UEFA Europa League 2014-15

The 2014–15 UEFA Europa League will be the 44th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 6th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The 2015 UEFA Europa League Final will be played at the Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw, Poland.
This will be the first season where clubs must comply with UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations in order to participate. A team from Gibraltar, whose football association was accepted as the 54th UEFA member at the UEFA Congress in May 2013, will also make its debut in the competition.
Starting from this edition, the UEFA Europa League winners will qualify for the subsequent UEFA Champions League season. Therefore, the winners of this tournament will qualify for the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League. They will enter at least the play-off round, and will enter the group stage if the berth reserved for the Champions League title holders is not used.
==Association team allocation==
A total of 194, 195 or 196 teams from all 54 UEFA member associations are expected to participate in the 2014–15 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 1–6 each have three teams qualify.
*Associations 7–9 each have four teams qualify.
*Associations 10–51 (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 winners of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League are given an additional entry as title holders if they do not qualify for the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League or Europa League through their domestic performance.
*The top three associations of the 2013–14 UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking each gain an additional berth.
*Moreover, 33 teams eliminated from the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League are transferred to the Europa League (or 32 teams if only 14 losers, instead of the default 15, from the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round enter the Europa League play-off round).
===Association ranking===
For the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2013 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2008–09 to 2012–13.
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Europa League, as noted below:
* – Additional berth via Fair Play ranking (associations TBD)
* – Additional teams transferred from the Champions League
{| class="wikitable"	 	 	 	
Rank	Association 	Coeff.	Teams	Notes
1 	Spain 	88.025	3 	
2 	England 	82.963	3 	
3 	Germany 	79.614	3 	
4 	Italy 	64.147	3 	
5 	Portugal 	59.168	3 	
6 	France 	59.000	3 	
7 	Ukraine 	49.758	4 	
8 	Russia 	46.332	4 	
9 	Netherlands 	44.729	4 	
10 	Turkey 	34.500	3 	
11 	Belgium 	34.400	3 	
12 	Greece 	34.000	3 	
13 	Switzerland 	28.925	3 	
14 	Cyprus 	26.833	3 	
15 	Denmark 	25.700	3 	
16 	Austria 	25.375	3 	
17 	Czech Republic	23.725	3 	
18 	Romania 	23.024	3 	
===Distribution===
The following is the default allocation system, and is subject to changes. If the title holders qualify for the Champions League or Europa League through their domestic performance, changes to the default allocation system will be made as certain spots are vacated. When moving entrants to later rounds to compensate for vacated spots, priority is given to the domestic cup winners of the highest-ranked associations.
 	Teams entering in this round	Teams advancing from previous round	Teams transferred from Champions League
First qualifying round(80 teams) 	
*22 domestic cup winners from associations 33–54
*26 domestic league runners-up from associations 27–53 (except Liechtenstein)
*29 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 22–51 (except Liechtenstein)
*3 teams which qualified via Fair Play ranking	 	
Second qualifying round(80 teams)	
*14 domestic cup winners from associations 19–32
*11 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–26
*6 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 16–21
*6 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 10–15
*3 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 7–9	
*40 winners from the first qualifying round	
Third qualifying round(58 teams) 	
*3 domestic cup winners from associations 16–18
*6 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 10–15
*3 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 7–9
*3 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 4–6 (League Cup winners for France)
*3 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 1–3 (League Cup winners for England)	
*40 winners from the second qualifying round	
Play-off round(62 teams) 	
*9 domestic cup winners from associations 7–15
*3 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–9
*3 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 4–6
*3 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–3	
*29 winners from the third qualifying round	
*15 losers from the Champions League third qualifying round
Group stage(48 teams) 	
*Title holders
*6 domestic cup winners from associations 1–6	
*31 winners from the play-off round	
*10 losers from the Champions League play-off round
Knockout phase(32 teams) 	 	
*12 group winners from the group stage
*12 group runners-up from the group stage	
*8 third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage
====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, either of the following teams qualify for the Europa League:
**The domestic cup runners-up, provided they have not yet qualified for European competitions, qualify for the Europa League as the "lowest-placed" qualifier (with the earliest starting round), with the other Europa League qualifiers moved up one "place" (the 2014–15 season will be the last with this particular arrangement).
**Otherwise, 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 (or as the second "lowest-placed" qualifier in cases where the cup runners-up qualify as stated above). 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:
*TH: Title holders
*CW: Cup winners
*CR: Cup runners-up
*LC: League Cup winners
*2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position
*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 of 32 	Round of 32 	Round of 32 	Round of 32
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
Group stage 	Group stage 	Group stage 	Group stage
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
Play-off round 	Play-off round 	Play-off round 	Play-off round
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
Third qualifying round 	Third qualifying round 	Third qualifying round 	Third qualifying round
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
Second qualifying round	Second qualifying round	Second qualifying round	Second qualifying round
 	 	Dinamo Minsk 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	Molde
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	AIK 	
 	 	 	
 	Shakhtyor Salihorsk 	 	
First qualifying round 	First qualifying round 	First qualifying round 	First qualifying round
 	 	Stjarnan 	
IFK Göteborg 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
 	 	 	Nõmme Kalju
Rosenborg 	 	 	Sillamäe Kalev
Haugesund 	Sligo Rovers 	 	
 	Dundalk 	 	
 	Derry City 	 	
 	 	 	Víkingur
 	Atlantas 	 	ÍF
 	Ekranas 	 	B36 Tórshavn
 	Shakhter Karagandy 	 	
 	Astana 	 	
 	Kairat 	 	
 	 	 	
 	Skonto 	 	
RoPS 	Daugava Daugavpils 	 	
Honka 	Fram Reykjavík 	 	
VPS 	FH 	 	
;Notes
==Round and draw dates==
All draws held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise.
Phase 	Round 	Draw date 	First leg 	Second leg
Qualifying 	First qualifying round 	23 June 2014 	3 July 2014 	10 July 2014
Qualifying 	Second qualifying round	23 June 2014 	17 July 2014 	24 July 2014
Qualifying 	Third qualifying round 	18 July 2014 	31 July 2014 	7 August 2014
Play-off 	Play-off round 	8 August 2014 	21 August 2014 	28 August 2014
Group stage 	Matchday 1 	29 August 2014(Monaco)	18 September 2014 	18 September 2014
Group stage 	Matchday 2 	29 August 2014(Monaco)	2 October 2014 	2 October 2014
Group stage 	Matchday 3 	29 August 2014(Monaco)	23 October 2014 	23 October 2014
Group stage 	Matchday 4 	29 August 2014(Monaco)	6 November 2014 	6 November 2014
Group stage 	Matchday 5 	29 August 2014(Monaco)	27 November 2014 	27 November 2014
Group stage 	Matchday 6 	29 August 2014(Monaco)	11 December 2014 	11 December 2014
Knockout phase	Round of 32 	15 December 2014 	19 February 2015 	26 February 2015
Knockout phase	Round of 16 	15 December 2014 	12 March 2015 	19 March 2015
Knockout phase	Quarter-finals 	20 March 2015 	16 April 2015 	23 April 2015
Knockout phase	Semi-finals 	24 April 2015 	7 May 2015 	14 May 2015
Knockout phase	Final 	24 April 2015 	27 May 2015 at National Stadium, Warsaw	27 May 2015 at National Stadium, Warsaw
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 will be divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2014 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===
80 teams enter in the first qualifying round.
* Rosenborg CC: 11.355
* Ekranas CC: 7.050
* FH CC: 5.850
* IFK Göteborg CC: 5.765
* Shakhter Karagandy CC: 5.400
* Skonto CC: 4.000
* Honka CC: 3.935
* Sligo Rovers CC: 3.775
* Haugesund CC: 2.855
* Nõmme Kalju CC: 2.825
* Daugava Daugavpils CC: 2.750
* Derry City CC: 2.525
* Astana CC: 1.900
* Fram Reykjavík CC: 1.850
* Víkingur CC: 1.675
* Kairat CC: 1.650
* Dundalk CC: 1.525
* RoPS CC: 1.435
* VPS CC: 1.435
* Stjarnan CC: 1.350
* B36 Tórshavn CC: 1.175
* Sillamäe Kalev CC: 1.075
* Atlantas CC: 1.050
* ÍF CC: 0.925
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Prva HNL
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Scottish Premiership
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Serbian SuperLiga
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Slovak First Football League
* Runners-up of 2013–14 A PFG
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 A PFG
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Nemzeti Bajnokság I
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Nemzeti Bajnokság I
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Slovenian PrvaLiga
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Slovenian PrvaLiga
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Umaglesi Liga
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Umaglesi Liga
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Azerbaijan Premier League
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Azerbaijan Premier League
* Winners of 2013–14 Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Winners of 2013–14 Moldovan Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Moldovan National Division
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Moldovan National Division
* Winners of 2013–14 Lithuanian Football Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Latvian Football Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Montenegrin Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Montenegrin First League
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Montenegrin First League
* Winners of 2013–14 Macedonian Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 First Macedonian Football League
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 First Macedonian Football League
* Winners of 2013–14 Albanian Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Albanian Superliga
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Albanian Superliga
* Winners of 2013–14 Maltese FA Trophy
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Maltese Premier League
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Maltese Premier League
* Winners of 2013–14 Liechtenstein Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Luxembourg Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Luxembourg National Division
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Luxembourg National Division
* Winners of 2013–14 Irish Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 NIFL Premiership
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 NIFL Premiership
* Winners of 2013–14 Welsh Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Welsh Premier League
* Winners of 2013–14 Welsh Premier League European competition play-offs
* Winners of 2013–14 Estonian Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Armenian Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Armenian Premier League
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Armenian Premier League
* Winners of 2013–14 Coppa Titano
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio
* Winners of 2014 Copa Constitució
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Primera Divisió
* Winners of 2014 Rock Cup
*Fair Play
*Fair Play
*Fair Play
===Second qualifying round===
80 teams play in the second qualifying round: 40 teams which enter in this round, and the 40 winners from the first qualifying round.
* Molde CC: 9.355
* AIK CC: 7.765
* Dinamo Minsk CC: 6.725
* Shakhtyor Salihorsk CC: 5.225
* Fifth-placed team of 2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League
* Fifth-placed team of 2013–14 Russian Premier League
* Winners of 2013–14 Eredivisie European competition play-offs
* Fourth-placed team of 2013–14 Süper Lig
* Winners of 2013–14 Belgian Pro League European competition play-offs
* Fourth-placed team of 2013–14 Superleague Greece
* Fourth-placed team of 2013–14 Swiss Super League
* Fourth-placed team of 2013–14 Cypriot First Division
* Fourth-placed team of 2013–14 Danish Superliga
* Runners-up team of 2013–14 Austrian Football Bundesliga
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Austrian Football Bundesliga
* Runners-up team of 2013–14 Gambrinus liga
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Gambrinus liga
* Runners-up team of 2013–14 Liga I
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Liga I
* Winners of 2013–14 Israel State Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Israeli Premier League
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Israeli Premier League
* Winners of 2013–14 Belarusian Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Polish Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Ekstraklasa
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Ekstraklasa
* Winners of 2013–14 Croatian Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Prva HNL
* Winners of 2013–14 Svenska Cupen
* Winners of 2013–14 Scottish Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Scottish Premiership
* Winners of 2013–14 Serbian Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Serbian SuperLiga
* Winners of 2013–14 Slovak Cup
* Runners-up of 2013–14 Slovak First Football League
* Winners of 2013–14 Bulgarian Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Magyar Kupa
* Winners of 2013–14 Slovenian Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Georgian Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Azerbaijan Cup
===Third qualifying round===
58 teams play in the third qualifying round: 18 teams which enter in this round, and the 40 winners from the second qualifying round.
* Sixth-placed team of 2013–14 La Liga
* Winners of 2013–14 Football League Cup
* Sixth-placed team of 2013–14 Bundesliga
* Fifth-placed team of 2013–14 Serie A
* Fifth-placed team of 2013–14 Primeira Liga
* Winners of 2013–14 Coupe de la Ligue
* Fourth-placed of 2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League
* Fourth-placed of 2013–14 Russian Premier League
* Fourth-placed team of 2013–14 Eredivisie
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Süper Lig
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Belgian Pro League
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Superleague Greece
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Swiss Super League
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Cypriot First Division
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Danish Superliga
* Winners of 2013–14 Austrian Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Czech Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Cupa României
==Play-off round==
62 teams play in the play-off round: 18 teams which enter in this round, the 29 winners from the third qualifying round, and the 15 losers from the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.
* Fifth-placed team of 2013–14 La Liga
* Fifth-placed team of 2013–14 Premier League
* Fifth-placed team of 2013–14 Bundesliga
* Fourth-placed team of 2013–14 Serie A
* Fourth-placed team of 2013–14 Primeira Liga
* Fourth-placed team of 2013–14 Ligue 1
* Winners of 2013–14 Ukrainian Cup
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League
* Winners of 2013–14 Russian Cup
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Russian Premier League
* Winners of 2013–14 KNVB Cup
* Third-placed team of 2013–14 Eredivisie
* Winners of 2013–14 Turkish Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Belgian Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Greek Football Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Swiss Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Cypriot Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 Danish Cup
==Group stage==
48 teams play in the group stage: 7 teams which enter in this stage, the 31 winners from the play-off round, and the 10 losers from the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League play-off round.
*Winners of 2013–14 UEFA Europa League
* Winners of 2013–14 Copa del Rey
* Winners of 2013–14 FA Cup
* Winners of 2013–14 DFB-Pokal
* Winners of 2013–14 Coppa Italia
* Winners of 2013–14 Taça de Portugal
* Winners of 2013–14 Coupe de France
The 48 teams will be allocated into four pots based on their 2014 UEFA club coefficients, with the title holders, should they enter, being placed in Pot 1 automatically. They will be drawn into twelve groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
In each group, teams will play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up will advance to the round of 32, where they will be joined by the 8 third-placed teams from the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage.
==Knockout phase==
In the knockout phase, teams will 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 will be seeded, and the twelve group runners-up and the other four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage will be unseeded. The seeded teams will be 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 will be no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association can be drawn against each other.
==See also==
*2014–15 UEFA Champions League
*2015 UEFA Super Cup
==External links==
*UEFA Europa League (official website)
 
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