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The 2019–20 UEFA Europa League was the 49th season of Europe's secondary club
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tournament organised by
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
.
Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...
defeated
Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...
in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
, played at the
RheinEnergieStadion RheinEnergieStadion, formerly Müngersdorfer Stadion () or Müngersdorfer Stadium, is a German football stadium in Cologne. It was built on the site of the two previous Müngersdorfer stadiums. It is the home of the local 2. Bundesliga team, ...
in
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, Germany, 3–2 for a record-extending sixth title in the competition. As winners, Sevilla earned the right to play against
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
, the winners of the
2019–20 UEFA Champions League The 2019–20 UEFA Champions League was the 65th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 28th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Bayern Munich ...
, in the
2020 UEFA Super Cup The 2020 UEFA Super Cup was the 45th edition of the UEFA Super Cup, an annual football match organised by UEFA and contested by the reigning champions of the two main European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League ...
. Since they had already qualified for the
2020–21 UEFA Champions League The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League was the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea defea ...
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 The 2019–20 Ligue 1 season, also known as Ligue 1 Conforama for sponsorship reasons, was a French association football tournament within Ligue 1. It was the 82nd season since its establishment. The season began on 9 August 2019 and ended abrupt ...
(
Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...
), the 5th-ranked association according to next season's access list. Due to the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV‑2), have been broad, affecting general society, the global economy, culture ...
, 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 MSV-Arena, currently known for sponsorship purposes as the Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena, is a football stadium in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, built in 2004. The stadium is the home of football club MSV Duisburg and American football ...
,
Merkur Spiel-Arena Merkur Spiel-Arena (stylized in all caps), previously known as the Esprit Arena (until 2 August 2018), the LTU Arena (until June 2009), and also called the Düsseldorf Arena (during the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest and the UEFA Euro 2024), is a ...
and
Arena AufSchalke Arena AufSchalke (), currently known as Veltins-Arena () for sponsorship reasons, is a retractable roof and pitch, association football, football stadium in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It opened on 13 August 2001, as the ne ...
)
behind closed doors Behind Closed Doors may refer to: Film, television and radio Film * ''Behind Closed Doors'' (1929 film), an early talkie starring Virginia Valli * Behind Closed Doors (1961 film), ''Behind Closed Doors'' (1961 film), an Italian comedy film by Dino ...
from 10 to 21 August. The
video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a Assistant referee (association football), match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi ...
(VAR) system was used in the competition from the knockout stage onwards. As the title holders of the Europa League, Chelsea qualified for the
2019–20 UEFA Champions League The 2019–20 UEFA Champions League was the 65th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 28th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Bayern Munich ...
, 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 Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
in the
round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
.


Association team allocation

A total of 213 teams from all 55
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
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: *Associations 1–51 (except Liechtenstein) each had three teams qualify. *Associations 52–54 each had two teams qualify. *
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...
and
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
(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 2019–20 UEFA Champions League were transferred to the Europa League (default number was 57, but 2 fewer teams competed in the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League).


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. Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below: * – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League


Distribution

The following is the access list for this season. 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. *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, since the Champions League title holders (
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
) qualified for the Champions League group stage via their domestic league, only 16 losers from the Champions League first qualifying round were transferred to the Europa League second qualifying round (Champions Path). As a result, 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 the default access list, originally three losers from the Champions League second qualifying round (League Path) were transferred to the Europa League third qualifying round (Main Path). However, since the Europa League title holders ( Chelsea) qualified for the Champions League group stage via their domestic league, only two losers from the Champions League second qualifying round (League Path) were transferred to the Europa League third qualifying round (Main Path). As a result, the following changes to the access list were made: **The cup winners of association 18 (Israel) entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round. **The cup winners of association 25 (Serbia) 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.


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 (F: final; SF: semi-finals)
One team not playing a national top division took part in the competition;
Vaduz Vaduz (; or ; High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' ...
(representing Liechtenstein) played in
2019–20 Swiss Challenge League The 2019–20 Swiss Challenge League (referred to as the Brack.ch Challenge League for sponsoring reasons) was the 17th season of the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of competitive football in Switzerland, under its current name. The seaso ...
, which is Switzerland's 2nd tier. ;Notes


Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in
Nyon Nyon (; historically German language, German: or and Italian language, Italian: , ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Nyon District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometer ...
, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise). 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 The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and al ...
. A working group was set up by UEFA to decide the calendar of the remainder of the season. 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. 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 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
across European countries during the time of the
Round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
first leg ties, different matches were affected in different ways. Because of this severity of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Italy The COVID-19 pandemic in Italy was part of the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Italy on 31 January 2 ...
at the time, the games involving
Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...
and
A.S. Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...
were postponed, whereas games hosted in Greece, Germany, and Austria went ahead but
behind closed doors Behind Closed Doors may refer to: Film, television and radio Film * ''Behind Closed Doors'' (1929 film), an early talkie starring Virginia Valli * Behind Closed Doors (1961 film), ''Behind Closed Doors'' (1961 film), an Italian comedy film by Dino ...
. 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, with a taskforce convened to reschedule the rest of the season. On 23 March, it was announced that the
Gdańsk Stadium The Gdańsk Stadium (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Polsat Plus Arena Gdańsk since May 2021, is a association football, football stadium in Gdańsk, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is used mostly for football matches and is the hom ...
in
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
, Poland would no longer host the 2020 final, originally scheduled for 27 May, but would host the 2021 final instead. On 17 June it was announced that the Europa League would return on 5 August and conclude on 21 August, with a last-eight tournament to be held across four venues in Germany. 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. All remaining ties of the competition were played behind closed doors due to the remaining presence of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Europe The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and al ...
.


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, 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, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.


First qualifying round


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).


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).


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).


Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 30 August 2019, 13:00 CEST, at the
Grimaldi Forum The Grimaldi Forum Monaco, inaugurated in 2000 and named after the historical reigning family of Monaco, the House of Grimaldi, is an international event venue located in the Larvotto ward of Monaco. It hosts approximately 120 events and sees ...
in Monaco. 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. 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 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage began on 17 September 2019 and ended on 11 December 2019. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout phase of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League. Draw Th ...
. 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 Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...
,
Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...
,
LASK Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as LASK (), or Linzer ASK, is an Austrian professional football club based in Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and plays in the Austrian Football Bundes ...
,
Oleksandriya Oleksandriia (, ) is a city in Kirovohrad Oblast, central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Oleksandriia Raion and . Oleksandriia is located within the Kryvyi Rih metropolitan area. In 2001, it had a population of 93,357, and ...
,
Wolfsberger AC Wolfsberger AC, commonly referred to as Wolfsberg or simply WAC, is an Austrian association football club from Wolfsberg, Carinthia, who currently play in the Austrian Bundesliga. Between the 2007–08 and 2011–12 seasons, Wolfsberger AC enter ...
and
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...
made their debut appearances in the group stage (although Espanyol and Ferencváros had appeared in the UEFA Cup group stage).


Group A


Group B


Group C


Group D


Group E


Group F


Group G


Group H


Group I


Group J


Group K


Group L


Knockout phase

In the
knockout phase A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final.


Bracket


Round of 32


Round of 16


Quarter-finals


Semi-finals


Final


Statistics

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.


Top goalscorers


Top assists


Squad of the season

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


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 The European Sports Media (ESM), formerly European Sports Magazines, is an association of football-related publications in Europe. Members European Sports Media was established in 1989 as an international body for football journalism. Its nine f ...
(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. The award winner was announced during the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage draw in Switzerland on 2 October 2020.


See also

*
2019–20 UEFA Champions League The 2019–20 UEFA Champions League was the 65th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 28th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Bayern Munich ...
*
2020 UEFA Super Cup The 2020 UEFA Super Cup was the 45th edition of the UEFA Super Cup, an annual football match organised by UEFA and contested by the reigning champions of the two main European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League ...


Notes


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uefa Europa League 2019-20 2 2 Association football events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...