * 🇸🇪 Third-placed team of 2014 Allsvenskan
 * 🇧🇬 Winners of 2014–15 Bulgarian Cup
 * 🇧🇬 Runners-up of 2014–15 A PFG
 * 🇧🇬 Third-placed team of 2014–15 A PFG
 * 🇳🇴 Winners of 2014 Norwegian Football Cup
 * 🇳🇴 Runners-up of 2014 Tippeligaen
 * 🇳🇴 Third-placed team of 2014 Tippeligaen
 * 🇷🇸 Winners of 2014–15 Serbian Cup
 * 🇷🇸 Runners-up of 2014–15 Serbian SuperLiga
 * 🇷🇸 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Serbian SuperLiga
 * 🇭🇺 Winners of 2014–15 Magyar Kupa
 * 🇭🇺 Runners-up of 2014–15 Nemzeti Bajnokság I
 * 🇭🇺 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Nemzeti Bajnokság I
 * 🇸🇮 Winners of 2014–15 Slovenian Cup
 * 🇸🇮 Runners-up of 2014–15 Slovenian PrvaLiga
 * 🇸🇮 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Slovenian PrvaLiga
 * 🇸🇰 Winners of 2014–15 Slovak Cup
 * 🇸🇰 Runners-up of 2014–15 Slovak First Football League
 * 🇸🇰 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Slovak First Football League
 * 🇲🇩 Winners of 2014–15 Moldovan Cup
 * 🇲🇩 Runners-up of 2014–15 Moldovan National Division
 * 🇲🇩 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Moldovan National Division
 * 🇦🇿 Winners of 2014–15 Azerbaijan Cup
 * 🇦🇿 Runners-up of 2014–15 Azerbaijan Premier League
 * 🇦🇿 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Azerbaijan Premier League
 * Winners of 2014–15 Georgian Cup
 * Runners-up of 2014–15 Umaglesi Liga
 * Third-placed team of 2014–15 Umaglesi Liga
 * 🇰🇿 Winners of 2014 Kazakhstan Cup
 * 🇰🇿 Runners-up of 2014 Kazakhstan Premier League
 * 🇰🇿 Third-placed team of 2014 Kazakhstan Premier League
 * 🇧🇦 Winners of 2014–15 Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Cup
 * 🇧🇦 Runners-up of 2014–15 Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
 * 🇧🇦 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
 * 🇫🇮 Winners of 2014 Finnish Cup
 * 🇫🇮 Runners-up of 2014 Veikkausliiga
 * 🇫🇮 Third-placed team of 2014 Veikkausliiga
 * 🇮🇸 Winners of 2014 Icelandic Cup
 * 🇮🇸 Runners-up of 2014 Úrvalsdeild
 * 🇮🇸 Third-placed team of 2014 Úrvalsdeild
 * 🇱🇻 Winners of 2014–15 Latvian Football Cup
 * 🇱🇻 Runners-up of 2014 Latvian Higher League
 * 🇱🇻 Third-placed team of 2014 Latvian Higher League
 * 🇲🇪 Winners of 2014–15 Montenegrin Cup
 * 🇲🇪 Runners-up of 2014–15 Montenegrin First League
 * 🇲🇪 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Montenegrin First League
 * 🇦🇱 Winners of 2014–15 Albanian Cup
 * 🇦🇱 Runners-up of 2014–15 Albanian Superliga
 * 🇦🇱 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Albanian Superliga
 * 🇱🇹 Winners of 2014–15 Lithuanian Football Cup
 * 🇱🇹 Runners-up of 2014 A Lyga
 * 🇱🇹 Third-placed team of 2014 A Lyga
 * 🇲🇰 Winners of 2014–15 Macedonian Cup
 * 🇲🇰 Runners-up of 2014–15 First Macedonian Football League
 * 🇲🇰 Third-placed team of 2014–15 First Macedonian Football League
 * 🇮🇪 Winners of 2014 FAI Cup
 * 🇮🇪 Runners-up of 2014 League of Ireland Premier Division
 * 🇮🇪 Third-placed team of 2014 League of Ireland Premier Division
 * 🇱🇺 Winners of 2014–15 Luxembourg Cup
 * 🇱🇺 Runners-up of 2014–15 Luxembourg National Division
 * 🇱🇺 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Luxembourg National Division
 * 🇲🇹 Winners of 2014–15 Maltese FA Trophy
 * 🇲🇹 Runners-up of 2014–15 Maltese Premier League
 * 🇲🇹 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Maltese Premier League
 * 🇱🇮 Winners of 2014–15 Liechtenstein Cup
 * Winners of 2014–15 Irish Cup
 * Runners-up of 2014–15 NIFL Premiership
 * Third-placed team of 2014–15 NIFL Premiership
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Winners of 2014–15 Welsh Cup
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Runners-up of 2014–15 Welsh Premier League
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Winners of 2014–15 Welsh Premier League European competition play-offs
 * 🇦🇲 Winners of 2014–15 Armenian Cup
 * 🇦🇲 Runners-up of 2014–15 Armenian Premier League
 * 🇦🇲 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Armenian Premier League
 * 🇪🇪 Winners of 2014–15 Estonian Cup
 * 🇪🇪 Runners-up of 2014 Meistriliiga
 * 🇪🇪 Third-placed team of 2014 Meistriliiga
 * 🇫🇴 Winners of 2014 Faroe Islands Cup
 * 🇫🇴 Runners-up of 2014 Faroe Islands Premier League
 * 🇫🇴 Third-placed team of 2014 Faroe Islands Premier League
 * 🇸🇲 Winners of 2014–15 Coppa Titano
 * 🇸🇲 Runners-up of 2014–15 Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio
 * 🇦🇩 Winners of 2015 Copa Constitució
 * 🇦🇩 Runners-up of 2014–15 Primera Divisió
 * 🇬🇮 Winners of 2015 Rock Cup
 * Fair Play berth
 * Fair Play berth
 * Fair Play berth

Second qualifying round
A total of 66 teams play in the second qualifying round: 14 teams which enter in this round, and the 52 winners of the first qualifying round.


 * 🇧🇪 Winners of 2014–15 Belgian Pro League European competition play-offs
 * 🇹🇷 Fourth-placed team of 2014–15 Süper Lig
 * Fourth-placed team of 2014–15 Superleague Greece
 * Fourth-placed team of 2014–15 Swiss Super League
 * 🇦🇹 Fourth-placed team of 2014–15 Austrian Football Bundesliga
 * 🇨🇿 Fourth-placed team of 2014–15 Czech First League
 * 🇷🇴 Runners-up of 2014–15 Liga I
 * 🇮🇱 Runners-up of 2014–15 Israeli Premier League
 * 🇨🇾 Winners of 2014–15 Cypriot Cup
 * Winners of 2014–15 Danish Cup
 * Winners of 2014–15 Croatian Cup
 * 🇵🇱 Winners of 2014–15 Polish Cup
 * 🇧🇾 Winners of 2014–15 Belarusian Cup
 * Winners of 2014–15 Scottish Cup

Third qualifying round
A total of 58 teams play in the second qualifying round: 25 teams which enter in this round, and the 33 winners of the second qualifying round.


 * 🇪🇸 Sixth-placed team of 2014–15 La Liga
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Winners of 2014–15 Football League Cup
 * 🇩🇪 Sixth-placed team of 2014–15 Bundesliga
 * 🇮🇹 Fifth-placed team of 2014–15 Serie A
 * Fourth-placed team of 2014–15 Primeira Liga
 * Fifth-placed team of 2014–15 Primeira Liga
 * 🇫🇷 Fourth-placed team of 2014–15 Ligue 1
 * 🇫🇷 Winners of 2014–15 Coupe de la Ligue
 * 🇷🇺 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Russian Premier League
 * 🇷🇺 Fourth-placed team of 2014–15 Russian Premier League
 * Third-placed team of 2014–15 Eredivisie
 * Winners of 2014–15 Eredivisie European competition play-offs
 * 🇺🇦 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League
 * 🇺🇦 Fourth-placed team of 2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League
 * 🇧🇪 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Belgian Pro League
 * 🇹🇷 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Süper Lig
 * Third-placed team of 2014–15 Superleague Greece
 * Winners of 2014–15 Swiss Cup
 * Third-placed team of 2014–15 Swiss Super League
 * 🇦🇹 Winners of 2014–15 Austrian Cup
 * 🇦🇹 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Austrian Football Bundesliga
 * 🇨🇿 Winners of 2014–15 Czech Cup
 * 🇨🇿 Third-placed team of 2014–15 Czech First League
 * 🇷🇴 Winners of 2014–15 Cupa României
 * 🇮🇱 Winners of 2014–15 Israel State Cup

Play-off round
A total of 44 teams play in the play-off round: the 29 winners of the third qualifying round, and the 15 losers of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.

Group stage
A total of 48 teams play in the group stage: 16 teams which enter in this stage, the 22 winners of the play-off round, and the 10 losers of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League play-off round.

The 48 teams are allocated into four pots based on their 2015 UEFA club coefficients. They are drawn into twelve groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.


 * 🇪🇸 Winners of 2014–15 Copa del Rey
 * 🇪🇸 Fifth-placed team of 2014–15 La Liga
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Winners of 2014–15 FA Cup
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Fifth-placed team of 2014–15 Premier League
 * 🇩🇪 Winners of 2014–15 DFB-Pokal
 * 🇩🇪 Fifth-placed team of 2014–15 Bundesliga
 * 🇮🇹 Winners of 2014–15 Coppa Italia
 * 🇮🇹 Fourth-placed team of 2014–15 Serie A
 * Winners of 2014–15 Taça de Portugal
 * 🇫🇷 Winners of 2014–15 Coupe de France
 * 🇷🇺 Winners of 2014–15 Russian Cup
 * Winners of 2014–15 KNVB Cup
 * 🇺🇦 Winners of 2014–15 Ukrainian Cup
 * 🇧🇪 Winners of 2014–15 Belgian Cup
 * 🇹🇷 Winners of 2014–15 Turkish Cup
 * Winners of 2014–15 Greek Football Cup

In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the round of 32, where they are joined by the eight third-placed teams of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage.

Knockout phase
In the knockout phase, teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:
 * In the draw for the round of 32, the twelve group winners and the four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage with the better group records are seeded, and the twelve group runners-up and the other four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage are unseeded. The seeded teams are drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
 * In the draws for the round of 16 onwards, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association can be drawn against each other.