2009–10 UEFA Europa League

2009–10 UEFA Europa League

2009–10 UEFA Europa League Tournament details
Dates 2 July 2009 – 12 May 2010

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 38 years.[1]

The final will be played at the HSH Nordbank Arena, home ground of Hamburger SV, in Hamburg, Germany.

Shakhtar Donetsk are the defending champions.

Association team allocation

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 coefficient.

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 set-up was confirmed by UEFA's 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)
* 3 teams from the Fair Play initiative

Second qualifying round (80 teams)

* 23 winners from the first qualifying round
* 24 domestic cup winners from associations 30–53
* 18 domestic league runners-up from associations 19–36
* 6 domestic league 3rd place teams from associations 16–21
* 6 domestic league 4th place teams from associations 10–15
* 3 domestic league 5th place teams from associations 7–9

Third qualifying round (70 teams)

* 40 winners from the second qualifying round
* 12 domestic cup winners from associations 18–29
* 3 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–18
* 6 domestic league 3rd place teams from associations 10–15
* 3 domestic league 4th place teams from associations 7–9
* 3 5th place teams from associations 4–6 (League Cup winners for France)
* 3 6th place teams from associations 1–3 (League Cup winners for England)

Play-off round (76 teams)

* 35 winners from the third qualifying round
* 17 domestic cup winners from associations 1–17
* 3 domestic league 3rd place teams from associations 7–9
* 3 domestic league 4th place teams from associations 4–6
* 3 domestic league 5th place teams from associations 1–3
* 15 losers from the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round

Group stage (48 teams)

* 38 winners from the play-off round
* 10 losers from the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League play-off round

Final phase (32 teams)

* 12 group winners from the group stage
* 12 group runners-up from the group stage
* 8 third-placed teams from the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League group stage

Redistribution rules

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.

Teams

As the title holder, Shakhtar Donetsk, qualified for the UEFA Champions League, the original allocation places were altered to compensate for the vacant title holder spot in the group stage. No club will replace the Title Holder spot. As a result, the Swiss Cup winner and Bulgarian Cup winner (Sion and Litex Lovech, respectively), were moved from the third qualifying round to the play-off round; the Cypriot Cup winner and Slovenian Cup winner (APOP and Interblock Ljubljana) were moved from the second qualifying round to the third, and the Andorran Cup winner, San Marino Cup winner, League of Ireland third-placed team and Macedonian league runner-up, (Santa Coloma, Juvenes/Dogana, Derry City and Milano) were moved from the first qualifying round to the second.[4]

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:

* CW: Cup winners
* CR: Cup runners-up
* Nth: League position
* P-Nth: End-of-season play-off position
* FP: Fair play
* UCL: Relegated from the Champions League

Round of 32

Italy Juventus (UCL)1 Germany Wolfsburg (UCL)1 France Marseille (UCL)1 Spain Atlético Madrid (UCL)1
England Liverpool (UCL)1 Russia Rubin Kazan (UCL)1 Romania Unirea Urziceni (UCL)1 Belgium Standard Liege (UCL)1

Group stage

Romania Timişoara (UCL)2 Portugal Sporting CP (UCL)2 Scotland Celtic (UCL)2 Belgium Anderlecht (UCL)2
Greece Panathinaikos (UCL)2 Bulgaria Levski Sofia (UCL)2 Denmark Copenhagen (UCL)2 Austria Red Bull Salzburg (UCL)2
Latvia Ventspils (UCL)2 Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol (UCL)2

Play-off round

England Everton (5th) Russia Zenit St. Petersburg (5th) Belgium Racing Genk (CW) Slovenia Maribor (UCL)3
England Aston Villa (6th) Romania CFR Cluj (CW) Greece AEK Athens (P-2nd) Belarus BATE (UCL)3
Spain Villarreal (5th) Romania Dinamo Bucureşti (3rd) Czech Republic Teplice (CW) Estonia Levadia (UCL)3
Spain Valencia (6th) Portugal Benfica (3rd) Switzerland Sion (CW) Azerbaijan Baku (UCL)3
Italy Lazio (CW) Portugal Nacional (4th) Bulgaria Litex Lovech (CW) Kazakhstan Aktobe (UCL)3
Italy Genoa (5th) Netherlands Heerenveen (CW) Czech Republic Slavia Prague (UCL)3 Russia Dynamo Moscow (UCL)3
France Guingamp (CW) Netherlands Ajax (3rd) Norway Stabæk (UCL)3 Netherlands Twente (UCL)3
France Toulouse (4th) Scotland Heart of Midlothian (3rd) Serbia Partizan (UCL)3 Turkey Sivasspor (UCL)3
Germany Werder Bremen (CW) Turkey Trabzonspor (3rd) Slovakia Slovan Bratislava (UCL)3 Ukraine Shakhtar DonetskTH (UCL)3
Germany Hertha BSC (4th) Ukraine Vorskla Poltava (CW) Croatia Dinamo Zagreb (UCL)3 Czech Republic Sparta Prague (UCL)3
Russia Amkar Perm (4th)

Third qualifying round

England Fulham (7th) Netherlands PSV Eindhoven (4th) Bulgaria CSKA Sofia (2nd) Sweden IFK Göteborg (CW)
Spain Athletic Bilbao (CR) Scotland Aberdeen (4th) Norway Vålerenga (CW) Slovakia Košice (CW)
Italy Roma (6th) Turkey Fenerbahçe (4th) Norway Fredrikstad (2nd) Poland Lech Poznań (CW)
France Lille (5th) Ukraine Metalist Kharkiv (3rd) Denmark Odense (2nd) Hungary Budapest Honvéd (CW)
Germany Hamburg (5th) Belgium Club Brugge (3rd) Austria Austria Wien (CW) Croatia Hajduk Split (2nd)
Russia Krylia Sovetov (6th) Greece PAOK (P-3rd) Serbia Vojvodina (2nd) Cyprus APOP (CW)
Romania Vaslui (5th) Czech Republic Slovan Liberec (3rd) Israel Hapoel Tel Aviv (2nd)4 Slovenia Interblock Ljubljana (CW)
Portugal Braga (5th) Switzerland Young Boys (2nd)

Second qualifying round

Romania Steaua Bucureşti (6th) Austria Sturm Graz (4th) Latvia Skonto (3rd)5 Belarus Naftan Novopolotsk (CW)
Portugal Paços de Ferreira (CR) Serbia Red Star Belgrade (3rd) Bosnia and Herzegovina Slavija (CW) Estonia Flora (CW)
Netherlands NAC Breda (P-1st) Serbia Sevojno (CR) Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo (4th)6 Azerbaijan Karabakh (CW)
Scotland Falkirk (CR) Israel Maccabi Netanya (4th)4 Lithuania Sūduva (CW) Albania Flamurtari Vlorë (CW)
Turkey Galatasaray (5th) Sweden Elfsborg (2nd) Lithuania Kaunas (2nd) Armenia Gandzasar (3rd)7
Ukraine Metalurh Donetsk (4th) Slovakia Žilina (2nd) Moldova Iskra-Stal (2nd) Kazakhstan Tobol (2nd)
Belgium AA Gent (4th) Poland Legia Warsaw (2nd) Moldova Dacia Chişinău (3rd) Northern Ireland Crusaders (CW)
Greece Larissa (P-4th) Hungary Újpest (2nd) Republic of Ireland St. Patrick's Athletic (2nd) Wales Bangor City (CW)
Czech Republic Sigma Olomouc (4th) Croatia Rijeka (3rd) Republic of Ireland Derry City (3rd) Faroe Islands HB (2nd)
Switzerland Basel (3rd) Cyprus Omonia (2nd) Republic of Macedonia Rabotnički (CW) Luxembourg Differdange (2nd)
Bulgaria Cherno More (3rd) Slovenia Gorica (2nd) Republic of Macedonia Milano (2nd) Malta Sliema Wanderers (CW)
Norway Tromsø (3rd) Finland HJK Helsinki (CW) Iceland KR (CW) Montenegro Petrovac (CW)
Denmark Brøndby (3rd) Finland Honka (2nd) Georgia (country) FC Dinamo Tbilisi (CW) Andorra Santa Coloma (CW)
Denmark AaB (CR) Latvia Liepājas Metalurgs (2nd) Liechtenstein Vaduz (CW) San Marino Juvenes/Dogana (CW)
Austria Rapid Wien (2nd)

First qualifying round

Israel Bnei Yehuda (5th)4 Moldova Zimbru Chişinău (4th) Azerbaijan Simurq Zaqatala (3rd) Faroe Islands B36 (3rd)
Sweden Helsingborg (4th) Republic of Ireland Sligo Rovers (4th) Albania Vllaznia (2nd) Faroe Islands NSÍ Runavík (4th)
Slovakia Spartak Trnava (3rd) Republic of Macedonia Renova (3rd) Albania Dinamo Tirana (3rd) Luxembourg Grevenmacher (3rd)
Poland Polonia Warsaw (4th) Iceland Keflavík (2nd) Armenia MIKA (4th)7 Luxembourg Käerjéng (CR)
Hungary Haladás (3rd) Iceland Fram (3rd) Armenia Banants (CR) Malta Birkirkara (2nd)
Croatia Slaven Belupo (4th) Georgia (country) Olimpi Rustavi (3rd) Kazakhstan Irtysh (3rd) Malta Valletta (3rd)
Cyprus Anorthosis (3rd) Georgia (country) Zestaponi (4th) Kazakhstan Okzhetpes (9th)8 Montenegro Budućnost (2nd)
Slovenia Rudar Velenje (3rd) Belarus Dinamo Minsk (2nd) Northern Ireland Linfield (2nd) Montenegro Sutjeska Nikšić (3rd)
Finland Lahti (3rd) Belarus MTZ-RIPO (3rd) Northern Ireland Lisburn Distillery (4th) Norway Rosenborg (FP)
Latvia Dinaburg (4th)5 Estonia Narva Trans (3rd) Wales Llanelli (2nd) Denmark Randers (FP)
Bosnia and Herzegovina Široki Brijeg (6th)6 Estonia Nõmme Kalju (4th) Wales The New Saints (3rd) Scotland Motherwell (FP)
Lithuania Vėtra (3rd) Azerbaijan Inter Baku (2nd)

Notes

*Note 1: Third-placed teams of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League group stage
*Note 2: Losers from the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League play-off round
*Note 3: Losers from the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
*Note 4: Israel State Cup 2008–09 winner Beitar Jerusalem did not obtain a UEFA license. Since Maccabi Haifa, the State Cup losing finalist, have qualified for the Champions League, all three Israeli Europa League spots were redistributed among the best-placed teams of Israeli Premier League 2008–09.
*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.

Round and draw dates

Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying First qualifying round 22 June 2009 2 July 2009 9 July 2009
Second qualifying round 16 July 2009 23 July 2009
Third qualifying round 17 July 2009 30 July 2009 6 August 2009
Play-off Play-off round 7 August 2009 20 August 2009 27 August 2009
Group stage Matchday 1 28 August 2009 17 September 2009
Matchday 2 1 October 2009
Matchday 3 22 October 2009
Matchday 4 5 November 2009
Matchday 5 2–3 December 2009
Matchday 6 16–17 December 2009
Knock out phase Round of 32 18 December 2009 18 February 2010 25 February 2010
Round of 16 11 March 2010 18 March 2010
Final phase Quarter-finals 19 March 2010 1 April 2010 8 April 2010
Semi-finals 22 April 2010 29 April 2010
Final 12 May 2010 at HSH Nordbank Arena, Hamburg

Qualifying phase

First qualifying 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 legs were played on 1 July and 2 July, while the second legs were played on 9 July 2009.

The only seeded teams to be eliminated were Keflavík and Sligo Rovers.
Team #1 Agg. Team #2 1st leg 2nd leg
Sutjeska Nikšić Montenegro 2–39 Belarus MTZ-RIPO 1–1 1–2 (aet)
Lahti Finland 4–3 Albania Dinamo Tirana 4–1 0–2
Grevenmacher Luxembourg 0–69 Lithuania Vėtra 0–3 0–3
NSÍ Runavík Faroe Islands 1–69 Norway Rosenborg 0–3 1–3
Haladás Hungary 2–2 (a) Kazakhstan Irtysh 1–0 1–2
Sligo Rovers Republic of Ireland 2–3 Albania Vllaznia 1–2 1–1
Olimpi Rustavi Georgia (country) 4–0 Faroe Islands B36 Tórshavn 2–0 2–0
Anorthosis Cyprus 7–1 Luxembourg Käerjéng 5–0 2–1
Slaven Belupo Croatia 1–0 Malta Birkirkara 1–0 0–0
Zimbru Chişinău Moldova 3–2 Kazakhstan Okzhetpes 1–2 2–0
Lisburn Distillery Northern Ireland 1–11 Georgia (country) Zestaponi 1–5 0–6
Helsingborg Sweden 4–2 Armenia MIKA 3–1 1–1
Valletta Malta 5–2 Iceland Keflavík 3–0 2–2
Dinaburg Latvia 2–1 Estonia Nõmme Kalju 2–1 0–0
Budućnost Montenegro 1–2 Poland Polonia Warsaw 0–2 1–0
Narva Trans Estonia 1–69 Slovenia Rudar Velenje 0–3 1–3
Motherwell Scotland 3–1 Wales Llanelli 0–1 3–0
Banants Armenia 1–29 Bosnia and Herzegovina Široki Brijeg 0–2 1–0
Spartak Trnava Slovakia 5–2 Azerbaijan Inter Baku 2–1 3–1
Dinamo Minsk Belarus 3–2 Republic of Macedonia Renova 2–1 1–1
Randers Denmark 7–0 Northern Ireland Linfield 4–0 3–0
Simurq Zaqatala Azerbaijan 0–4 Israel Bnei Yehuda 0–1 0–3
Fram Iceland 4–29 Wales The New Saints 2–1 2–1

Notes

*Note 9: MTZ-RIPO, Vėtra, Rosenborg, Rudar Velenje, Široki Brijeg and The New Saints were originally drawn to play the first leg at home, but their ties were reversed and they hosted the second leg instead.

Second qualifying round

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 legs were played on 16 July (two matches played on 14 July), while the second legs were played on 23 July 2009.

Eight of the seeded teams were eliminated: Rosenborg, Anorthosis, Gorica, Falkirk, HJK Helsinki, Larissa, Aalborg BK, and Spartak Trnava.

Both the first and second legs between Bnei Yehuda and Dinaburg and between Rapid Wien and Vllaznia are currently under investigation by UEFA and German authorities for possible match-fixing.[6]
Team #1 Agg. Team #2 1st leg 2nd leg
Rosenborg Norway 0–1 Azerbaijan Karabakh 0–0 0–1
Zimbru Chişinău Moldova 0–110 Portugal Paços de Ferreira 0–0 0–1
Juvenes/Dogana San Marino 0–510 Poland Polonia Warsaw 0–1 0–4
Sturm Graz Austria 3–2 Bosnia and Herzegovina Široki Brijeg 2–1 1–1
Basel Switzerland 7–1 Andorra Santa Coloma 3–0 4–1
Honka Finland 3–0 Wales Bangor City 2–0 1–0
MŠK Žilina Slovakia 3–0 Moldova Dacia Chişinău 2–0 1–0
Anorthosis Cyprus 3–4 Montenegro Petrovac 2–1 1–3 (aet)
St Patrick's Athletic Republic of Ireland 2–1 Malta Valletta 1–1 1–0
Omonia Cyprus 8–1 Faroe Islands HB 4–0 4–1
Gorica Slovenia 1–2 Finland Lahti 1–0 0–2
Sigma Olomouc Czech Republic 3–1 Iceland Fram 1–1 2–0
Legia Warsaw Poland 4–0 Georgia (country) Olimpi Rustavi 3–0 1–0
Falkirk Scotland 1–2 Liechtenstein Vaduz 1–0 0–2 (aet)
Elfsborg Sweden 3–0 Hungary Haladás 3–0 0–0
Rapid Wien Austria 8–0 Albania Vllaznia 5–0 3–0
Naftan Belarus 2–2 (a) Belgium Gent 2–1 0–1
Liepājas Metalurgs Latvia 3–4 Georgia (country) Dinamo Tbilisi 2–1 1–3
Differdange Luxembourg 1–3 Croatia Rijeka 1–0 0–3
Sūduva Lithuania 1–2 Denmark Randers 0–1 1–1
Vėtra Lithuania 3–2 Finland HJK Helsinki 0–1 3–1
Milano Republic of Macedonia 2–12 Croatia Slaven Belupo 0–4 2–8
Dinamo Minsk Belarus 1–4 Norway Tromsø 0–0 1–4
KR Iceland 3–1 Greece Larissa 2–0 1–1
Brøndby Denmark 4–2 Estonia Flora 0–1 4–1
Aalborg BK Denmark 1–3 Bosnia and Herzegovina Slavija 0–0 1–3
Steaua Bucureşti Romania 4–1 Hungary Újpest 2–0 2–1
Metalurh Donetsk Ukraine 5–1 Belarus MTZ-RIPO 3–0 2–1
Crusaders Northern Ireland 3–510 Republic of Macedonia Rabotnički 1–1 2–4
Bnei Yehuda Israel 5–0 Latvia Dinaburg 4–0 1–0
NAC Breda Netherlands 8–0 Armenia Gandzasar 6–0 2–0
Cherno More Bulgaria 4–0 Moldova Iskra-Stal 1–0 3–0
Sevojno Serbia 1–1 (a) Lithuania Kaunas 0–0 1–1
Flamurtari Vlorë Albania 2–8 Scotland Motherwell 1–0 1–8
Zestaponi Georgia (country) 3–4 Sweden Helsingborg 1–2 2–2 (aet)
Skonto Latvia 1–2 Republic of Ireland Derry City 1–1 0–1
Sliema Wanderers Malta 0–3 Israel Maccabi Netanya 0–0 0–3
Tobol Kazakhstan 1–3 Turkey Galatasaray 1–1 0–2
Rudar Velenje Slovenia 0–5 Serbia Red Star Belgrade 0–1 0–4
Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina 2–1 Slovakia Spartak Trnava 1–0 1–1

Notes

*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 legs 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).

Seven of the seeded teams were eliminated: Helsingborg, Slavija, Krylia Sovetov, Braga, Petrovac, Paços de Ferreira, and Aberdeen.

The first leg between Fenerbahçe and Budapest Honvéd and the second leg between Interblock Ljubljana and Metalurh Donetsk are currently under investigation by UEFA and German authorities for possible match-fixing.[6]
Team #1 Agg. Team #2 1st leg 2nd leg
Helsingborg Sweden 3–3 (4–5p)11 Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo 2–1 1–2 (aet)
Fredrikstad Norway 3–7 Poland Lech Poznań 1–6 2–1
Rijeka Croatia 1–4 Ukraine Metalist Kharkiv 1–2 0–2
Roma Italy 10–211 Belgium Gent 3–1 7–1
Vaslui Romania 3–1 Cyprus Omonia 2–0 1–1
Slavija Bosnia and Herzegovina 1–5 Slovakia Košice 0–2 1–3
IFK Göteborg Sweden 2–4 Israel Hapoel Tel Aviv 1–3 1–1
PSV Eindhoven Netherlands 2–0 Bulgaria Cherno More 1–0 1–0
Metalurh Donetsk Ukraine 5–0 Slovenia Interblock Ljubljana 2–0 3–0
Vålerenga Norway 2–2 (a) Greece PAOK 1–2 1–0
Rapid Wien Austria 4–311 Cyprus APOP 2–1 2–2 (aet)
Honka Finland 1–3 Azerbaijan Karabakh 0–1 1–2
Vaduz Liechtenstein 0–3 Czech Republic Slovan Liberec 0–1 0–2
St Patrick's Athletic Republic of Ireland 3–3 (a) Russia Krylia Sovetov 1–0 2–3
Randers Denmark 1–4 Germany Hamburg 0–4 1–0
Tromsø Norway 4–1 Croatia Slaven Belupo 2–1 2–0
Brøndby Denmark 3–3 (a) Poland Legia Warsaw 1–1 2–2
Vojvodina Serbia 3–5 Austria Austria Wien 1–1 2–4
CSKA Sofia Bulgaria 2–1 Republic of Ireland Derry City 1–0 1–1
Steaua Bucureşti Romania 6–1 Scotland Motherwell 3–0 3–1
MŠK Žilina Slovakia 2–1 Croatia Hajduk Split 1–1 1–0
Braga Portugal 1–4 Sweden Elfsborg 1–2 0–2
Aberdeen Scotland 1–8 Czech Republic Sigma Olomouc 1–5 0–3
Rabotnički Republic of Macedonia 3–7 Denmark Odense 3–4 0–3
Sevojno Serbia 0–4 France Lille 0–2 0–2
Petrovac Montenegro 1–7 Austria Sturm Graz 1–2 0–5
Fenerbahçe Turkey 6–2 Hungary Budapest Honvéd 5–1 1–1
Bnei Yehuda Israel 2–0 Portugal Paços de Ferreira 1–0 1–0
Club Brugge Belgium 4–3 Finland Lahti 3–2 1–1
Athletic Bilbao Spain 2–2 (a) Switzerland Young Boys 0–1 2–1
KR Iceland 3–5 Switzerland Basel 2–2 1–3
Maccabi Netanya Israel 1–1011 Turkey Galatasaray 1–4 0–6
Dinamo Tbilisi Georgia (country) 4–5 Serbia Red Star Belgrade 2–0 2–5
Polonia Warsaw Poland 1–4 Netherlands NAC Breda 0–1 1–3
Vėtra Lithuania 0–6 England Fulham 0–3 0–3

Notes

*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.

Play-off round

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 legs were played on 20 August, while the second legs were 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.

Five of the seeded teams were eliminated: Litex Lovech, Aston Villa, Zenit St. Petersburg, Metalist Kharkiv, and Odense.
Team #1 Agg. Team #2 1st leg 2nd leg
PAOK Greece 1–1 (a) Netherlands Heerenveen 1–1 0–0
Dinamo Zagreb Croatia 4–2 Scotland Hearts 4–0 0–2
Werder Bremen Germany 8–3 Kazakhstan Aktobe 6–3 2–0
Everton England 5–1 Czech Republic Sigma Olomouc 4–0 1–1
BATE Belarus 4–1 Bulgaria Litex Lovech 0–1 4–0 (aet)
NAC Breda Netherlands 2–9 Spain Villarreal 1–3 1–6
Lech Poznań Poland 1–1 (3–4p) Belgium Club Brugge 1–0 0–1 (aet)
Fulham England 3–2 Russia Amkar Perm 3–1 0–1
Galatasaray Turkey 6–1 Estonia Levadia 5–0 1–1
Teplice Czech Republic 2–3 Israel Hapoel Tel Aviv 1–2 1–1
Metalurh Donetsk Ukraine 4–5 Austria Austria Wien 2–2 2–3 (aet)
Twente Netherlands 3–1 Azerbaijan Karabakh 3–1 0–0
Košice Slovakia 4–1012 Italy Roma 3–3 1–7
CSKA Sofia Bulgaria 2–112 Russia Dynamo Moscow 0–0 2–1
Racing Genk Belgium 3–6 France Lille 1–2 2–4
Bnei Yehuda Israel 0–212 Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 0–1 0–1
Lazio Italy 3–1 Sweden Elfsborg 3–0 0–1
Trabzonspor Turkey 2–3 France Toulouse 1–3 1–0
Partizan Serbia 3–1 Slovakia MŠK Žilina 1–1 2–0
Baku Azerbaijan 2–8 Switzerland Basel 1–3 1–5
Ajax Netherlands 7–1 Slovakia Slovan Bratislava 5–0 2–1
Sivasspor Turkey 0–512 Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 0–3 0–2
Brøndby Denmark 3–4 Germany Hertha BSC 2–1 1–3
Athletic Bilbao Spain 4–3 Norway Tromsø 3–2 1–1
Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina 2–3 Romania CFR Cluj 1–1 1–2
Rapid Wien Austria (a) 2–2 England Aston Villa 1–0 1–2
Steaua Bucureşti Romania 5–1 Republic of Ireland St Patrick's Athletic 3–0 2–1
Maribor Slovenia 0–312 Czech Republic Sparta Prague 0–2 0–1
Nacional Portugal 5–4 Russia Zenit St. Petersburg 4–3 1–1
Genoa Italy 4–2 Denmark Odense 3–1 1–1
Dinamo Bucureşti Romania 3–3 (9–8p) Czech Republic Slovan Liberec 0–313 3–0 (aet)
Guingamp France 2–8 Germany Hamburg 1–5 1–3
Sion Switzerland 2–4 Turkey Fenerbahçe 0–2 2–2
Sturm Graz Austria 2–1 Ukraine Metalist Kharkiv 1–1 1–0
Slavia Prague Czech Republic 4–2 Serbia Red Star Belgrade 3–0 1–2
Benfica Portugal 5–2 Ukraine Vorskla Poltava 4–0 1–2
Vaslui Romania 2–4 Greece AEK Athens 2–1 0–3
Stabæk Norway 1–7 Spain Valencia 0–3 1–4

Notes

*Note 12: Roma, PSV Eindhoven, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sparta Prague, Zenit St. Petersburg and Dynamo Moscow were originally drawn to play the first leg at home, but their ties were reversed and they hosted the second leg instead.[7]
*Note 13: The match was abandoned at 0–2 in the 88th minute after one Dinamo Bucureşti fan entered the playing field and other fans invaded the running track around the pitch. The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body awarded a default 0–3 defeat against Dinamo during an emergency meeting on 25 August.[8] After advancing to the group stage, Dinamo were punished by having their first two home matches in the group stage played behind closed doors.

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 28 August 2009 at 13:00 CEST. A total of 48 teams were drawn into twelve groups of four. Teams were divided into four pots, based on UEFA coefficients. Clubs from the same pot or the same association cannot be drawn into the same group.

Each team played against each other in its group twice. The matchdays were 17 September, 1 October, 22 October, 5 November, 2–3 December, and 16–17 December 2009. The top two in each group advanced to the knockout stage.

During this stage of the tournament, matches featured five on-field officials - with two additional officials monitoring play around the penalty area as part of a FIFA-sanctioned experiment.

Tie-breaking criteria

Based on Article 7.05 in the UEFA regulations, if two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria will be applied to determine the rankings:[10]

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 away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
4. superior goal difference from all group matches played;
5. higher number of goals scored;
6. higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons.
Advances to the round of 32

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Belgium Anderlecht 6 3 2 1 9 4 +5 11
Netherlands Ajax 6 3 2 1 8 6 +2 11
Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 6 2 0 4 6 8 −2 614
Romania Timişoara 6 1 2 3 4 9 −5 5

AJX AND DZ TIM
Ajax – 1–3 2–1 0–0
Anderlecht 1–1 – 0–1 3–1
Dinamo Zagreb 0–2 0–2 – 1–2
Timişoara 1–2 0–0 0–3 –

Notes

*Note 14: On 29 October 2009, UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Body ruled that Dinamo Zagreb would have to play their next two home matches in the UEFA Europa League behind closed doors due to the actions of their supporters in their match at Timişoara. They also deducted three points from the Croatian club's points tally in Group A. The club appealed, but the appeal was not heard until after the first closed-doors game against Ajax.[11] After the appeal was heard, UEFA replaced the three point deduction with a €75,000 fine, and a three-year suspended ban from European competition.[12]

Group B
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Spain Valencia 6 3 3 0 12 8 +4 12
France Lille 6 3 1 2 15 9 +6 10
Italy Genoa 6 2 1 3 8 10 −2 7
Czech Republic Slavia Prague 6 0 3 3 5 13 −8 3

GEN LIL SLV VAL
Genoa – 3–2 2–0 1–2
Lille 3–0 – 3–1 1–1
Slavia Prague 0–0 1–5 – 2–2
Valencia 3–2 3–1 1–1 –

Group C

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Israel Hapoel Tel Aviv 6 4 0 2 13 8 +5 12
Germany Hamburg 6 3 1 2 7 6 +1 10
Scotland Celtic 6 1 3 2 7 7 0 6
Austria Rapid Wien 6 1 2 3 8 14 −6 5

CEL HSV HAP RAP
Celtic – 0–1 2–0 1–1
Hamburg 0–0 – 4–2 2–0
Hapoel Tel Aviv 2–1 1–0 – 5–1
Rapid Wien 3–3 3–0 0–3 –

Group D

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Portugal Sporting CP 6 3 2 1 8 6 +2 11
Germany Hertha BSC 6 3 1 2 6 5 +1 10
Netherlands Heerenveen 6 2 2 2 11 7 +4 8
Latvia Ventspils 6 0 3 3 3 10 −7 3

HER HVN SCP VEN
Hertha BSC – 0–1 1–0 1–1
Heerenveen 2–3 – 2–3 5–0
Sporting CP 1–0 1–1 – 1–1
Ventspils 0–1 0–0 1–2 –

Group E

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Italy Roma 6 4 1 1 10 5 +5 13
England Fulham 6 3 2 1 8 6 +2 11
Switzerland Basel 6 3 0 3 10 7 +3 9
Bulgaria CSKA Sofia 6 0 1 5 2 12 −10 1

BSL CSK FUL ROM
Basel – 3–1 2–3 2–0
CSKA Sofia 0–2 – 1–1 0–3
Fulham 1–0 1–0 – 1–1
Roma 2–1 2–0 2–1 –

Group F

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Turkey Galatasaray 6 4 1 1 12 4 +8 13
Greece Panathinaikos 6 4 0 2 7 4 +3 12
Romania Dinamo Bucureşti 6 2 0 4 4 12 −8 6
Austria Sturm Graz 6 1 1 4 3 6 −3 4

DB GAL PAN STM
Dinamo Bucureşti – 0–3 0–1 2–1
Galatasaray 4–1 – 1–0 1–1
Panathinaikos 3–0 1–3 – 1–0
Sturm Graz 0–1 1–0 0–1 –

Group G

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Austria Red Bull Salzburg 6 6 0 0 9 2 +7 18
Spain Villarreal 6 3 0 3 8 6 +2 9
Italy Lazio 6 2 0 4 9 10 −1 6
Bulgaria Levski Sofia 6 1 0 5 1 9 −8 3

LAZ LS SBG VIL
Lazio – 0–1 1–2 2–1
Levski Sofia 0–4 – 0–1 0–2
Red Bull Salzburg 2–1 1–0 – 2–0
Villarreal 4–1 1–0 0–1 –

Group H

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Turkey Fenerbahçe 6 5 0 1 8 3 +5 15
Netherlands Twente 6 2 2 2 5 6 −1 8
Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol 6 1 2 3 4 5 −1 5
Romania Steaua Bucureşti 6 0 4 2 3 6 −3 4

FEN SHF STE TWE
Fenerbahçe – 1–0 3–1 1–2
Sheriff Tiraspol 0–1 – 1–1 2–0
Steaua Bucureşti 0–1 0–0 – 1–1
Twente 0–1 2–1 0–0 –

Group I

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Portugal Benfica 6 5 0 1 13 3 +10 15
England Everton 6 3 0 3 7 9 −2 9
Belarus BATE 6 2 1 3 7 9 −2 7
Greece AEK Athens 6 1 1 4 5 11 −6 4

AEK BEN BTE EVE
AEK Athens – 1–0 2–2 0–1
Benfica 2–1 – 2–0 5–0
BATE 2–1 1–2 – 1–2
Everton 4–0 0–2 0–1 –

Group J

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 6 4 1 1 14 3 +11 13
Belgium Club Brugge 6 3 2 1 10 8 +2 11
France Toulouse 6 2 1 3 6 11 −5 7
Serbia Partizan 6 1 0 5 6 14 −8 3

BRU PTZ SHK TOU
Club Brugge – 2–0 1–4 1–0
Partizan 2–4 – 1–0 2–3
Shakhtar Donetsk 0–0 4–1 – 4–0
Toulouse 2–2 1–0 0–2 –

Group K

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 6 4 2 0 9 3 +6 14
Denmark Copenhagen 6 3 1 2 7 4 +3 10
Czech Republic Sparta Prague 6 2 1 3 7 9 −2 7
Romania CFR Cluj 6 1 0 5 4 11 −7 3

CLU FCK PRA PSV
CFR Cluj – 2–0 2–3 0–3
Copenhagen 2–0 – 1–0 1–1
Sparta Prague 2–0 0–3 – 2–2
PSV Eindhoven 1–0 1–0 1–0 –

Group L

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Germany Werder Bremen 6 5 1 0 17 6 +11 16
Spain Athletic Bilbao 6 3 1 2 10 8 +2 10
Portugal Nacional 6 1 2 3 11 12 −1 5
Austria Austria Wien 6 0 2 4 4 16 −12 2

ATH AUS BRM NCL
Athletic Bilbao – 3–0 0–3 2–1
Austria Wien 0–3 – 2–2 1–1
Werder Bremen 3–1 2–0 – 4–1
Nacional 1–1 5–1 2–3 –

Knockout stage

The draw for the round of 32 and round of 16 was held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on 18 December 2009 by UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino and UEFA Director of Competitions Giorgio Marchetti.[13] The draw for the remaining rounds will be held on 19 March 2010.

Round of 32

The group winners, along with the four better third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage, will be drawn against the group runners-up and the other four third-placed Champions League teams. In this round, teams from the same group, or teams from the same association, may not be drawn with each other. Group winners and the four better third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage play the second leg at home. The first legs will be played on 18 February (Everton's home match played on 16 February to avoid being on the same day with Liverpool's home match), while the second legs will be played on 25 February 2010 (Galatasaray and Benfica's home matches played on 23 February to avoid being on the same day with Fenerbahçe and Sporting CP's home matches).
Team #1 Agg. Team #2 1st leg 2nd leg
Rubin Kazan Russia 1 Israel Hapoel Tel Aviv 18 Feb 25 Feb
Athletic Bilbao Spain 2 Belgium Anderlecht 18 Feb 25 Feb
Copenhagen Denmark 3 France Marseille 18 Feb 25 Feb
Panathinaikos Greece 4 Italy Roma 18 Feb 25 Feb
Atlético Madrid Spain 5 Turkey Galatasaray 18 Feb 23 Feb
Ajax Netherlands 6 Italy Juventus 18 Feb 25 Feb
Club Brugge Belgium 7 Spain Valencia 18 Feb 25 Feb
Fulham England 8 Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 18 Feb 25 Feb
Liverpool England 9 Romania Unirea Urziceni 18 Feb 25 Feb
Hamburg Germany 10 Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 18 Feb 25 Feb
Villarreal Spain 11 Germany Wolfsburg 18 Feb 25 Feb
Standard Liège Belgium 12 Austria Red Bull Salzburg 18 Feb 25 Feb
Twente Netherlands 13 Germany Werder Bremen 18 Feb 25 Feb
Lille France 14 Turkey Fenerbahçe 18 Feb 25 Feb
Everton England 15 Portugal Sporting CP 16 Feb 25 Feb
Hertha BSC Germany 16 Portugal Benfica 18 Feb 23 Feb

Round of 16

The 16 winners from the first knockout round are drawn into eight pairs of home-and-away matches. Starting from this round, the draw is made irrespective of association or previous group status. The first legs will be played on 11 March, while the second legs will be played on 18 March 2010.
Team #1 Agg. Team #2 1st leg 2nd leg
Winners of Match 10 v Winners of Match 2 11 Mar 18 Mar
Winners of Match 1 v Winners of Match 11 11 Mar 18 Mar
Winners of Match 5 v Winners of Match 15 11 Mar15 18 Mar16
Winners of Match 16 v Winners of Match 3 11 Mar 18 Mar
Winners of Match 4 v Winners of Match 12 11 Mar 18 Mar
Winners of Match 14 v Winners of Match 9 11 Mar 18 Mar
Winners of Match 6 v Winners of Match 8 11 Mar 18 Mar
Winners of Match 7 v Winners of Match 13 11 Mar 18 Mar

Notes

*Note 15: This match will be rescheduled to 9 March if both Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray get through.
*Note 16: This match will be rescheduled to 16 March if both Everton and Liverpool get through.

Quarter-finals

The eight winners from the second knockout round are drawn into four pairs of home-and-away matches. The first legs will be played on 1 April, while the second legs will be played on 8 April 2010.

Semi-finals

The four quarter-final winners are drawn into two pairs of home-and-away matches. The first legs will be played on 22 April, while the second legs will be played on 29 April 2010.

Final

The final of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League will be held at the HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg, Germany, on 12 May 2010. This will be the second time that the home stadium of Hamburger SV hosts a UEFA Final, with the other final occurring with the 1982 UEFA Cup Final. Due to UEFA rules banning corporate sponsorship outside the federation, the stadium will be referred to by its original name, Volksparkstadion.

Goalscorers

The top scorers from the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League (excluding qualifying rounds and play-off round) are as follows (players in bold are still active in the competition):
Rank Name Team Goals Minutes played
1 Spain Fernando Llorente Spain Athletic Bilbao 6 364'
2 Côte d'Ivoire Gervinho France Lille 5 261'
Peru Claudio Pizarro Germany Werder Bremen 5 332'
Portugal Rúben Micael Portugal Nacional 5 525'
Switzerland Alexander Frei Switzerland Basel 5 531'
6 Belgium Jonathan Legear Belgium Anderlecht 4 226'
Brazil Jonathan Reis Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 4 317'
Argentina Javier Saviola Portugal Benfica 4 321'
Paraguay Óscar Cardozo Portugal Benfica 4 455'
Senegal Dame N'Doye Denmark Copenhagen 4 498'
Sweden Marcus Berg Germany Hamburg 4 509'
Croatia Ivan Perišić Belgium Club Brugge 4 510'
Brazil Luiz Adriano Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 4 524'
Croatia Nikica Jelavić Austria Rapid Wien 4 526'