2018–19 UEFA Europa League knockout phase

The 2018–19 UEFA Europa League knockout phase began on 12 February and ended on 29 May 2019 with the final at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan, to decide the champions of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League.^[1] A total of 32 teams competed in the knockout phase.^[2]

For the first time, the video assistant referee (VAR) system was used in the competition, where it was implemented in the final.^[3]

Times are CET/CEST,^{[note 1]} as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Round and draw dates

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

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

Format

Each tie in the knockout phase, apart from the final, was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then extra time was played. The away goals rule was again applied after extra time, i.e. if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team advanced by more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the tie was decided by penalty shoot-out. In the final, which was played as a single match, if the score was level at the end of normal time, extra time would be played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score remained tied.^[2]

The mechanism of the draws for each round was 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 were seeded, and the twelve group runners-up and the other four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association could not be drawn against each other.
In the draws for the round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals were held together before the quarter-finals were played, the identity of the quarter-final winners was not known at the time of the semi-final draw. A draw was also held to determine which semi-final winner was designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it was played at a neutral venue).

In the knockout phase, teams from the same city (Chelsea and Arsenal, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, and Real Betis and Sevilla) were not scheduled to play at home on the same day, due to logistics and crowd control. To avoid such scheduling conflict, an adjustment had to be made to UEFA. For the round of 32, since both teams were drawn to play at home in a given leg, the home match of the team which was not domestic cup champions in the qualifying season, or the team with the lower domestic ranking (if neither team were the domestic cup champions, i.e. Arsenal, Fenerbahçe, and Sevilla for this season), was moved to an earlier time on Thursday or a different day.^[4] For the round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals if the two teams were drawn to play at home for the same leg, the order of legs of the tie involving the team with the lowest priority was reversed from the original draw.^[5]^[6]

On 17 July 2014, the UEFA emergency panel ruled that Ukrainian and Russian clubs would not be drawn against each other "until further notice" due to the political unrest between the countries.^[7]

Qualified teams

The knockout phase involved 32 teams: the 24 teams which qualified as winners and runners-up of each of the twelve groups in the group stage, and the eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage.

Europa League group stage winners and runners-up

Champions League group stage third-placed teams

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Away goals scored; 5) Wins; 6) Away wins; 7) Disciplinary points; 8) Club coefficient (UCL Regulations Article 16.04).^[8]

Bracket

Round of 32

The draw for the round of 32 was held on 17 December 2018, 13:00 CET.^[9]

Summary

The first legs were played on 12 and 14 February, and the second legs were played on 20 and 21 February 2019.

Matches

14 February 2019