The 2009–10 UEFA Europa League is the first season of the UEFA Europa League, the competition previously known as UEFA Cup, which had been in existence for 39 years.[1]
A total of 192 teams from 53 UEFA associations are expected to participate in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League. Countries are allocated places according to their UEFA league co-efficient.
The previous season's winners, Shakhtar Donetsk, would have been guaranteed a place in the group stage even if they did not obtain a qualifying place through their domestic league. However, as Shakhtar qualified for the UEFA Champions League, the original allocation places will be altered to compensate for the vacant title holder spot in the group stage. As this is the first edition of the Europa League, it was initially unknown whether UEFA would simply disregard the vacant Title Holder spot and rearrange entries so that one more team qualifies from the Play-off Round, or replace the Title Holders group stage place with that of the top ranked association's cup winner and move teams from lower rounds appropriately, as the regulations are unclear on this matter.[3] The former setup was confirmed by the UEFA official list of participants, published on 16 June 2009.[4]
Below is the qualification scheme as the Title Holder spot is not replaced (not counting teams relegated from the Champions League):
Associations 1-6 each enter three teams
Associations 7-9 each enter four teams
Associations 10-53 each enter three teams, except Liechtenstein, Andorra and San Marino, who enter one team each
The three Associations with the best Fair Play scores (Norway, Denmark, Scotland) each gain an additional berth[5]
Distribution
First qualifying round (46 teams)
14 domestic league runners-up from associations 37–51 (except Liechtenstein)
29 domestic league 3rd place teams from associations 22–51 (except Liechtenstein)
A Europa League place is vacated when the team also qualifies for the Champions 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 a domestic cup winner (considered as the "highest-placed" qualifier within the national association) also qualifies for the Champions League, its Europa League place is vacated, and the remaining Europa League qualifiers are moved up one place, with the final place (with the earliest entrance) taken by the domestic cup runners-up, provided they do not already qualify for the Champions League or the Europa League. Otherwise, this place is taken by the highest-placed league finisher which do not qualify for the Europa League yet.
When a cup winner also qualifies for the Europa League through league position, its place through the league position is vacated, and the Europa League qualifiers which finish lower in the league are moved up one place, with the final place taken by the highest-placed league finisher which do not qualify for the Europa League yet.
A place vacated by the League Cup winner is taken by the highest-placed league finisher which do not qualify for the Europa League yet.
A Fair Play place is taken by the team which finishes highest in the domestic Fair Play table which do not qualify for the Champions League or Europa League yet.
If the Europa League title holder also qualifies for the Champions League or the Europa League through domestic performance, its vacated place in the Europa League is not taken by any team.
Note 5: Daugava Daugavpils, the Latvian Football Cup winners, merged with Dinaburg. Skonto, which finished third in the league, took the vacated second qualifying round spot, while Dinaburg, which finished fourth, took the first qualifying round spot.
Note 6: Sloboda Tuzla, which finished third in the league, did not obtain a UEFA license, so Sarajevo, which finished fourth, were moved up to the second qualifying round. Borac Banja Luka, which finished fifth, also did not obtain a UEFA license, so Široki Brijeg, which finished sixth, took the vacated first qualifying round spot.
Note 7: The Armenian Premier League 2008 runner-up Ararat Yerevan did not obtain a UEFA license, so Gandzasar, which finished third, were moved up to the second qualifying round, while MIKA, which finished fourth, took the vacated first qualifying round spot.
Note 8: Almaty, the losing cup finalists, merged with Megasport to form Lokomotiv Astana. However, the new club did not obtain a UEFA license. Following the denied license and withdrawal of three higher-placed teams in the league, Okzhetpes replaced the spot of Lokomotiv Astana.
TH Title Holder: Shakhtar Donetsk, the title holders of the competition, initially entered the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League as the runner-up of their domestic league. After losing in the Champions League third qualifying round, they entered the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League at the play-off round.
The draw, conducted by UEFA President Michel Platini and David Taylor, UEFA General Secretary, for the first and second qualifying rounds was held on Monday, 22 June 2009 in Nyon, Switzerland. The first leg matches were held on 1 July and 2 July, while the second legs were played on 9 July 2009.
For the draw clubs were separated into seeded and unseeded teams based on their club coefficient, and because the draw for this round took place before the first qualifying round matches were played, the teams were seeded as if the higher-ranked side in the previous round will be victorious. The first leg matches were played on 16 July (two matches played on 14 July), while the second legs were played on 23 July 2009.
Note 10: Paços de Ferreira, Polonia Warsaw and Rabotnički were originally drawn to play the first leg at home, but their ties were reversed and they hosted the second leg instead.
Third qualifying round
The draw for the third qualifying rounds, which was conducted by UEFA Competitions Director Giorgio Marchetti and Michael Heselschwerdt, Head of Club Competitions, was held on Friday, 17 July 2009 in Nyon, Switzerland. For the draw clubs were separated into seeded and unseeded teams based on their club coefficient, and because the draw for this round took place before the second qualifying round matches were played, the teams were seeded assuming the higher-ranked side in the previous round was victorious. The first leg matches were played on 30 July (one match played on 28 July), while the second legs were played on 6 August 2009 (one match played on 4 August).
Note 11: Sarajevo, Gent, Galatasaray and APOP were originally drawn to play the first leg at home, but their ties were reversed and they hosted the second leg instead.
The draw ceremony for the play-off round, conducted by UEFA General Secretary David Taylor and UEFA Competitions Director Giorgio Marchetti, was held on 7 August 2009 in Nyon, Switzerland. For the draw clubs were separated into seeded and unseeded teams based on their club coefficient. The first leg matches will be played on 20 August, while the second legs will be played on 27 August 2009, except the Shakhtar Donetsk v Sivasspor match, which was moved to 25 August due to Shakhtar's participation in the 2009 UEFA Super Cup.
{{TwoLegResult|Lech Poznań|POL|1–1(3–4p)|Club Brugge|BEL|1–0|[[2009–10 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round#Club Brugge v Lech Poznań|0–1aet}}
Note 13: The match was abandoned at 0–2 in the 88th minute because Dinamo Bucureşti fans invaded the running track around the pitch. The UEFA Control and Displinary Body awarded a default 0–3 defeat against Dinamo during an emergency meeting on 25 August.[7]
Note 14: First leg played behind closed doors, second leg played at the RDS Arena as St. Patrick's Richmond Park does not meet UEFA criteria.
The group stage of the competition will consist of 12 groups of four teams.
The draw for the group stage of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League will take place at 12:00 on 28 August 2009.
During this stage of the tournament, matches will feature five on-field officials - with two additional officials monitoring play around the penalty area as part of a FIFA-sanctioned experiment.[8]
The group winners, along with the four better third-ranked teams from the Champions League, will be drawn against the group runners-up and the other four third-ranked teams.
MTZ-RIPO
Dinamo Tirana
Vėtra
Rosenborg
Irtysh
Birkirkara
MIKA
Keflavík
Nõmme Kalju
Polonia Warsaw
Rudar Velenje
Llanelli
Široki Brijeg
Inter Baku
Renova
Bnei Yehuda