2021–22 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round

The 2021–22 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round began on 3 August and ended on 26 August 2021.[1]

A total of 28 teams competed in the qualifying system of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League, which includes the qualifying phase, with 10 teams in Champions Path and six teams in Main Path, and the play-off round. The 10 winners in the play-off round advanced to the group stage, to join the 12 teams that enter in the group stage, the six losers of the Champions League play-off round (four from Champions Path and two from League Path), and the four League Path losers of the Champions League third qualifying round.[2]

Times were CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, were in parentheses).

Teams

In the third qualifying round, the teams are divided into two paths:

The winners of the third qualifying round are combined into a single path for the play-off round:

All teams eliminated from the qualifying phase and play-off round enter the Europa Conference League:

Below are the participating teams (with their 2021 UEFA club coefficients, not to be used as seeding for qualifying phase and play-off round, however),[3] grouped by their starting rounds.

Key to colours
Winners of play-off round advance to group stage
Losers of play-off round enter Europa Conference League group stage
Losers of third qualifying round enter Europa Conference League play-off round
Play-off round
Team Coeff.[3]
Czech Republic Slavia Prague[CH Q3] 43.500
Greece Olympiacos[CH Q3] 43.000
Serbia Red Star Belgrade[CH Q3] 32.500
Scotland Rangers[CH Q3] 31.250
Netherlands AZ 21.500
Turkey Fenerbahçe 19.500
Romania CFR Cluj[CH Q3] 16.500
Poland Legia Warsaw[CH Q3] 16.500
Ukraine Zorya Luhansk 15.000
Belgium Antwerp 10.500
Austria Sturm Graz 7.165
Denmark Randers 5.575
Third qualifying round (Champions Path)
Team Coeff.[3]
Slovakia Slovan Bratislava[CH Q2] 7.500
Lithuania Žalgiris[CH Q2] 6.500
Armenia Alashkert[CH Q2] 6.500
Estonia Flora[CH Q2] 6.250
Kazakhstan Kairat[CH Q2] 6.000
Gibraltar Lincoln Red Imps[CH Q2] 5.750
Cyprus Omonia[CH Q2] 5.550
Finland HJK[CH Q2] 5.500
Azerbaijan Neftçi Baku[CH Q2] 5.000
Slovenia Mura[CH Q2] 3.000
Third qualifying round (Main Path)
Team Coeff.[3]
Scotland Celtic[LP Q2] 34.000
Austria Rapid Wien[LP Q2] 17.000
Turkey Galatasaray[LP Q2] 17.000
Czech Republic Jablonec 7.000
Scotland St Johnstone 6.675
Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta 5.550
Notes
  1. CH Q3 Losers of Champions League third qualifying round (Champions Path).
  2. CH Q2 Losers of Champions League second qualifying round (Champions Path).
  3. LP Q2 Losers of Champions League second qualifying round (League Path).

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 at the end of normal time of the second leg, the away goals rule is no longer applied starting from this season.[4] To decide the winner of the tie, extra time is played, and if the same number of goals are scored by both teams during extra time, the tie is decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland).[1]

Schedule for the qualifying phase of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League
Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Third qualifying round 19 July 2021 5 August 2021 12 August 2021
Play-offs 2 August 2021 19 August 2021 26 August 2021

Third qualifying round

The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 19 July 2021, 13:00 CEST.[5]

Seeding

A total of 16 teams played in the third qualifying round. They were divided into two paths:

  • Champions Path (10 teams): 10 losers of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round (Champions Path), whose identity was not known at the time of draw. There was no seeding. Due to political reasons, teams from Azerbaijan and Armenia could not be drawn against each other, thus the losers of the ties between Neftçi Baku/Olympiacos and Alashkert/Sheriff Tiraspol could not be drawn against each other.
  • Main Path (6 teams): The teams were seeded as following:
    • Seeded: 3 teams which entered in this round.
    • Unseeded: 3 losers of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round (League Path), whose identity was not known at the time of draw. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other, thus the following teams could not be drawn against each other:
      • Scotland: St Johnstone and the loser of the tie between Celtic/Midtjylland
      • Czech Republic: Jablonec and the loser of the tie between Sparta Prague/Rapid Wien

The first team drawn in each tie would be the home team of the first leg.

Champions Path
Main Path
Seeded Unseeded

Summary

The first legs were played on 3 and 5 August, and the second legs were played on 10 and 12 August 2021.

The winners of the ties advanced to the play-off round. The losers were transferred to the Europa Conference League play-off round of their respective path.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Champions Path
Omonia Cyprus 2–2 (5–4 p) Estonia Flora 1–0 1–2 (a.e.t.)
Mura Slovenia 1–0 Lithuania Žalgiris 0–0 1–0
Kairat Kazakhstan 2–3 Armenia Alashkert 0–0 2–3 (a.e.t.)
Lincoln Red Imps Gibraltar 2–4 Slovakia Slovan Bratislava 1–3 1–1
Neftçi Baku Azerbaijan 2–5 Finland HJK 2–2 0–3
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Main Path
Jablonec Czech Republic 2–7 Scotland Celtic 2–4 0–3
Rapid Wien Austria 4–2 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta 3–0 1–2
Galatasaray Turkey 5–3 Scotland St Johnstone 1–1 4–2

Champions Path

Omonia Cyprus1–0Estonia Flora
Tzionis 12' Report
Attendance: 8,033[6]
Flora Estonia2–1 (a.e.t.)Cyprus Omonia
Sappinen 48', 88' Report Kakoullis 43'
Penalties
 4–5
Attendance: 1,560[7]

2–2 on aggregate; Omonia won 5–4 on penalties.

Mura Slovenia0–0Lithuania Žalgiris
Report
Attendance: 2,500[8]
Žalgiris Lithuania0–1Slovenia Mura
Report
Attendance: 2,921[9]

Mura won 1–0 on aggregate.

Kairat Kazakhstan0–0Armenia Alashkert
Report
Attendance: 0[10][note 1]
Alashkert Armenia3–2 (a.e.t.)Kazakhstan Kairat
 Report
Attendance: 7,000[11]

Alashkert won 3–2 on aggregate.

Lincoln Red Imps Gibraltar1–3Slovakia Slovan Bratislava
Walker 73' (pen.) Report
Attendance: 637[12]
Slovan Bratislava Slovakia1–1Gibraltar Lincoln Red Imps
Zmrhal 38' Report K. Gómez 90'
Attendance: 4,688[13]

Slovan Bratislava won 4–2 on aggregate.

Neftçi Baku Azerbaijan2–2Finland HJK
 Report
Attendance: 3,500[14]
HJK Finland3–0Azerbaijan Neftçi Baku
 Report
Attendance: 4,068[15]

HJK won 5–2 on aggregate.

Main Path

Jablonec Czech Republic2–4Scotland Celtic
 Report
Attendance: 4,805[16]
Celtic Scotland3–0Czech Republic Jablonec
 Report
Attendance: 50,076[17]

Celtic won 7–2 on aggregate.

Rapid Wien Austria3–0Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta
 Report
Attendance: 11,400[18]
Anorthosis Famagusta Cyprus2–1Austria Rapid Wien
 Report
Attendance: 3,574[19]

Rapid Wien won 4–2 on aggregate.

Galatasaray Turkey1–1Scotland St Johnstone
 Report
Attendance: 6,216[21]
St Johnstone Scotland2–4Turkey Galatasaray
 Report
Attendance: 9,106[22]

Galatasaray won 5–3 on aggregate.

Play-off round

The draw for the play-off round was held on 2 August 2021, 13:00 CEST.[23]

Seeding

A total of 20 teams played in the play-off round. The teams were seeded into four "priority groups":

  • Priority 1: 6 teams which entered in this round.
  • Priority 2: 6 losers of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round (Champions Path), whose identity was not known at the time of the draw
  • Priority 3: 5 winners of the third qualifying round (Champions Path), whose identity was not known at the time of the draw
  • Priority 4: 3 winners of the third qualifying round (Main Path), whose identity was not known at the time of the draw

The procedure of the draw was as follows:

  1. The three teams of priority 4 were drawn against teams of priority 1 to produce three ties, until there were no more teams of priority 4 left.
  2. The remaining three teams of priority 1 were drawn against teams of priority 3 to produce three ties, until there were no more teams of priority 1 left.
  3. The remaining two teams of priority 3 were drawn against teams of priority 2 to produce two ties, until there were no more teams of priority 3 left.
  4. The remaining four teams of priority 2 were drawn against each other to produce two ties.

There was no country protection for this round, thus teams from the same association could be drawn against each other. The first team drawn in each tie would be the home team of the first leg.

Priority 1 Priority 2 Priority 3 Priority 4

Summary

The first legs were played on 17, 18 and 19 August, and the second legs were played on 26 August 2021.

The winners of the ties advanced to the group stage. The losers were transferred to the Europa Conference League group stage.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Randers Denmark 2–3 Turkey Galatasaray 1–1 1–2
Rapid Wien Austria 6–2 Ukraine Zorya Luhansk 3–0 3–2
Celtic Scotland 3–2 Netherlands AZ 2–0 1–2
Fenerbahçe Turkey 6–2 Finland HJK 1–0 5–2
Mura Slovenia 1–5 Austria Sturm Graz 1–3 0–2
Omonia Cyprus 4–4 (2–3 p) Belgium Antwerp 4–2 0–2 (a.e.t.)
Olympiacos Greece 5–2 Slovakia Slovan Bratislava 3–0 2–2
Rangers Scotland 1–0 Armenia Alashkert 1–0 0–0
Slavia Prague Czech Republic 3–4 Poland Legia Warsaw 2–2 1–2
Red Star Belgrade Serbia 6–1 Romania CFR Cluj 4–0 2–1

Matches

Randers Denmark1–1Turkey Galatasaray
 Report
Attendance: 7,064[24]
Galatasaray Turkey2–1Denmark Randers
 Report
Attendance: 3,947[25]

Galatasaray won 3–2 on aggregate.

Rapid Wien Austria3–0Ukraine Zorya Luhansk
 Report
Attendance: 10,300[26]
Zorya Luhansk Ukraine2–3Austria Rapid Wien
 Report
Attendance: 2,563[27]

Rapid Wien won 6–2 on aggregate.

Celtic Scotland2–0Netherlands AZ
 Report
Attendance: 52,916[28]
AZ Netherlands2–1Scotland Celtic
 Report
Attendance: 10,041[29]

Celtic won 3–2 on aggregate.

Fenerbahçe Turkey1–0Finland HJK
 Report
Attendance: 6,769[30]
HJK Finland2–5Turkey Fenerbahçe
 Report
Attendance: 3,785[31]

Fenerbahçe won 6–2 on aggregate.

Mura Slovenia1–3Austria Sturm Graz
 Report
Attendance: 4,000[32]
Sturm Graz Austria2–0Slovenia Mura
 Report
Attendance: 8,237[33]

Sturm Graz won 5–1 on aggregate.

Omonia Cyprus4–2Belgium Antwerp
 Report
Attendance: 7,585[34]
Antwerp Belgium2–0 (a.e.t.)Cyprus Omonia
 Report
Penalties
B. Verstraete soccer ball with check mark
Gerkens soccer ball with red X
Eggestein soccer ball with check mark
Miyoshi soccer ball with check mark		 3–2 soccer ball with red X Gómez
soccer ball with check mark Atiemwen
soccer ball with red X Lecjaks
soccer ball with check mark Yuste
soccer ball with red X Zachariou
Attendance: 10,470[35]

4–4 on aggregate; Antwerp won 3–2 on penalties.

Olympiacos Greece3–0Slovakia Slovan Bratislava
 Report
Attendance: 9,823[36]
Referee: Marco Guida (Italy)
Slovan Bratislava Slovakia2–2Greece Olympiacos
 Report
Attendance: 7,201[37]

Olympiacos won 5–2 on aggregate.

Rangers Scotland1–0Armenia Alashkert
 Report
Attendance: 42,649[38]
Alashkert Armenia0–0Scotland Rangers
Report
Attendance: 6,800[39]

Rangers won 1–0 on aggregate.

Slavia Prague Czech Republic2–2Poland Legia Warsaw
 Report
Attendance: 14,543[40]
Legia Warsaw Poland2–1Czech Republic Slavia Prague
 Report
Attendance: 20,641[41]

Legia Warsaw won 4–3 on aggregate.

Red Star Belgrade Serbia4–0Romania CFR Cluj
 Report
Attendance: 22,482[42]
CFR Cluj Romania1–2Serbia Red Star Belgrade
 Report
Attendance: 4,200[43]

Red Star Belgrade won 6–1 on aggregate.

Notes

  1. ^ Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the match was played behind closed doors.
  2. ^ a b Alashkert played their home matches at Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, instead of their regular stadium Alashkert Stadium, Yerevan, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
  3. ^ Galatasaray played their third qualifying round home match at Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium in Istanbul, instead of their regular stadium Türk Telekom Stadium, also in Istanbul, due to renovation.[20]
  4. ^ Galatasaray played their play-off round home match at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium in Istanbul, instead of their regular stadium Türk Telekom Stadium, also in Istanbul, due to renovation.[20]
  5. ^ Zorya Luhansk played their home match at Slavutych-Arena, Zaporizhzhia, instead of their regular stadium Avanhard Stadium, Luhansk, due to the war conditions in Eastern Ukraine.

References

  1. ^ a b "2021/22 UEFA Europa League: all you need to know". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Regulations of the UEFA Europa League, 2021/22 Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Club coefficients". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Abolition of the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions". UEFA.com. 24 June 2021.
  5. ^ "UEFA Europa League third qualifying round draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Omonia vs. Flora" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Flora vs. Omonia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 10 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Mura vs. Žalgiris" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Žalgiris vs. Mura" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Kairat vs. Alashkert" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Alashkert vs. Kairat" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Lincoln Red Imps vs. Slovan Bratislava" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Slovan Bratislava vs. Lincoln Red Imps" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 10 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  14. ^ "Neftçi Baku vs. HJK" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  15. ^ "HJK vs. Neftçi Baku" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  16. ^ "Jablonec vs. Celtic" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  17. ^ "Celtic vs. Jablonec" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  18. ^ "Rapid Wien vs. Anorthosis Famagusta" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Anorthosis Famagusta vs. Rapid Wien" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  20. ^ a b "Galatasaray 1-1 Saints". St Johnstone Football Club. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  21. ^ "Galatasaray vs. St Johnstone" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  22. ^ "St Johnstone vs. Galatasaray" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  23. ^ "UEFA Europa League play-off round draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 August 2021.
  24. ^ "Randers vs. Galatasaray" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  25. ^ "Galatasaray vs. Randers" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  26. ^ "Rapid Wien vs. Zorya Luhansk" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  27. ^ "Zorya Luhansk vs. Rapid Wien" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  28. ^ "Celtic vs. AZ" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  29. ^ "AZ vs. Celtic" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  30. ^ "Fenerbahçe vs. HJK" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  31. ^ "HJK vs. Fenerbahçe" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  32. ^ "Mura vs. Sturm Graz" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  33. ^ "Sturm Graz vs. Mura" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  34. ^ "Omonia vs. Antwerp" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  35. ^ "Antwerp vs. Omonia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  36. ^ "Olympiacos vs. Slovan Bratislava" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  37. ^ "Slovan Bratislava vs. Olympiacos" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  38. ^ "Rangers vs. Alashkert" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  39. ^ "Alashkert vs. Rangers" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  40. ^ "Slavia Prague vs. Legia Warsaw" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  41. ^ "Legia Warsaw vs. Slavia Prague" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  42. ^ "Red Star Belgrade vs. CFR Cluj" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  43. ^ "CFR Cluj vs. Red Star Belgrade" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.