2018–19 UEFA Europa League

2018–19 UEFA Europa League

File:Chelsea won UEFA Europa League final at Olympic Stadium and President Ilham Aliyev watched the final match 16.jpg The Olympic Stadium in Baku hosted the final.
Tournament details
Dates	Qualifying: 26 June – 30 August 2018 Competition proper: 20 September 2018 – 29 May 2019
Teams	Competition proper: 48+8 Total: 158+55 (from 55 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Chelsea (2nd title)
Runners-up	Arsenal
Tournament statistics
Matches played	205
Goals scored	565 (2.76 per match)
Attendance	5,038,109 (24,576 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Olivier Giroud (Chelsea) 11 goals
Best player(s)	Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

The 2018–19 UEFA Europa League was the 48th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 10th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan, between English sides Chelsea and Arsenal – which was the first Europa League final to feature two teams from one city and was also the first time that 4 Premier League representatives (teams) were in both European finals. Chelsea defeated Arsenal 4–1 and earned the right to play against Liverpool, the winners of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League, in the 2019 UEFA Super Cup. As winners, Chelsea would also have been qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage; however, since they had already qualified after finishing third in the Premier League, the berth reserved was given to the third-placed team of the 2018–19 Ligue 1 (Lyon) – the 5th-ranked association according to next season's access list. For the first time, the video assistant referee (VAR) system was used in the competition, where it was implemented in the final. As the title holders of the Europa League, Atlético Madrid qualified for the 2018–19 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 Juventus in the round of 16.

Format changes

On 9 December 2016, UEFA confirmed the reforming plan for the UEFA Champions League for the 2018–2021 cycle, which was announced on 26 August 2016. As per the new regulations, all teams that are eliminated in the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds will get a second chance in the Europa League.

Association team allocation

213 teams from all 55 UEFA member associations participated in the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League. The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:

• Associations 1–51 (except Liechtenstein) each had three teams qualify.
• Associations 52–54 each had two teams qualify.
• Liechtenstein and Kosovo (association 55) each had one team qualify (Liechtenstein organised only a domestic cup and no domestic league; Kosovo as per decision by the UEFA Executive Committee).
• Moreover, 55 teams eliminated from the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League were transferred to the Europa League (default number was 57, but 2 fewer teams competed in the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League).

Association ranking

For the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2017 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2012–13 to 2016–17. Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:

• (UCL) – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League

Association ranking for 2018–19 UEFA Europa League

Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes 1 Spain 104.998 3 +1 (UCL) 2 Germany 79.498 3 England 75.962 4 Italy 73.332 +2 (UCL) 5 France 56.665 6 Russia 50.532 +1 (UCL) 7 Portugal 49.332 +1 (UCL) 8 Ukraine 42.633 +2 (UCL) 9 Belgium 42.400 +2 (UCL) 10 Turkey 39.200 +2 (UCL) 11 Czech Republic 33.175 +2 (UCL) 12 Switzerland 32.075 +1 (UCL) 13 Netherlands 31.063 14 Greece 27.900 +1 (UCL) 15 Austria 25.350 +2 (UCL) 16 Croatia 25.250 +1 (UCL) 17 Romania 24.350 +1 (UCL) 18 Denmark 24.000 +1 (UCL) 19 Belarus 19.875 +1 (UCL)

Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes 20 Poland 19.750 3 +1 (UCL) 21 Sweden 19.725 +1 (UCL) 22 Israel 19.375 +1 (UCL) 23 Scotland 18.925 +1 (UCL) 24 Cyprus 18.550 +1 (UCL) 25 Norway 18.325 +1 (UCL) 26 Azerbaijan 17.750 +1 (UCL) 27 Bulgaria 15.875 +1 (UCL) 28 Serbia 15.375 29 Kazakhstan 15.250 +1 (UCL) 30 Slovenia 13.125 +1 (UCL) 31 Slovakia 11.750 +1 (UCL) 32 Liechtenstein 11.000 1 33 Hungary 9.500 3 +1 (UCL) 34 Moldova 9.500 +1 (UCL) 35 Iceland 8.375 +1 (UCL) 36 Finland 7.650 +1 (UCL) 37 Albania 6.625 +1 (UCL)

Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes 38 Republic of Ireland 6.575 3 +1 (UCL) 39 Bosnia and Herzegovina 6.500 +1 (UCL) 40 Georgia 6.375 +1 (UCL) 41 Latvia 6.125 +1 (UCL) 42 Macedonia 5.625 +1 (UCL) 43 Estonia 5.250 +1 (UCL) 44 Montenegro 5.250 +1 (UCL) 45 Armenia 5.125 +1 (UCL) 46 Luxembourg 4.875 +1 (UCL) 47 Northern Ireland 4.500 +1 (UCL) 48 Lithuania 4.125 +1 (UCL) 49 Malta 4.000 +1 (UCL) 50 Wales 3.875 +1 (UCL) 51 Faroe Islands 3.500 +1 (UCL) 52 Gibraltar 2.500 2 +1 (UCL) 53 Andorra 1.165 +1 (UCL) 54 San Marino 0.333 +1 (UCL) 55 Kosovo 0.000 1 +1 (UCL)

Distribution

In the default access list, originally 17 losers from the Champions League first qualifying round were transferred to the Europa League second qualifying round (Champions Path). However, one fewer loser would be transferred since the Champions League title holders already qualified for the group stage via their domestic league. Therefore, only 19 teams entered the Champions Path second qualifying round (one of the losers from the Champions League first qualifying round would be drawn to receive a bye to the third qualifying round). In addition, originally three losers from the Champions League second qualifying round (League Path) were transferred to the Europa League third qualifying round (Main Path). However, one fewer loser would be transferred since the Europa League title holders already qualified for the group stage via their domestic league. As a result, the following changes to the access list was made:

• The cup winners of association 18 (Denmark) entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round.
• The cup winners of association 25 (Norway) entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
• The cup winners of associations 50 (Wales) and 51 (Faroe Islands) entered the first qualifying round instead of the preliminary round.

Access list for 2018–19 UEFA Europa League

		Teams entering in this round	Teams advancing from previous round	Teams transferred from Champions League
Preliminary round (14 teams)		4 domestic cup winners from associations 52–55 6 domestic league runners-up from associations 49–54 4 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 48–51
First qualifying round (94 teams)		26 domestic cup winners from associations 26–51 30 domestic league runners-up from associations 18–48 (except Liechtenstein) 31 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 16–47 (except Liechtenstein)	7 winners from preliminary round
Second qualifying round	Champions Path (18 teams)			15 losers from Champions League first qualifying round 3 losers from Champions League preliminary round
	Main Path (74 teams)	7 domestic cup winners from associations 19–25 2 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–17 3 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 13–15 9 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 7–15 2 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 5–6 (League Cup winners for France) 4 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 1–4 (League Cup winners for England)	47 winners from first qualifying round
Third qualifying round	Champions Path (20 teams)		9 winners from second qualifying round (Champions Path)	10 losers from Champions League second qualifying round (Champions Path) 1 losers from Champions League first qualifying round (Champions Path)
	Main Path (52 teams)	6 domestic cup winners from associations 13–18 6 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–12 1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 6	37 winners from second qualifying round (Main Path)	2 losers from Champions League second qualifying round (League Path)
Play-off round	Champions Path (16 teams)		10 winners from third qualifying round (Champions Path)	6 losers from Champions League third qualifying round (Champions Path)
	Main Path (26 teams)		26 winners from third qualifying round (Main Path)
Group stage (48 teams)		12 domestic cup winners from associations 1–12 1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 5 4 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–4	8 winners from play-off round (Champions Path) 13 winners from play-off round (Main Path)	4 losers from Champions League play-off round (Champions Path) 2 losers from Champions League play-off round (League Path) 4 losers from Champions League third qualifying round (League Path)
Knockout phase (32 teams)			12 group winners from group stage 12 group runners-up from group stage	8 third-placed teams from Champions League group stage

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:

• When the domestic cup winners (considered as the "highest-placed" qualifier within the national association with the latest starting round) also qualified for the Champions League, their Europa League place was vacated. As a result, the highest-placed team in the league which had not yet qualified for European competitions qualified for the Europa League, with the Europa League qualifiers which finished above them in the league moving up one "place".
• When the domestic cup winners also qualified for the Europa League through league position, their place through the league position was vacated. As a result, the highest-placed team in the league which had not yet qualified for European competitions qualified for the Europa League, with the Europa League qualifiers which finished above them in the league moving up one "place" if possible.
• For associations where a Europa League place was reserved for either the League Cup or end-of-season European competition play-offs winners, they always qualified for the Europa League as the "lowest-placed" qualifier. If the League Cup winners had already qualified for European competitions through other methods, this reserved Europa League place was taken by the highest-placed team in the league which had 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
• RW: Regular season winners
• PW: End-of-season Europa League 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
  • Q2: Losers from the second qualifying round
  • Q1: Losers from the first qualifying round
  • PR: Losers from the preliminary round (SF: semi-finals; F: final)

Qualified teams for 2018–19 UEFA Europa League (by entry round)
Round of 32

Valencia (UCL GS)	Napoli (UCL GS)	Shakhtar Donetsk (UCL GS)	Galatasaray (UCL GS)
Inter Milan (UCL GS)	Benfica (UCL GS)	Club Brugge (UCL GS)	Viktoria Plzeň (UCL GS)

Group stage

Villarreal (5th)	Milan (6th)	Akhisarspor (CW)	Dynamo Kyiv (UCL PO)
Real Betis (6th)	Marseille (4th)	Jablonec (3rd)	PAOK (UCL PO)
Eintracht Frankfurt (CW)	Rennes (5th)	Zürich (CW)	Spartak Moscow (UCL Q3)
Bayer Leverkusen (5th)	Krasnodar (4th)	Red Bull Salzburg (UCL PO)	Standard Liège (UCL Q3)
Chelsea (CW)	Sporting CP (3rd)	Dinamo Zagreb (UCL PO)	Fenerbahçe (UCL Q3)
Arsenal (6th)	Vorskla Poltava (3rd)	BATE Borisov (UCL PO)	Slavia Prague (UCL Q3)
Lazio (5th)	Anderlecht (3rd)	MOL Vidi (UCL PO)

Play-off round

Champions Path		Main Path
Malmö FF (UCL Q3)	Astana (UCL Q3)
Celtic (UCL Q3)	Spartak Trnava (UCL Q3)
Qarabağ (UCL Q3)	Shkëndija (UCL Q3)

Third qualifying round

Champions Path		Main Path
CFR Cluj (UCL Q2)	Ludogorets Razgrad (UCL Q2)	Zenit Saint Petersburg (5th)	Olympiacos (3rd)
Midtjylland (UCL Q2)	Sheriff Tiraspol (UCL Q2)	Braga (4th)	Rapid Wien (3rd)
Legia Warsaw (UCL Q2)	HJK (UCL Q2)	Zorya Luhansk (4th)	Rijeka (2nd)
Hapoel Be'er Sheva (UCL Q2)	Kukësi (UCL Q2)	Gent (4th)	Universitatea Craiova (CW)
Rosenborg (UCL Q2)	Sūduva (UCL Q2)	İstanbul Başakşehir (3rd)	Brøndby (CW)
	Cork City (UCL Q1)	Sigma Olomouc (4th)	Basel (UCL Q2)
		Luzern (3rd)	Sturm Graz (UCL Q2)
		Feyenoord (CW)

Second qualifying round

Champions Path		Main Path
APOEL (UCL Q1)	F91 Dudelange (UCL Q1)	Sevilla (7th)	Atromitos (4th)
Olimpija Ljubljana (UCL Q1)	Crusaders (UCL Q1)	RB Leipzig (6th)	Asteras Tripolis (5th)
Valur (UCL Q1)	Valletta (UCL Q1)	Burnley (7th)	LASK (4th)
Zrinjski Mostar (UCL Q1)	The New Saints (UCL Q1)	Atalanta (7th)	Admira Wacker Mödling (5th)
Torpedo Kutaisi (UCL Q1)	Víkingur Gøta (UCL Q1)	Bordeaux (6th)	Hajduk Split (3rd)
Spartaks Jūrmala (UCL Q1)	Drita (UCL Q1)	Ufa (6th)	FCSB (2nd)
Flora Tallinn (UCL Q1)	Lincoln Red Imps (UCL PR F)	Rio Ave (5th)	Dynamo Brest (CW)
Sutjeska Nikšić (UCL Q1)	FC Santa Coloma (UCL PR SF)	Mariupol (5th)	Jagiellonia Białystok (2nd)
Alashkert (UCL Q1)	La Fiorita (UCL PR SF)	Genk (PW)	Djurgårdens IF (CW)
		Beşiktaş (4th)	Hapoel Haifa (CW)
		Sparta Prague (5th)	Aberdeen (2nd)
		St. Gallen (5th)	AEK Larnaca (CW)
		AZ (3rd)	Lillestrøm (CW)
		Vitesse (PW)

First qualifying round

Osijek (4th)	CSKA Sofia (2nd)	Stjarnan (2nd)	Shkupi (4th)
Viitorul Constanța (4th)	Levski Sofia (PW)	FH (3rd)	FCI Levadia (CW)
Nordsjælland (3rd)	Partizan (CW)	KuPS (2nd)	Nõmme Kalju (3rd)
Copenhagen (PW)	Radnički Niš (3rd)	Ilves (3rd)	Narva Trans (5th)
Dinamo Minsk (2nd)	Spartak Subotica (4th)	Lahti (4th)	Titograd (CW)
Shakhtyor Soligorsk (3rd)	Kairat (CW)	Luftëtari (3rd)	Budućnost Podgorica (2nd)
Lech Poznań (3rd)	Irtysh Pavlodar (4th)	Laçi (4th)	Rudar Pljevlja (5th)
Górnik Zabrze (4th)	Tobol (5th)	Partizani (5th)	Gandzasar Kapan (CW)
AIK (2nd)	Maribor (2nd)	Dundalk (2nd)	Banants (2nd)
BK Häcken (4th)	Domžale (3rd)	Shamrock Rovers (3rd)	Pyunik (5th)
Maccabi Tel Aviv (2nd)	Rudar Velenje (4th)	Derry City (4th)	Racing FC (CW)
Beitar Jerusalem (3rd)	Slovan Bratislava (CW)	Željezničar (CW)	Progrès Niederkorn (2nd)
Rangers (3rd)	DAC Dunajská Streda (3rd)	Sarajevo (3rd)	Fola Esch (3rd)
Hibernian (4th)	Trenčín (PW)	Široki Brijeg (4th)	Coleraine (CW)
Apollon Limassol (2nd)	Vaduz (CW)	Chikhura Sachkhere (CW)	Glenavon (3rd)
Anorthosis Famagusta (3rd)	Újpest (CW)	Dinamo Tbilisi (2nd)	Cliftonville (PW)
Molde (2nd)	Ferencváros (2nd)	Samtredia (3rd)	Stumbras (CW)
Sarpsborg 08 (3rd)	Honvéd (4th)	Liepāja (CW)	Žalgiris (2nd)
Keşla (CW)	Milsami Orhei (CW)	Riga (3rd)	Balzan (2nd)
Gabala (2nd)	Petrocub Hîncești (3rd)	Ventspils (4th)	Connah's Quay Nomads (CW)
Neftçi Baku (3rd)	Zaria Bălți (5th)	Vardar (2nd)	NSÍ Runavík (CW)
Slavia Sofia (CW)	ÍBV (CW)	Rabotnički (3rd)

Preliminary round

Trakai (3rd)	Cefn Druids (PW)	St Joseph's (3rd)	Tre Fiori (3rd)
Gżira United (3rd)	KÍ Klaksvík (2nd)	Engordany (2nd)	Prishtina (CW)
Birkirkara (4th)	B36 Tórshavn (3rd)	Sant Julià (3rd)
Bala Town (4th)	Europa (CW)	Folgore (2nd)

Notably one team that was not playing a national top division took part in the competition; Vaduz (representing Liechtenstein) played in 2017–18 Swiss Challenge League, which is Switzerland's second tier.

Notes

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).

Schedule for 2018–19 UEFA Europa League

Phase	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Qualifying	Preliminary round	12 June 2018	28 June 2018	5 July 2018
	First qualifying round	19 June 2018 (Champions Path) 20 June 2018 (Main Path)	12 July 2018	19 July 2018
	Second qualifying round		26 July 2018	2 August 2018
	Third qualifying round	23 July 2018	9 August 2018	16 August 2018
Play-off	Play-off round	6 August 2018	23 August 2018	30 August 2018
Group stage	Matchday 1	31 August 2018 (Monaco)	20 September 2018
	Matchday 2		4 October 2018
	Matchday 3		25 October 2018
	Matchday 4		8 November 2018
	Matchday 5		29 November 2018
	Matchday 6		13 December 2018
Knockout phase	Round of 32	17 December 2018	14 February 2019	21 February 2019
	Round of 16	22 February 2019	7 March 2019	14 March 2019
	Quarter-finals	15 March 2019	11 April 2019	18 April 2019
	Semi-finals		2 May 2019	9 May 2019
	Final		29 May 2019 at Olympic Stadium, Baku

Matches in the qualifying (including preliminary and play-off) and knockout rounds could also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts. From this season, the kick-off times starting from the group stage were slightly changed to 18:55 CET and 21:00 CET. Kick-off times starting from the quarter-finals were 21:00 CEST.

Qualifying rounds

Main article: 2018–19 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds

In the qualifying and play-off rounds, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2018 UEFA club coefficients (for Main Path), or based on which round they qualified from (for Champions Path), and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties.

Preliminary round

In the preliminary round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2018 UEFA club coefficients, 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 12 June 2018. The first legs were played on 26 and 28 June, and the second legs were played on 5 July 2018. {{#lst:2018–19 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round|PR}}

First qualifying round

The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 20 June 2018. The first legs were played on 10, 11 and 12 July, and the second legs were played on 17, 18 and 19 July 2018. {{#lst:2018–19 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round|Q1}}

Second qualifying round

The second qualifying round was split into two separate sections: Champions Path (for league champions) and Main Path (for cup winners and league non-champions). The draw for the second qualifying round (Champions Path) was held on 19 June, and the draw for the second qualifying round (Main Path) was held on 20 June 2018. The first legs were played on 26 July, and the second legs were played on 31 July, 1 and 2 August 2018. {{#lst:2018–19 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round|Q2}}

Third qualifying round

The third qualifying round was split into two separate sections: Champions Path (for league champions) and Main Path (for cup winners and league non-champions). The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 23 July 2018. The first legs were played on 7 and 9 August, and the second legs were played on 16 August 2018. {{#lst:2018–19 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round|Q3}}

Play-off round

Main article: 2018–19 UEFA Europa League play-off round

The play-off round was split into two separate sections: Champions Path (for league champions) and Main Path (for cup winners and league non-champions). The draw for the play-off round was held on 6 August 2018. The first legs were played on 23 August, and the second legs were played on 30 August 2018. {{#lst:2018–19 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round|PO}}

Group stage

Main article: 2018–19 UEFA Europa League group stage

2018–19 UEFA Europa League is located in Europe

Rapid

Rapid

Salzburg

Salzburg

Qarabağ

Qarabağ

BATE

BATE

Anderlecht

Anderlecht

Genk

Genk

Standard

Standard

Ludogorets

Ludogorets

Dinamo Z.

Dinamo Z.

AEK

AEK

Apollon

Apollon

Jablonec

Jablonec

Slavia

Slavia

Copenhagen

Copenhagen

London

London

Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Marseille

Marseille

Rennes

Rennes

Leverkusen

Leverkusen

Eintracht

Eintracht

Leipzig

Leipzig

Olympiacos

Olympiacos

PAOK

PAOK

Vidi

Vidi

Lazio

Lazio

Milan

Milan

Astana (not on map)

Astana
(not on map)

2018–19 UEFA Europa League

Dudelange

Dudelange

Rosenborg

Rosenborg

Sarpsborg

Sarpsborg

Sporting

Sporting

Krasnodar

Krasnodar

Spartak M.

Spartak M.

Zenit

Zenit

Glasgow

Glasgow

Spartak T.

Spartak T.

Seville

Seville

Villarreal

Villarreal

Malmö

Malmö

Zürich

Zürich

Akhisarspor

Akhisarspor

Istanbul

Istanbul

Dynamo K.

Dynamo K.

Vorskla

Vorskla

Glasgow teams File:Green pog.svg Celtic File:Blue pog.svg Rangers Istanbul teams File:Pink pog.svg Beşiktaş File:Yellow pog.svg Fenerbahçe London teams File:Red pog.svg Arsenal File:Orange pog.svg Chelsea Seville teams File:Cyan pog.svg Real Betis File:Turquoise pog.svg Sevilla

• Glasgow teams
• File:Green pog.svg Celtic
• File:Blue pog.svg Rangers

• Istanbul teams
• File:Pink pog.svg Beşiktaş
• File:Yellow pog.svg Fenerbahçe

• London teams
• File:Red pog.svg Arsenal
• File:Orange pog.svg Chelsea

• Seville teams
• File:Cyan pog.svg Real Betis
• File:Turquoise pog.svg Sevilla

class=notpageimage|

Location of teams of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League group stage.
File:Brown pog.svg Brown: Group A; File:Green pog.svg Green: Group B; File:DeepPink pog.svg Deep Pink: Group C; File:Yellow pog.svg Yellow: Group D;
File:Red pog.svg Red: Group E; File:Cyan pog.svg Cyan: Group F; File:Blue pog.svg Blue: Group G; File:Purple pog.svg Purple: Group H;
File:Pink pog.svg Pink: Group I; File:Turquoise pog.svg Turquoise: Group J; File:SpringGreen pog.svg Spring Green: Group K; File:Orange pog.svg Orange: Group L.

The draw for the group stage was held on 31 August 2018 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. The 48 teams were 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 2018 UEFA club coefficients. In each group, teams played 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 2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage. The matchdays are 20 September, 4 October, 25 October, 8 November, 29 November, and 13 December 2018. A total of 27 national associations were represented in the group stage. Akhisarspor, Chelsea, F91 Dudelange, Jablonec, Rangers, RB Leipzig, Sarpsborg 08, Spartak Moscow and Spartak Trnava made their debut appearances in the UEFA Europa League group stage (although Chelsea, Rangers, RB Leipzig and Spartak Moscow had already competed in the UEFA Europa League knockout phase after a third place in the UEFA Champions League group stage, while Rangers and Spartak Moscow had appeared in the UEFA Cup group stage). Akhisarspor and Sarpsborg 08 made their debuts in any European football. F91 Dudelange were the first team from Luxembourg to play in either the Champions League or Europa League group stage.

Tiebreakers
Tiebreakers}}

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LEV	ZUR	AKL	LUD
1	Bayer Leverkusen	6	4	1	1	16	9	+7	13	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–0	4–2	1–1
2	Zürich	6	3	1	2	7	6	+1	10			3–2	—	1–2	1–0
3	AEK Larnaca	6	1	2	3	6	12	−6	5			1–5	0–1	—	1–1
4	Ludogorets Razgrad	6	0	4	2	5	7	−2	4			2–3	1–1	0–0	—

Source: UEFA

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SAL	CEL	RBL	ROS
1	Red Bull Salzburg	6	6	0	0	17	6	+11	18	Advance to knockout phase		—	3–1	1–0	3–0
2	Celtic	6	3	0	3	6	8	−2	9			1–2	—	2–1	1–0
3	RB Leipzig	6	2	1	3	9	8	+1	7			2–3	2–0	—	1–1
4	Rosenborg	6	0	1	5	4	14	−10	1			2–5	0–1	1–3	—

Source: UEFA

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ZEN	SLP	BOR	KOB
1	Zenit Saint Petersburg	6	3	2	1	6	5	+1	11	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–0	2–1	1–0
2	Slavia Prague	6	3	1	2	4	3	+1	10			2–0	—	1–0	0–0
3	Bordeaux	6	2	1	3	6	6	0	7			1–1	2–0	—	1–2
4	Copenhagen	6	1	2	3	3	5	−2	5			1–1	0–1	0–1	—

Source: UEFA

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		DZG	FEN	SPT	AND
1	Dinamo Zagreb	6	4	2	0	11	3	+8	14	Advance to knockout phase		—	4–1	3–1	0–0
2	Fenerbahçe	6	2	2	2	7	7	0	8			0–0	—	2–0	2–0
3	Spartak Trnava	6	2	1	3	4	7	−3	7			1–2	1–0	—	1–0
4	Anderlecht	6	0	3	3	2	7	−5	3			0–2	2–2	0–0	—

Source: UEFA

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ARS	SPO	VOR	QRB
1	Arsenal	6	5	1	0	12	2	+10	16	Advance to knockout phase		—	0–0	4–2	1–0
2	Sporting CP	6	4	1	1	13	3	+10	13			0–1	—	3–0	2–0
3	Vorskla Poltava	6	1	0	5	4	13	−9	3			0–3	1–2	—	0–1
4	Qarabağ	6	1	0	5	2	13	−11	3			0–3	1–6	0–1	—

Source: UEFA
Notes:

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BET	OLY	MIL	DUD
1	Real Betis	6	3	3	0	7	2	+5	12	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–0	1–1	3–0
2	Olympiacos	6	3	1	2	11	6	+5	10			0–0	—	3–1	5–1
3	Milan	6	3	1	2	12	9	+3	10			1–2	3–1	—	5–2
4	F91 Dudelange	6	0	1	5	3	16	−13	1			0–0	0–2	0–1	—

Source: UEFA
Notes:

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		VIL	RW	RAN	SPM
1	Villarreal	6	2	4	0	12	5	+7	10	Advance to knockout phase		—	5–0	2–2	2–0
2	Rapid Wien	6	3	1	2	6	9	−3	10			0–0	—	1–0	2–0
3	Rangers	6	1	3	2	8	8	0	6			0–0	3–1	—	0–0
4	Spartak Moscow	6	1	2	3	8	12	−4	5			3–3	1–2	4–3	—

Source: UEFA
Notes:

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FRA	LAZ	APL	MAR
1	Eintracht Frankfurt	6	6	0	0	17	5	+12	18	Advance to knockout phase		—	4–1	2–0	4–0
2	Lazio	6	3	0	3	9	11	−2	9			1–2	—	2–1	2–1
3	Apollon Limassol	6	2	1	3	10	10	0	7			2–3	2–0	—	2–2
4	Marseille	6	0	1	5	6	16	−10	1			1–2	1–3	1–3	—

Source: UEFA

Group I

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		GNK	MAL	BES	SRP
1	Genk	6	3	2	1	14	8	+6	11	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–0	1–1	4–0
2	Malmö FF	6	2	3	1	7	6	+1	9			2–2	—	2–0	1–1
3	Beşiktaş	6	2	1	3	9	11	−2	7			2–4	0–1	—	3–1
4	Sarpsborg 08	6	1	2	3	8	13	−5	5			3–1	1–1	2–3	—

Source: UEFA

Group J

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SEV	KRA	STL	AKH
1	Sevilla	6	4	0	2	18	6	+12	12	Advance to knockout phase		—	3–0	5–1	6–0
2	Krasnodar	6	4	0	2	8	8	0	12			2–1	—	2–1	2–1
3	Standard Liège	6	3	1	2	7	9	−2	10			1–0	2–1	—	2–1
4	Akhisarspor	6	0	1	5	4	14	−10	1			2–3	0–1	0–0	—

Source: UEFA
Notes:

Group K

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		DKV	REN	AST	JAB
1	Dynamo Kyiv	6	3	2	1	10	7	+3	11	Advance to knockout phase		—	3–1	2–2	0–1
2	Rennes	6	3	0	3	7	8	−1	9			1–2	—	2–0	2–1
3	Astana	6	2	2	2	7	7	0	8			0–1	2–0	—	2–1
4	Jablonec	6	1	2	3	6	8	−2	5			2–2	0–1	1–1	—

Source: UEFA

Group L

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		CHL	BATE	VID	PAOK
1	Chelsea	6	5	1	0	12	3	+9	16	Advance to knockout phase		—	3–1	1–0	4–0
2	BATE Borisov	6	3	0	3	9	9	0	9			0–1	—	2–0	1–4
3	MOL Vidi	6	2	1	3	5	7	−2	7			2–2	0–2	—	1–0
4	PAOK	6	1	0	5	5	12	−7	3			0–1	1–3	0–2	—

Source: UEFA

Knockout phase

Main article: 2018–19 UEFA Europa League 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. {{#lst:2018–19 UEFA Europa League knockout phase|Format}}

Bracket

{{#lst:2018–19 UEFA Europa League knockout phase|Bracket}}

Round of 32

The draw for the round of 32 was held on 17 December 2018. The first legs were played on 12 and 14 February, and the second legs were played on 20 and 21 February 2019. {{#lst:2018–19 UEFA Europa League knockout phase|R32}}

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 22 February 2019. The first legs were played on 7 March, and the second legs were played on 14 March 2019. {{#lst:2018–19 UEFA Europa League knockout phase|R16}}

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 15 March 2019. The first legs were played on 11 April, the second legs were played on 18 April 2019. {{#lst:2018–19 UEFA Europa League knockout phase|QF}}

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals was held on 15 March 2019 (after the quarter-final draw). The first legs were played on 2 May, and the second legs were played on 9 May 2019. {{#lst:2018–19 UEFA Europa League knockout phase|SF}}

Final

{{#lst:2018–19 UEFA Europa League knockout phase|F}}

Statistics

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals	Minutes played
1	Olivier Giroud	Chelsea	11	1124
2	Luka Jović	Eintracht Frankfurt	10	953
3	Wissam Ben Yedder	Sevilla	8	621
	Mu'nas Dabbur	Red Bull Salzburg		856
	Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang	Arsenal		934
6	Fredrik Gulbrandsen	Red Bull Salzburg	5	429
	Giovani Lo Celso	Real Betis		563
	Alexandre Lacazette	Arsenal		651
	Sébastien Haller	Eintracht Frankfurt		770
	Pedro	Chelsea		944

Top assists

Rank	Player	Team	Assists	Minutes played
1	Ihar Stasevich	BATE Borisov	7	704
	Willian	Chelsea		899
3	Mijat Gaćinović	Eintracht Frankfurt	6	1126
4	Andreas Ulmer	Red Bull Salzburg	5	900
	Olivier Giroud	Chelsea		1124
6	Viktor Tsyhankov	Dynamo Kyiv	4	804
	Pedro	Chelsea		944
8	24 players		3	—

Squad of the Season

The UEFA technical study group selected the following 18 players as the squad of the tournament.

Pos.	Player	Team
GK	Kevin Trapp	Eintracht Frankfurt
	Kepa Arrizabalaga	Chelsea
DF	Álex Grimaldo	Benfica
	Sead Kolašinac	Arsenal
	Laurent Koscielny	Arsenal
	David Luiz	Chelsea
	César Azpilicueta	Chelsea
	Danny da Costa	Eintracht Frankfurt
MF	Makoto Hasebe	Eintracht Frankfurt
	Filip Kostić	Eintracht Frankfurt
	Jorginho	Chelsea
	N'Golo Kanté	Chelsea
FW	Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang	Arsenal
	Olivier Giroud	Chelsea
	Luka Jović	Eintracht Frankfurt
	João Félix	Benfica
	Pedro	Chelsea
	Eden Hazard	Chelsea

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 8 August 2019. The award winner was announced during the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League group stage draw in Monaco on 30 August 2019.

Rank	Player	Team	Points
Shortlist of top three
1	Eden Hazard	Chelsea	340
2	Olivier Giroud	Chelsea	119
3	Luka Jović	Eintracht Frankfurt	94
Players ranked 4–10
4	Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang	Arsenal	65
5	Alexandre Lacazette	Arsenal	19
6	N'Golo Kanté	Chelsea	16
7	João Félix	Benfica	12
8	Willian	Chelsea	11
9	Sébastien Haller	Eintracht Frankfurt	9
	Pedro	Chelsea

See also

• 2018–19 UEFA Champions League
• 2019 UEFA Super Cup

External links

• Official website