2013–14 UEFA Europa League group stage

The group stage of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League is played from 19 September to 12 December 2013.

Draw

Forty-eight teams play in the group stage: 7 teams which enter in this stage, 29 winners of the play-off round, 9 losers of the Champions League play-off round, and 3 teams which qualified due to disqualification of other teams:

• Maccabi Tel Aviv: On 14 August 2013, Metalist Kharkiv were disqualified from the 2013–14 UEFA club competitions due to previous match-fixing. UEFA decided to replace Metalist Kharkiv in the Champions League play-off round with PAOK, who were eliminated by Metalist Kharkiv in the third qualifying round. Thus, Maccabi Tel Aviv, the opponent of PAOK in the Europa League play-off round, qualified directly for the Europa League group stage. Metalist Kharkiv made two urgent requests to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for temporary reinstatement until a final decision is reached, but both requests were rejected. On 28 August 2013, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld UEFA's ban.
• Tromsø: On 25 June 2013, Beşiktaş were banned by UEFA from the 2013–14 UEFA club competitions due to previous match fixing. They appealed the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and on 18 July 2013 it was ruled that the ban should be temporarily lifted and they should be included in the qualifying round draws of the Champions League, until the final decision to be made before the end of August 2013. Beşiktaş competed in the Europa League play-off round and won. On 30 August 2013, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld UEFA's ban, meaning Beşiktaş were banned from the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League. UEFA decided to replace Beşiktaş in the Europa League group stage with Tromsø, who were eliminated by Beşiktaş in the play-off round.
• APOEL: On 25 June 2013, Fenerbahçe were banned by UEFA from the 2013–14 UEFA club competitions due to previous match fixing. They appealed the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and on 18 July 2013 it was ruled that the ban should be temporarily lifted and they should be included in the qualifying round draws of the Champions League, until the final decision to be made before the end of August 2013. Fenerbahçe competed in the Champions League qualifying rounds and lost in the play-off round. On 28 August 2013, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld UEFA's ban, meaning Fenerbahce were banned from the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League. A draw was held on 30 August 2013, 09:00, in Monaco, to select a team to replace Fenerbahçe in the Europa League group stage among the teams eliminated in the play-off round, and was won by APOEL.

The draw will be held on 30 August 2013, 12:45 CEST (UTC+2), at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco.

The 48 teams are allocated into four pots based on their 2013 UEFA club coefficients. The 48 teams are drawn into twelve groups of four containing one team from each of the four seeding pots, with the restriction that teams from the same national association cannot be drawn against each other. Moreover, the draw is controlled for teams from the same association in order to split the teams evenly into the two sets of groups (A–F, G–L) for maximum television coverage.

The fixtures are decided after the draw. On each matchday, six groups play their matches at 19:00 CET/CEST, while the other six groups play their matches at 21:05 CET/CEST, with the two sets of groups (A–F, G–L) alternating between each matchday. There are other restrictions, e.g., teams from the same city in general do not play at home on the same matchday (UEFA tries to avoid teams from the same city playing at home on the same day), and Russian teams do not play at home on the last matchday due to cold weather.

Format

In each group, teams play 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 from the Champions League group stage.

Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:

1. higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
2. superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
3. higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question;
4. higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
5. If, after applying criteria 1) to 4) to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1) to 4) are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6) to 8) apply;
6. superior goal difference from all group matches played;
7. higher number of goals scored from all group matches played;
8. higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons.

Groups

The matchdays are 19 September, 3 October, 24 October, 7 November, 28 November, and 12 December 2013.

Key to colours in group tables
Group winners and runners-up advance to the round of 32

Times up to 26 October 2013 (matchdays 1–3) are CEST (UTC+2), thereafter (matchdays 4–6) times are CET (UTC+1).

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Group E

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Group F

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Group G

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Group H

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Group I

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Group J

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Group K

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Group L

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External links

• UEFA Europa League (official website)