2017–18 UEFA Europa League

The 2017–18 UEFA Europa League will be the 47th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 9th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.

A possible host city candidate for the Europa League final is reported to be Lyon, France, with the Parc Olympique Lyonnais as possible host stadium.^[1][2][3] On 15 September 2016, UEFA announced that a decision regarding the 2018 final will be made at a later stage.^[4]

The winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League will automatically qualify for the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage,^[5] and also earn the right to play against the winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League in the 2018 UEFA Super Cup.

Association team allocation

A total of 190 teams from 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations are expected to participate in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League (the participation of teams from Kosovo, who became a UEFA member on 3 May 2016, is to be confirmed).^[7] The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:^[6]

• Associations 1–51 (except Liechtenstein) each have three teams qualify.
• Associations 52–54 each have two teams qualify.
• Liechtenstein have one team qualify (as it organises only a domestic cup and no domestic league).
• Moreover, 33 teams eliminated from the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League are transferred to the Europa League.

Starting from this season, Gibraltar are granted two spots instead of one in the Europa League.^[8]

Association ranking

For the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2016 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2011–12 to 2015–16.^[9][10]

Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Europa League, as noted below:

• (CL) – Additional teams transferred from the Champions League

Final ranking as of 28 May 2016.^[9][10]

Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes 1 Spain 105.713 3 2 Germany 80.177 3 England 76.284 4 Italy 70.439 5 Portugal 53.082 6 France 52.749 7 Russia 51.082 8 Ukraine 44.883 9 Belgium 40.000 10 Netherlands 35.563 11 Turkey 34.600 12 Switzerland 33.775 13 Czech Republic 32.925 14 Greece 29.700 15 Romania 25.383 16 Austria 25.100 17 Croatia 23.875 18 Poland 22.500 19 Cyprus 22.175

Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes 20 Belarus 20.000 3 21 Sweden 19.875 22 Norway 19.250 23 Israel 18.625 24 Denmark 18.600 25 Scotland 17.300 26 Azerbaijan 14.875 27 Serbia 14.625 28 Kazakhstan 14.125 29 Bulgaria 13.125 30 Slovenia 13.125 31 Slovakia 12.000 32 Liechtenstein 10.500 1 33 Hungary 9.875 3 34 Moldova 9.125 35 Iceland 8.750 36 Georgia 8.125 37 Finland 7.400

Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes 38 Bosnia and Herzegovina 7.125 3 39 Albania 6.625 40 Macedonia 6.000 41 Republic of Ireland 5.450 42 Latvia 5.375 43 Luxembourg 5.250 44 Montenegro 4.875 45 Lithuania 4.625 46 Northern Ireland 4.500 47 Estonia 4.250 48 Armenia 4.125 49 Faroe Islands 3.625 50 Malta 3.583 51 Wales 3.500 52 Gibraltar 1.000 2 53 Andorra 0.999 54 San Marino 0.333 55 Kosovo 0.000 TBC

Distribution

The table below shows the default access list.^[11][12]

The access list above is provisional, as 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 will be vacated (not replaced by another team from the same association), and cup winners of the highest-ranked associations will be moved to a later round accordingly.^[13]
• If changes to the access list of the Champions League are made, the number of losers of the Champions League third qualifying round which are transferred to the Europa League may be increased or decreased from the default number of 15, which means changes to the access list of the Europa League will also need to be made.^[14]
• Because a maximum of five teams from one association can enter the Champions League, if both the Champions League title holders and the Europa League title holders are from the same top three ranked association and finish outside the top four of their domestic league, the fourth-placed team of their association will be moved to the Europa League, which means changes to the access list of the Europa League will also need to be made.^[15]

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 (regulations Articles 3.03 and 3.04):^[6]

• 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".
• 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 team in the league 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
• PW: End-of-season European competition play-offs winners
• 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

Note: Teams in italics may still qualify for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, either through domestic performance, or by winning the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League or the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.

Round of 32
(UCL GS)	(UCL GS)	(UCL GS)	(UCL GS)
(UCL GS)	(UCL GS)	(UCL GS)	(UCL GS)
Group stage
(CW)	(4th)	(CW)	(UCL PO)
(5th)	(CW)	(CW)	(UCL PO)
(CW)	(CW)	(UCL PO)	(UCL PO)
(5th)	(CW)	(UCL PO)	(UCL PO)
(CW)	(CW)	(UCL PO)	(UCL PO)
(5th)	(CW)	(UCL PO)
(CW)	(CW)	(UCL PO)
Play-off round
(UCL Q3)	(UCL Q3)	(UCL Q3)	(UCL Q3)
(UCL Q3)	(UCL Q3)	(UCL Q3)	(UCL Q3)
(UCL Q3)	(UCL Q3)	(UCL Q3)	(UCL Q3)
(UCL Q3)	(UCL Q3)	(UCL Q3)
Third qualifying round
(6th)	(LC)	(3rd)	(CW)
(6th)	(3rd)	(3rd)	(3rd)
(LC)	(4th)	(3rd)	(CW)
(5th)	(3rd)	(CW)	(CW)
(4th)	(4th)	(3rd)
(5th)	(3rd)	(CW)
(4th)	(PW)	(3rd)
Second qualifying round
(PW)	(4th)	(CW)	Brann (2nd)
(4th)	(4th)	(CW)	(CW)
(4th)	(2nd)	(CW)	(CW)
(4th)	(2nd)	(CW)	(CW)
First qualifying round
(3rd)	Irtysh Pavlodar (3rd)	HJK (2nd)	Atlantas (4th)
(3rd)	Ordabasy (4th)	VPS (4th)	(CW)
(2nd)	(CW)	(CW)	(2nd)
(3rd)	(2nd)	(2nd)	(PW)
(2nd)	(PW)	(3rd)	(CW)
(3rd)	(CW)	(CW)	Levadia Tallinn (2nd)
Shakhtyor Soligorsk (2nd)[Note BLR]	(2nd)	(2nd)	Nõmme Kalju (CW/3rd)
Dinamo Minsk (3rd)[Note BLR]	(3rd)	(3rd)	(CW)
AIK (2nd)[Note SWE]	(CW)	(CW)	(2nd)
IFK Norrköping (3rd)[Note SWE]	(2nd)	(2nd)	(3rd)
Odd (3rd)	(3rd)	(3rd)	KÍ (CW)
Haugesund (4th)	(CW)	Cork City (CW)	NSÍ Runavík (3rd)
(2nd)	(CW)	Derry City (3rd)[Note IRL]	B36 Tórshavn (4th)
(3rd)	(2nd)	Shamrock Rovers (4th)	(CW)
(2nd)	(3rd)	(CW)	(2nd)
(PW)	(CW)	Jelgava (CW/2nd)	(3rd)
(2nd)	(2nd)	Ventspils (CW/3rd)	(CW)
(3rd)	(3rd)	(CW)	(2nd)
(CW)	Valur (CW)	(2nd)	(PW)
(2nd)	Stjarnan (2nd)	(3rd)	(CW)
(3rd)	KR (3rd)	(CW)	(2nd)
(CW)	Torpedo Kutaisi (CW)	(2nd)	(CW)
(2nd)	(2nd)	(3rd)	(2nd)
(3rd)	(PW)	Trakai (2nd)	(CW)
Kairat (2nd)	SJK (CW)	Sūduva Marijampolė (3rd)	(2nd)

Notes

Qualifying rounds

In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2017 UEFA club coefficients,^[16][17] 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 100 teams are expected to play in the first qualifying round.

Note: UEFA club coefficient (CC) at the end of 2016–17 season, which is used for seeding, is listed in italics.^[16][17]

Second qualifying round

A total of 66 teams are expected to play in the second qualifying round: 16 teams which enter in this round, and the 50 winners of the first qualifying round.

Third qualifying round

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

Play-off round

A total of 44 teams are expected to play in the play-off round: the 29 winners of the third qualifying round, and the 15 losers of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.

Group stage

The 48 teams are drawn into twelve groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams are seeded into four pots based on their 2017 UEFA club coefficients.^[16][17] If the title holders enter the group stage after losing in the Champions League play-off round, they are automatically seeded into Pot 1 (regulations Article 13.05).^[6]

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 2017–18 UEFA Champions League 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 2017–18 UEFA Champions League play-off round.

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.

See also

• 2017–18 UEFA Champions League
• 2018 UEFA Super Cup

References

External links

• UEFA Europa League (official website)