2018–19 UEFA Europa League
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. Chelsea defeated Arsenal 4–1 and have 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 - the 5th-ranked association according to next season's access list.
For the first time, the video assistant referee 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.
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
A total of 213 teams from all 55 UEFA member associations participate in the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League. The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:- Associations 1–51 each have three teams qualify.
- Associations 52–54 each have two teams qualify.
- Liechtenstein and Kosovo each have one team qualify.
- Moreover, 55 teams eliminated from the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League are transferred to the Europa League.
Association ranking
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
- – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League
DistributionIn the default access list, originally 17 losers from the Champions League first qualifying round are transferred to the Europa League second qualifying round. 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.In addition, originally three losers from the Champions League second qualifying round are transferred to the Europa League third qualifying round. 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:
Notably one team that is not playing a national top division takes part in the competition; Vaduz played in 2017–18 Swiss Challenge League, which is Switzerland's 2nd tier. ;Notes Round and draw datesThe schedule of the competition is as follows.Matches in the qualifying and knockout rounds may 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 will be slightly changed to 18:55 CET and 21:00 CET. Kick-off times starting from the quarter-finals will be 21:00 CEST. Preliminary roundIn 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.Qualifying roundsIn the qualifying and play-off rounds, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2018 UEFA club coefficients, or based on which round they qualified from, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties.First qualifying roundThe 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.Second qualifying roundThe second qualifying round is split into two separate sections: Champions Path and Main Path. The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 19 June, and the draw for the second qualifying round 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.Third qualifying roundThe third qualifying round is split into two separate sections: Champions Path and Main Path. 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.Play-off roundThe play-off round is split into two separate sections: Champions Path and Main Path. 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.Group stageThe 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. F91 Dudelange were the first team from Luxembourg to play in either the Champions League or Europa League group stage.
Group AGroup BGroup CGroup DGroup EGroup FGroup GGroup HGroup IGroup JGroup KGroup LKnockout phaseIn the knockout phase, teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final.BracketRound of 32The 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.Round of 16The 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.Quarter-finalsThe 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.Semi-finalsThe draw for the semi-finals was held on 15 March 2019. The first legs were played on 2 May, and the second legs were played on 9 May 2019.FinalThe final was held on 29 May 2019 at the Olympic Stadium in Baku. The "home" team was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.StatisticsStatistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.Top goalscorersTop assistsSquad of the SeasonThe UEFA technical study group selected the following 18 players as the squad of the tournament.
Player of the SeasonVotes were cast by coaches of the 48 teams in the group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media 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. |
Club Brugge 
Napoli 
Benfica 
Viktoria Plzeň 
Galatasaray 
Shakhtar Donetsk 
Valencia 
Trakai 
Cefn Druids 
St Joseph's 
Tre Fiori 
Gżira United 
KÍ Klaksvík 
Engordany 
Prishtina 
Kevin Trapp
Chelsea
Sead Kolašinac
Laurent Koscielny
David Luiz
Makoto Hasebe
Filip Kostić
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang