2015–16 UEFA Europa League
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 The St. Jakob-Park in Basel hosted the final. | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 30 June – 27 August 2015 Competition proper: 17 September 2015 – 18 May 2016 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 48+8 Total: 158+33 (from 54 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Sevilla (5th title) |
| Runners-up |  Liverpool |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 205 |
| Goals scored | 536 (2.61 per match) |
| Attendance | 4,487,160 (21,889 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Aritz Aduriz (Athletic Bilbao) 10 goals |
The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League was the 45th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the seventh season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The 2016 UEFA Europa League Final was played between Liverpool and Sevilla at the St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland,[1] and won by Sevilla, their fifth title (extending their own record) and third win in a row (also a tournament record).[2]
Sevilla initially started the 2015–16 European club season in the Champions League as the Europa League title holders, but qualified for the Europa League by finishing third in the Champions League group stage, and successfully defended their title. As the winners of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, they qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League,[3] and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid, in the 2016 UEFA Super Cup.[4]
Format changes[edit]
The UEFA Executive Committee held in May and September 2013 approved the following changes to the UEFA Europa League starting from the 2015–16 season (for the three-year cycle until the 2017–18 season):[5]
- The title holders of the UEFA Europa League will qualify for the UEFA Champions League, and therefore no Europa League berth will be reserved for them (although it is still possible for them to defend their title if they drop down to the Europa League after Champions League elimination).
- All associations will have a maximum of three teams entering the Europa League (excluding those transferred from the Champions League); previously associations 7–9 each had four entrants (the only exception is when both the Champions League title holders and the Europa League title holders are from the same top three ranked association and do not qualify for either the Champions League or Europa League through domestic competitions, and the fourth-placed team of their association enter the Europa League instead of the Champions League because a maximum of five teams from one association can enter the Champions League, meaning in this case, four teams from their association enter the Europa League).
- The number of teams directly qualifying for the group stage will be increased to 16 teams (from the top 12 associations); previously six teams (from the top six associations) directly qualified for the group stage.
- Should the domestic cup winners qualify for the Champions League, the cup runners-up will no longer be granted a spot in the Europa League, and the spot will be given to the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions.[6]
Association team allocation[edit]
A total of 191 teams from all 54 UEFA member associations participated in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League. The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[7]
- Associations 1–51 (except Liechtenstein) each have three teams qualify.
- As the winners of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, Sevilla qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League; the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League berth they would otherwise have earned for finishing 5th in the 2014–15 La Liga was vacated and not passed to another Spanish team.
- 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).[6]
- The top three associations of the 2014–15 UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking each gain an additional berth (the 2015–16 season will be the last where Fair Play berths are allocated to the Europa League).[8]
- Moreover, 33 teams eliminated from the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League are transferred to the Europa League.
Association ranking[edit]
For the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2014 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2009–10 to 2013–14.[9][10]
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Europa League, as noted below:
- (FP) – Additional berth via Fair Play ranking (Netherlands, England, Republic of Ireland)[11]
- (CL) – Additional teams transferred from Champions League
- (EL) – Vacated berth due to Europa League title holders playing in Champions League
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Distribution[edit]
In the default access list, Sevilla enter the group stage (as the fifth-placed team of the 2014–15 La Liga).[12][13] However, since they qualified for the Champions League as the Europa League title holders, the spot which they qualified for in the Europa League group stage is vacated, and the following changes to the default allocation system are made:[14][15]
- The domestic cup winners of association 13 (Switzerland) are promoted from the third qualifying round to the group stage.
- The domestic cup winners of association 18 (Cyprus) are promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round.
- The domestic cup winners of associations 24 (Sweden) and 25 (Bulgaria) are promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.
| Teams entering in this round | Teams advancing from previous round | Teams transferred from Champions League | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First qualifying round (102 teams) |
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| Second qualifying round (66 teams) |
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| Third qualifying round (58 teams) |
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| Play-off round (44 teams) |
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| Group stage (48 teams) |
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| Knockout phase (32 teams) |
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Redistribution rules[edit]
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):[7]
- 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" (the 2015–16 season will be the first with this particular arrangement where the domestic cup runners-up are no longer guaranteed a place in the Europa League in this scenario).
- 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.
- 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[edit]
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:[16][17]
- TH: Title holders
- CW: Cup winners
- 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position
- LC: League Cup winners
- PW: End-of-season Europa League play-off winners
- FP: Fair Play
- CL: Transferred from Champions League
- GS: Third-placed teams from group stage
- PO: Losers from play-off round
- Q3: Losers from third qualifying round
Notably two teams took part in the competition that were not playing in their national top-division. They were Go Ahead Eagles (2nd tier) and UCD (2nd tier).
- Notes
- ^ Bulgaria (BUL): Lokomotiv Sofia, the third-placed team of the 2014–15 A Group, would have qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round, but failed to obtain a UEFA licence. As a result, the berth was given to Litex Lovech, the fourth-placed team of the league.[22][23] An appeal was denied on 1 June 2015.[24]
- ^ Italy (ITA): Genoa, the sixth-placed team of the 2014–15 Serie A, would have qualified for the Europa League third qualifying round, but failed to obtain a UEFA licence. As a result, the berth was given to Sampdoria, the seventh-placed team of the league. Genoa withdrew their appeal on 3 June 2015.[25]
- ^ Latvia (LVA): Liepāja, the fourth-placed team of the 2014 Latvian Higher League, would have qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round, but failed to obtain a UEFA licence as they were affiliated with the Latvian Football Federation for less than three years after reforming from the dissolved Liepājas Metalurgs. As a result, the berth was given to Spartaks Jūrmala, the sixth-placed team of the league, as Daugava Daugavpils, the fifth-placed team, also failed to obtain a UEFA licence.[26]
- ^ Moldova (MDA): Tiraspol, the fourth-placed team of the 2014–15 Moldovan National Division, would have qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round, but were dissolved at the end of the 2014–15 season.[27] As a result, the berth was given to Saxan, the fifth-placed team of the league.[28]
- ^ Romania (ROU): CFR Cluj, the third-placed team of the 2014–15 Liga I, would have qualified for the Europa League second qualifying round, but were banned by UEFA after failing to settle overdue payables.[29] As a result, Astra Giurgiu, the fourth-placed team of the league, entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round, while the first qualifying round berth was given to Botoșani, the eighth-placed team of the league, as Petrolul Ploiești, Universitatea Craiova and Dinamo București, the fifth-, sixth- and seventh-placed teams of the league respectively, all failed to obtain UEFA licences.[30][31]
- ^ Russia (RUS): Dynamo Moscow, the fourth-placed team of the 2014–15 Russian Premier League, would have qualified for the Europa League third qualifying round, but they were referred to the UEFA's Club Financial Control Body adjudicatory chamber on 24 April 2015 for violating the Financial Fair Play break-even requirements after the club was not able to reach the settlement with UEFA.[32] The meeting regarding the sanctions for the violation was held on 16 June 2015,[33] and on 19 June 2015, it was announced that Dynamo Moscow were excluded from the UEFA Europa League for the 2015–16 season.[34] As a result, the berth was given to Rubin Kazan, the fifth-placed team of the league.
Round and draw dates[edit]
The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).[12][35][36]
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | First qualifying round | 22 June 2015 | 2 July 2015 | 9 July 2015 |
| Second qualifying round | 16 July 2015 | 23 July 2015 | ||
| Third qualifying round | 17 July 2015 | 30 July 2015 | 6 August 2015 | |
| Play-off | Play-off round | 7 August 2015 | 20 August 2015 | 27 August 2015 |
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 28 August 2015 (Monaco) | 17 September 2015 | |
| Matchday 2 | 1 October 2015 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 22 October 2015 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 5 November 2015 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 26 November 2015 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 10 December 2015 | |||
| Knockout phase | Round of 32 | 14 December 2015 | 18 February 2016 | 25 February 2016 |
| Round of 16 | 26 February 2016 | 10 March 2016 | 17 March 2016 | |
| Quarter-finals | 18 March 2016 | 7 April 2016 | 14 April 2016 | |
| Semi-finals | 15 April 2016 | 28 April 2016 | 5 May 2016 | |
| Final | 18 May 2016 at St. Jakob-Park, Basel | |||
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[edit]
In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2015 UEFA club coefficients,[37][38][39] and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
First qualifying round[edit]
The draw for the first and second qualifying round was held on 22 June 2015.[40][41][42] With 102 teams involved, it was UEFA's biggest ever tournament draw. The first legs were played on 30 June and 2 July, and the second legs were played on 7 and 9 July 2015.
- Notes
Second qualifying round[edit]
The first legs were played on 16 July, and the second legs were played on 21 and 23 July 2015.
Third qualifying round[edit]
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 17 July 2015.[43][44] The first legs were played on 29 and 30 July, and the second legs were played on 6 August 2015.
- Notes
- ^ Order of legs reversed after original draw.
Play-off round[edit]
The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 August 2015.[47][48] The first legs were played on 20 August, and the second legs were played on 27 August 2015.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rheindorf Altach  | 0–1 |  Belenenses | 0–1 | 0–0 |
Žilina  | 3–3 (a) | Athletic Bilbao | 3–2 | 0–1 |
Steaua București  | 1–3 |  Rosenborg | 0–3 | 1–0 |
Zorya Luhansk  | 2–4 |  Legia Warsaw | 0–1 | 2–3 |
Viktoria Plzeň  | 5–0 |  Vojvodina | 3–0 | 2–0 |
Milsami Orhei  | 1–2 |  Saint-Étienne | 1–1 | 0–1 |
Ajax  | 1–0[D] | Jablonec | 1–0 | 0–0 |
Young Boys  | 0–4 |  Qarabağ | 0–1 | 0–3 |
| Molde | 3–3 (a) |  Standard Liège | 2–0 | 1–3 |
PAOK  | 6–1 |  Brøndby | 5–0 | 1–1 |
| Bordeaux | 2–2 (a) |  Kairat | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Lech Poznań | 4–0 |  Videoton | 3–0 | 1–0 |
Dinamo Minsk  | 2–2 (3–2 p) | Red Bull Salzburg | 2–0 | 0–2 (a.e.t.) |
Rabotnički  | 1–2 |  Rubin Kazan | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Slovan Liberec | 2–0 |  Hajduk Split | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Atromitos | 0–4 |  Fenerbahçe | 0–1 | 0–3 |
| Gabala | 2–2 (a)[D] | Panathinaikos | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| Southampton | 1–2 | Midtjylland | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Astra Giurgiu | 3–4 | AZ | 3–2 | 0–2 |
| Odd | 5–11 |  Borussia Dortmund | 3–4 | 2–7 |
| Krasnodar | 5–1 |  HJK | 5–1 | 0–0 |
| Sparta Prague | 6–4[D] | Thun | 3–1 | 3–3 |
- Notes
Group stage[edit]
Red: Group A; 
Yellow: Group B; 
Green: Group C; 
Dark Green: Group D;
Purple: Group E; 
Pink: Group F; 
Blue: Group G; 
Orange: Group H;
Brown: Group I; 
Deep pink: Group J; 
Cyan: Group K; 
Spring green: Group L.The draw for the group stage was held in Monaco on 28 August 2015.[49][50] 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 2015 UEFA club coefficients.[37][38][39]
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 2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage. The matchdays were 17 September, 1 October, 22 October, 5 November, 2