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2019–20 UEFA Europa League

The 2019–20 UEFA Europa League was the 49th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.

Sevilla defeated Inter Milan in the final, played at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany, 3–2 for a record sixth title in the competition.[2] As winners, Sevilla earned the right to play against Bayern Munich, the winners of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League, in the 2020 UEFA Super Cup. Since they had already qualified for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage through their league performance, the berth originally reserved for the Europa League title holders was given to the third-placed team of the 2019–20 Ligue 1 (Rennes), the 5th-ranked association according to next season's access list.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was suspended in mid-March 2020 and resumed in August. The quarter-finals onwards were played as a single match knockout ties at neutral venues in Germany (RheinEnergieStadion, MSV-Arena, Merkur Spiel-Arena, Arena AufSchalke) behind closed doors from 10 to 21 August.[3] The video assistant referee (VAR) system was used in the competition from the knockout stage onwards.[4]

As the title holders of the Europa League, Chelsea qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League, although they had already qualified before the final through their league performance. They were unable to defend their title as they advanced to the Champions League knockout stage, and were eliminated by the ultimate winners Bayern Munich in the round of 16.

Association team allocation

A total of 213 teams from all 55 UEFA member associations participated in the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League. The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[5]

Association ranking

For the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2018 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2013–14 to 2017–18.[7]

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

Distribution

The following is the access list for this season.[8]

Changes were made to the default access list, if any of the teams that qualified for the Europa League via their domestic competitions also qualified for the Champions League as the Champions League or Europa League title holders, or if there were fewer teams transferred from the Champions League due to changes in the Champions League access list. In any case where a spot in the Europa League was vacated, cup winners of the highest-ranked associations in earlier rounds were promoted accordingly.

Redistribution rules

A Europa League place was vacated when a team qualified for both the Champions League and the Europa League, or qualified for the Europa League by more than one method. When a place was vacated, it was redistributed within the national association by the following rules:

Teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:[8]

One team not playing a national top division took part in the competition; Vaduz (representing Liechtenstein) played in 2019–20 Swiss Challenge League, which is Switzerland's 2nd tier.

Notes
  1. ^
    Albania (ALB): Skënderbeu would have qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round as the fourth-placed team of the 2018–19 Albanian Superliga, but were banned from entering UEFA competitions.[9] As a result, the berth was given to the sixth-placed team of the league, Laçi, since the fifth-placed team of the league, Flamurtari, failed to obtain a UEFA licence.[10]
  2. ^
    Belgium (BEL): Mechelen would have qualified for the Europa League group stage as the winners of the 2018–19 Belgian Cup, but were found guilty on match-fixing as part of the 2017–19 Belgian football fraud scandal, and thus prohibited by the Royal Belgian Football Association to take part in the 2019–20 European competitions. Mechelen appealed the decision,[11] but the final ruling was announced on 17 July 2019 by the Belgian Arbitration Court for Sports, and Mechelen remained banned,[12] and were subsequently replaced by UEFA.[13] As a result, the third-placed team of the 2018–19 Belgian First Division A, Standard Liège, entered the group stage instead of the third qualifying round, the Europa League play-off winners of the league, Antwerp, entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round, and the second qualifying round berth was given to the fifth-placed team of the league, Gent.[14]
  3. ^
    Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH): Željezničar would have qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round as the fourth placed team of the 2018–19 Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but failed to obtain a UEFA licence.[15] As a result, the berth was given to the fifth-placed team of the league, Radnik Bijeljina.
  4. ^
    Italy (ITA): Milan qualified for the Europa League group stage as the fifth-placed of the 2018–19 Serie A, but were found guilty of breaching Financial Fair Play rules and were excluded from competing in European competitions in 2019–20.[16] As a result, the sixth-placed team of the 2018–19 Serie A, Roma, entered the group stage instead of the second qualifying round, and the second qualifying round berth was given to the seventh-placed team of the league, Torino.
  5. ^
    Lithuania (LTU): Stumbras would have qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round as the fourth placed team of the 2018 A Lyga, but had their UEFA licence stripped.[17] As a result, the berth was given to the fifth-placed team of the league, Kauno Žalgiris.[18]
  6. ^
    North Macedonia (MKD): Vardar would have qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round as the runners-up of the 2018–19 Macedonian First Football League, but failed to obtain a UEFA licence.[19] As a result, the berth was given to the fifth-placed team of the league, Makedonija GP.
  7. ^
    Republic of Ireland (IRL): Waterford would have qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round as the fourth-placed team of the 2018 League of Ireland Premier Division, but were ruled by UEFA to have not passed the "three-year rule" as the club were reformed in 2016.[20] As a result, the berth was given to the fifth-placed team of the league, St Patrick's Athletic.
  8. ^
    Champions League (UCL Q1): Sarajevo were drawn to receive a bye to the third qualifying round, as one fewer loser from the Champions League first qualifying round were transferred to the Europa League second qualifying round (Champions Path), due to a Champions League group stage berth vacated by the Champions League title holders.

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).[21] Matches could also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts.

The competition was suspended on 17 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[22] A working group was set up by UEFA to decide the calendar of the remainder of the season.[23] On 17 June 2020, UEFA announced the revised schedule for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of the competition, to be played in single-leg matches.[3]

The original schedule of the competition, as planned before the pandemic, was as follows.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the varying rates of transmission of COVID-19 across European countries during the time of the Round of 16 first leg ties, different matches were affected in different ways. Because of this severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy at the time, the games involving Inter Milan and A.S. Roma were postponed,[24] whereas games hosted in Greece, Germany, and Austria went ahead but behind closed doors.[25] Games hosted in Turkey and Scotland went ahead as normal. On 15 March, UEFA announced that none of the Round of 16 second leg ties would go ahead in the following week, postponing them indefinitely,[26] with a taskforce convened to reschedule the rest of the season.[23] On 23 March, it was announced that the Stadion Energa Gdańsk in Gdańsk, Poland would no longer host the competition Final, originally scheduled for 27 May, but would host the 2021 Final instead.[27]

On 17 June it was announced that the Europa League would return on 5 August and conclude on 21 August,[3] with a last-eight tournament to be held across four venues in Germany.[28] The remainder of the competition would be played in a mini-tournament style with remaining fixture to be played as single legged ties except for the Round of 16 fixtures where the first leg had already been played.[29] All remaining ties of the competition were played behind closed doors due to the remaining presence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[25]

Final tournament venues

Qualifying rounds

In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2019 UEFA club coefficients,[30] and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.

Preliminary round

In the preliminary round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2019 UEFA club coefficients,[30] and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.

The draw for the preliminary round was held on 11 June 2019.[31]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.

First qualifying round

The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 18 June 2019.[32]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.

Second qualifying round

The second qualifying round was split into two separate sections: Champions Path (for league champions) and League Path (for cup winners and league non-champions).

The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 19 June 2019.[33]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.

Third qualifying round

The third qualifying round was split into two separate sections: Champions Path (for league champions) and League Path (for cup winners and league non-champions).

The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 22 July 2019.[34]The first legs were played on 6, 7 and 8 August, and the second legs on 13, 14 and 15 August 2019.

Play-off round

The play-off round was split into two separate sections: Champions Path (for league champions) and League Path (for cup winners and league non-champions).

The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 August 2019.[35]The first legs were played on 22 August, and the second legs will be played on 29 August 2019.

Group stage

2019–20 UEFA Europa League is located in Europe
Wolfsberger AC
LASK
LASK
Qarabağ
Ludogorets
APOEL
Copenhagen
Arsenal
Man. United
Wolves
Rennes
St.-Étienne
M'gladbach
Wolfsburg
Eintracht
Ferencváros
Rome
Rome
Astana (not on map)
Astana
(not on map)
2019–20 UEFA Europa League
Rosenborg
Cluj
Cluj
Porto
Sporting
Braga District
Braga District
CSKA
CSKA
Krasnodar
Glasgow
Glasgow
Partizan
Slovan
Getafe
Sevilla
Espanyol
Malmö
Lugano
Basel
Young Boys
Istanbul
Istanbul
Trabzonspor
Dyn. Kyiv
Oleksandriya
Braga District teams Braga Vitória de Guimarães Glasgow teams Celtic Rangers Istanbul teams Beşiktaş İstanbul Başakşehir Rome teams Lazio Roma
Braga District teams
Braga
Vitória de Guimarães

Glasgow teams
Celtic
Rangers

Istanbul teams
Beşiktaş
İstanbul Başakşehir

Rome teams
Lazio
Roma
class=notpageimage|
Location of teams of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League group stage.
Brown: Group A; Green: Group B; Deep Pink: Group C; Yellow: Group D;
Red: Group E; Cyan: Group F; Blue: Group G; Purple: Group H;
Pink: Group I; Turquoise: Group J; Spring Green: Group K; Orange: Group L.

The draw for the group stage was held on 30 August 2019, 13:00 CEST, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.[36] The 48 teams were drawn into twelve groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on their 2019 UEFA club coefficients.[30]

In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 32, where they were joined by the eight third-placed teams of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage. The matchdays were 19 September, 3 October, 24 October, 7 November, 28 November, and 12 December 2019.

A total of 26 national associations were represented in the group stage. Espanyol, Ferencváros, LASK, Oleksandriya, Wolfsberger AC and Wolverhampton Wanderers made their debut appearances in the group stage (although Espanyol and Ferencváros had appeared in the UEFA Cup group stage).

2019–20 UEFA Europa League is located in Benelux
Standard
Gent
Gent
Dudelange
PSV
PSV
Feyenoord
AZ
AZ
class=notpageimage|
Location of Benelux teams of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League group stage.
Brown: Group A; Yellow: Group D; Cyan: Group F; Blue: Group G; Pink: Group I; Orange: Group L.

Group A

Source: UEFA

Group B

Source: UEFA

Group C

Source: UEFA

Group D

Source: UEFA

Group E

Source: UEFA

Group F

Source: UEFA

Group G

Source: UEFA

Group H

Source: UEFA

Group I

Source: UEFA

Group J

Source: UEFA

Group K

Source: UEFA

Group L

Source: UEFA

Knockout phase

In the knockout phase, teams played 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 was as follows:

On 17 June 2020, UEFA announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the final stages of the competition would feature a format change. The quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final would be played in a single-leg format from 10 to 21 August 2020 in the German cities of Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg and Gelsenkirchen. The matches were tentatively played behind closed doors, though spectators could be allowed subject to a review of the situation and the decisions of the national and local government.

Following the competition restarts in August 2020, a maximum of five substitutions were allowed, with a sixth allowed in extra time. However, each team was only given three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time, and at half-time in extra time. This followed a proposal from FIFA and approval by IFAB to lessen the impact of fixture congestion.[37]

Bracket

Round of 32

The draw for the round of 32 was held on 16 December 2019, 13:00 CET.[38]The first legs were played on 20 February, and the second legs were played on 26, 27 and 28 February 2020.

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 28 February 2020, 13:00 CET.[39]Six of the eight first leg matches were played on 12 March, while the remaining first legs and all second leg fixtures were postponed by UEFA due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[40] On 17 June 2020, UEFA announced that the second legs would be played on 5–6 August 2020. In July 2020, they confirmed that the second legs would be played at the home team's stadium as normal. For the two ties that had not played their first legs, the matches were instead played in a single-leg format, at neutral venues in Germany.[41][42]

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 10 July 2020.[40][43]The matches were played on 10 and 11 August 2020.

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals took place on 10 July 2020 (after the quarter-final draw). The matches were played on 16 and 17 August 2020.

Final

The final was played at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne. The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.[43]

RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne
Attendance: 0[44][note 1]
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)

Statistics

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.

Top goalscorers

Notes

  1. ^ Bruno Fernandes played for Sporting CP in the group stage and for Manchester United in the knockout stage, after his transfer during the January transfer window.
  2. ^ Andraž Šporar played for Slovan Bratislava in the group stage and for Sporting CP in the knockout stage, after his transfer during the January transfer window.

Top assists

  1. ^ Bruno Fernandes played for Sporting CP in the group stage and for Manchester United in the knockout stage, after his transfer during the January transfer window.

Squad of the season

The UEFA technical study group selected the following 23 players as the squad of the tournament.[47]

Notes

  1. ^ Bruno Fernandes played for Sporting CP in the group stage and for Manchester United in the knockout stage, after his transfer during the January transfer window.

Player of the season

Votes were cast by coaches of the 48 teams in the group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, representing each of UEFA's member associations. The coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own teams. Jury members selected their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. The shortlist of the top three players was announced on 17 September 2020.[48] The award winner was announced during the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage draw in Switzerland on 2 October 2020.

Notes

  1. ^ Bruno Fernandes played for Sporting CP in the group stage and for Manchester United in the knockout stage, after his transfer during the January transfer window.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The remainder of the competition, held in August 2020, was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[45]

References

  1. ^ a b "Romelu Lukaku named Europa League Player of the Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  2. ^ Begley, Emlyn (21 August 2020). "Sevilla 3–2 Inter Milan: Europa League kings come back to win for sixth time". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Europa League to resume on 5 August, final on 21 August". UEFA. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Format change for 2020/21 UEFA Nations League". UEFA.com. 24 September 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Regulations of the UEFA Europa League 2019/20" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations.
  6. ^ "Timeline for UEFA Presidential elections decided". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  7. ^ "Country coefficients 2017/18". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Champions League and Europa League changes next season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  9. ^ "Albania's Skenderbeu handed 10-year ban over match-fixing in worst ever UEFA punishment". Tirana Times. 29 March 2018.
  10. ^ "UEFA përjashton Flamurtarin nga garat e Evropës!". insporti.com. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Dossier matchfixing: KV Mechelen veroordeeld tot degradatie, Waasland-Beveren gaat vrijuit". demorgen.be. 1 June 2019.
  12. ^ "BAS spreekt zich uit: geen Belgisch en Europees bekervoetbal voor KV Mechelen, maar ook geen puntenaftrek". hln.be. 17 July 2019.
  13. ^ "KV Mechelen replaced in the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League". UEFA. 18 July 2019.
  14. ^ "UEFA hakt knoop door: Standard krijgt ticket KVM, Gent naar 2e voorronde". sporza.be. 18 July 2019.
  15. ^ "FK Željezničar ostao bez licence za Evropu?". sportsport.ba. 27 May 2019.
  16. ^ "AC Milan banned from Europa League next season over Financial Fair Play breaches". BBC Sport. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  17. ^ "Atšaukta "Stumbro" klubo UEFA licencija" (in Lithuanian). Lithuanian Football Federation. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  18. ^ ""Kauno Žalgiriui" suteikta teisė žaisti Europos lygos atrankoje" (in Lithuanian). Lithuanian Football Federation. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  19. ^ "ФК Вардар не доби лиценца за Лига Европа". sitel.com.mk. 23 May 2019.
  20. ^ "St Pats to benefit as Waterford are refused UEFA licence". extra.ie. 19 April 2019.
  21. ^ "2019/20 Europa League match and draw calendar". UEFA.com. 14 January 2019.
  22. ^ "UEFA postpones EURO 2020 by 12 months". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  23. ^ a b "Resolution of the European football family on a coordinated response to the impact of the COVID-19 on competitions". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  24. ^ "Coronavirus: Sevilla v Roma and Inter v Getafe Europa League games postponed". BBC Sport. March 11, 2020.
  25. ^ a b "Man Utd to face LASK behind closed doors in first leg of Europa League last-16 tie | Goal.com". www.goal.com.
  26. ^ "All of this week's UEFA matches postponed | Inside UEFA". UEFA.com. March 15, 2020.
  27. ^ "UEFA Club Finals postponed". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  28. ^ "European finals to be held in Lisbon and Cologne". amp.dw.com.
  29. ^ "Europa League 2020 tournament: Where & when will matches take place? | Goal.com". www.goal.com.
  30. ^ a b c "Club coefficients 2018/19". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  31. ^ "UEFA Europa League preliminary round draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  32. ^ "UEFA Europa League first qualifying round draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  33. ^ "UEFA Europa League second qualifying round champions and league path draws". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  34. ^ "UEFA Europa League third qualifying round champions and main path draws". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  35. ^ "UEFA Europa League play-off round draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 5 August 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  36. ^ "UEFA Europa League group stage draw". UEFA.com.
  37. ^ "Five substitutes option temporarily allowed for competition organisers". International Football Association Board. 8 May 2020. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  38. ^ "UEFA Europa League round of 32 draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 16 December 2019.
  39. ^ "UEFA Europa League round of 16 draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  40. ^ a b "All of this week's UEFA matches postponed". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 15 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  41. ^ "UEFA competitions to resume in August". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  42. ^ "Europa League round of 16 venues confirmed". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  43. ^ a b "UEFA Europa League quarter-final, semi-final and final draws". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 July 2020.
  44. ^ "Full Time Summary Final – Sevilla v Inter Milan" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  45. ^ "Venues for Round of 16 matches confirmed". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  46. ^ a b "UEFA Europa League – Statistics". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  47. ^ "UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  48. ^ "Europa League Player of the Season contenders: Banega, Bruno Fernandes, Lukaku". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.

External links

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