2019–20 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round


The 2019–20 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round began on 27 June and ended on 29 August 2019.
A total of 178 teams compete in the qualifying system of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, which includes the qualifying phase and the play-off round, with 35 teams in Champions Path and 143 teams in Main Path. The 21 winners in the play-off round advance to the group stage, to join the 17 teams that enter in the group stage, the 6 losers of the Champions League play-off round, and the 4 League Path losers of the Champions League third qualifying round.

Teams

Champions Path

The Champions Path includes all league champions which are eliminated from the Champions Path qualifying phase of the Champions League, and consists of the following rounds:
Below are the participating teams of the Champions Path, grouped by their starting rounds.
Key to colours
Winners of play-off round advance to group stage

;Notes

Main Path

The Main Path includes all cup winners and league non-champions which do not qualify directly for the group stage, and consists of the following rounds:
Below are the participating teams of the Main Path, grouped by their starting rounds.
Key to colours
Winners of play-off round advance to group stage


;Notes

Format

Each tie is played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs advance to the next round. If the aggregate score is level, the away goals rule is applied, i.e. the team that scores more goals away from home over the two legs advances. If away goals are also equal, then extra time is played. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, i.e. if there are goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score is still level, the visiting team advances by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by penalty shoot-out.
For the Champions Path, in the draws for each round, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded pots, which may contain different numbers of teams, based on the following principles:
  • In the second qualifying round draw, 15 of the 16 losers of the Champions League first qualifying round are seeded, and the three losers of the Champions League preliminary round are unseeded.
  • In the third qualifying round draw, the ten losers of the Champions League second qualifying round are seeded, and the loser of the first qualifying round which receives a bye and the nine winners of the second qualifying round are unseeded.
  • In the play-off round draw, the six losers of the Champions League third qualifying round are seeded, and the ten winners of the third qualifying round are unseeded.
In the beginning of the draws, a seeded team is drawn against an unseeded team, with the order of legs in each tie decided by draw, until one of the pots is empty. Afterwards, the remaining teams from the non-empty pot are drawn against each other, with the order of legs in each tie decided by draw.
For the Main Path, in the draws for each round, teams are seeded based on their UEFA club coefficients at the beginning of the season, with the teams divided into seeded and unseeded pots containing the same number of teams. A seeded team is drawn against an unseeded team, with the order of legs in each tie decided by draw. As the identity of the winners of the previous round is not known at the time of the draws, the seeding is carried out under the assumption that the team with the higher coefficient of an undecided tie advances to this round, which means if the team with the lower coefficient is to advance, it simply take the seeding of its opponent.
Prior to the draws, UEFA may form "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, but they are purely for convenience of the draw and do not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition. Teams from the same association or from associations with political conflicts as decided by UEFA may not be drawn into the same tie. After the draws, the order of legs of a tie may be reversed by UEFA due to scheduling or venue conflicts.

Schedule

The schedule was as follows.
RoundDraw dateFirst legSecond leg
Preliminary round11 June 201927 June 20194 July 2019
First qualifying round18 June 201911 July 201918 July 2019
Second qualifying round19 June 201925 July 20191 August 2019
Third qualifying round22 July 20198 August 201915 August 2019
Play-off round5 August 201922 August 201929 August 2019

Matches may also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts.

Preliminary round


The draw for the preliminary round was held on 11 June 2019.

Seeding

A total of 14 teams were involved in the preliminary round draw. Seven teams were seeded and seven teams were unseeded. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same tie, and if such a pairing was drawn or was set to be drawn in the final tie, the second team drawn in the current tie was moved to the next tie.
SeededUnseeded

Summary


The first legs were played on 27 June, and the second legs on 2 and 4 July 2019.

Matches

First qualifying round


The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 18 June 2019.

Seeding

A total of 94 teams were involved in the first qualifying round draw: 87 teams entering in this round, and the seven winners of the preliminary round. They were divided into nine groups: seven groups of ten teams, where five teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded; and two groups of twelve teams, where six teams were seeded and six teams were unseeded. Numbers were pre-assigned for each team by UEFA, with the draw held in two runs, one for Groups 1–7 with ten teams and one for Groups 8–9 with twelve teams.
;Notes

Summary


The first legs were played on 9, 10 and 11 July, and the second legs on 16, 17 and 18 July 2019.

Matches

Second qualifying round


The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 19 June 2019.

Seeding

A total of 18 teams were involved in the second qualifying round Champions Path draw.
  • Seeded: 15 of the 16 losers of the Champions League first qualifying round
  • Unseeded: the three losers of the Champions League preliminary round
They were divided into three groups of six teams, where five teams were seeded and one team were unseeded.
A total of 74 teams were involved in the second qualifying round Main Path draw: 27 teams entering in this round, and the 47 winners of the first qualifying round. They were divided into seven groups: five groups of ten teams, where five teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded; and two groups of twelve teams, where six teams were seeded and six teams were unseeded. Numbers were pre-assigned for each team by UEFA, with the draw held in two runs, one for Groups 1–5 with ten teams and one for Groups 6–7 with twelve teams.
;Notes

Summary


The first legs were played on 23, 24 and 25 July, and the second legs on 30, 31 July and 1 August 2019.

Champions Path

Main Path

Third qualifying round


The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 22 July 2019.

Seeding

A total of 20 teams were involved in the third qualifying round Champions Path draw.
  • Seeded: the 10 losers of the Champions League second qualifying round Champions Path
  • Unseeded: the loser of the Champions League first qualifying round which received a bye, and the 9 winners of the Europa League second qualifying round Champions Path
They were divided into two groups of ten teams, where five teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded.
;Notes
A total of 52 teams were involved in the third qualifying round Main Path draw: 13 teams entering in this round, the 37 winners of the second qualifying round Main Path, and the two Champions League losers of the second qualifying round League Path. They were divided into five groups: four groups of ten teams, where five teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded; and one group of twelve teams, where six teams were seeded and six teams were unseeded. Numbers were pre-assigned for each team by UEFA, with the draw held in two runs, one for Groups 1–4 with ten teams and one for Group 5 with twelve teams.
;Notes

Summary


The first legs were played on 6, 7 and 8 August, and the second legs on 13, 14 and 15 August 2019.

Champions Path

Main Path

Play-off round


The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 August 2019.

Seeding

A total of 16 teams were involved in the play-off round Champions Path draw.
  • Seeded: the six losers of the Champions League third qualifying round Champions Path
  • Unseeded: the 10 winners of the Europa League third qualifying round Champions Path
They were divided into two groups of eight teams, where three teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded.
A total of 26 teams, all winners of the third qualifying round Main Path, were involved in the play-off round Main Path draw. They were divided into three groups: two groups of eight teams, where four teams were seeded and four teams were unseeded; and one group of ten teams, where five teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded. Numbers were pre-assigned for each team by UEFA, with the draw held in two runs, one for Groups 1–2 with eight teams and one for Group 3 with ten teams.
;Notes

Summary


The first legs were played on 22 August, and the second legs will be played on 29 August 2019.

Champions Path

Main Path

Top goalscorers

There have been 872 goals scored in 314 matches in the qualifying phase and play-off round, for an average of goals per match.
Up to matches played on 29 August 2019
RankPlayerTeamGoals
1 Alfredo Morelos Rangers8
2 Marin Tomasov Astana7
3 Facundo Ferreyra Espanyol6
3 Raúl Jiménez Wolverhampton Wanderers6
3 Sam Cosgrove Aberdeen6
3 Andrea Belotti Torino6
7 Mihret Topčagić Sūduva5
7 Markus Rosenberg Malmö FF5
7 Ivan Trichkovski AEK Larnaca5
7 Danel Sinani F91 Dudelange5
7 Emilio Zelaya Apollon Limassol5

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