The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title.
A total of 194 teams from 53 of the 54 UEFA member associations participated in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League (the exception being Gibraltar, which started participating in the 2014–15 season after being admitted as a UEFA member in May 2013).[3][4] The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[5]
Associations 1–6 each had three teams qualify.
Associations 7–9 each had four teams qualify.
Associations 10–51 (except Liechtenstein) each had three teams qualify.
Associations 52–53 each had two teams qualify.
Liechtenstein had one team qualify (as it organised only a domestic cup and no domestic league).
The winners of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League were given an additional entry as title holders if they did not qualify for the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League or Europa League through their domestic performance. However, this additional entry was not necessary for this season, because the title holders qualified for European competitions through their domestic performance.
Association ranking
For the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2012 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2007–08 to 2011–12.[6][7]
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Europa League, as noted below:
(FP) – Additional berth via Fair Play ranking (Sweden, Norway, Finland)[8]
(UCL) – Additional teams transferred from the Champions League
Since the title holders (Chelsea) qualified for the Champions League through their domestic performance, the group stage spot reserved for the title holders was vacated, and the following changes to the default allocation system were made:[9][10]
The domestic cup winners of association 7 (Russia) were promoted from the play-off round to the group stage.
The domestic cup winners of association 16 (Cyprus) were promoted from the third qualifying round to the play-off round.
The domestic cup winners of association 19 (Czech Republic) were promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round.
The domestic cup winners of associations 33 (Republic of Ireland) and 34 (Slovenia) were promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.
Teams entering in this round
Teams advancing from previous round
Teams transferred from Champions League
First qualifying round (76 teams)
19 domestic cup winners from associations 35–53
25 domestic league runners-up from associations 28–53 (except Liechtenstein)
29 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 22–51 (except Liechtenstein)
3 teams which qualified via Fair Play ranking
Second qualifying round (80 teams)
15 domestic cup winners from associations 20–34
12 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–27
6 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 16–21
6 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 10–15
3 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 7–9
38 winners from the first qualifying round
Third qualifying round (58 teams)
3 domestic cup winners from associations 17–19
6 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 10–15
3 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 7–9
3 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 4–6 (League Cup winners for France)
3 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 1–3 (League Cup winners for England)
40 winners from the second qualifying round
Play-off round (62 teams)
9 domestic cup winners from associations 8–16
3 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–9
3 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 4–6
3 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–3
29 winners from the third qualifying round
15 losers from the Champions League third qualifying round
Group stage (48 teams)
7 domestic cup winners from associations 1–7
31 winners from the play-off round
10 losers from the Champions League play-off round
Knockout phase (32 teams)
12 group winners from the group stage
12 group runners-up from the group stage
8 third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage
Redistribution rules
A Europa League place was vacated when a team qualified for both the Champions League and the Europa League, or qualified for the Europa League by more than one method. When a place was vacated, it was redistributed within the national association by the following rules:[5]
When the domestic cup winners (considered as the "highest-placed" qualifier within the national association with the latest starting round) also qualified for the Champions League, their Europa League place was vacated. As a result, either of the following teams qualified for the Europa League:
The domestic cup runners-up, provided they had not yet qualified for European competitions, qualified for the Europa League as the "lowest-placed" qualifier (with the earliest starting round), with the other Europa League qualifiers moved up one "place".
Otherwise, the highest-placed team in the league which had not yet qualified for European competitions qualified for the Europa League, with the Europa League qualifiers which finished above them in the league moved up one "place".
When the domestic cup winners also qualified for the Europa League through league position, their place through the league position was vacated. As a result, the highest-placed team in the league which had not yet qualified for European competitions qualified for the Europa League, with the Europa League qualifiers which finished above them in the league moved up one "place" if possible.
For associations where a Europa League place was reserved for the League Cup winners, they always qualified for the Europa League as the "lowest-placed" qualifier (or as the second "lowest-placed" qualifier in cases where the cup runners-up qualified as stated above). If the League Cup winners had already qualified for European competitions through other methods, this reserved Europa League place was taken by the highest-placed league team in the league which had not yet qualified for European competitions.
A Fair Play place was taken by the highest-ranked team in the domestic Fair Play table which had not yet qualified for European competitions.
Teams
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:[11][12]
TH: Title holders
CW: Cup winners
CR: Cup runners-up
LC: League Cup winners
2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position
P-W: End-of-season European competition play-offs winners
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH):Borac Banja Luka, the third-placed team of the 2012–13 Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, would have qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round, but failed to obtain a UEFA license.[16] As a result, the berth was given to Zrinjski Mostar, the ninth-placed team of the league, which were the highest-placed team with a UEFA license not yet qualified.
Bulgaria (BUL):CSKA Sofia, the third-placed team of the 2012–13 A PFG, would have qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round, but failed to obtain a UEFA license, due to high financial debts and the following announcement of the club going in bankruptcy.[17] As a result, the berth was given to Botev Plovdiv, the fourth-placed team of the league.
England (ENG):Swansea City are a club based in Wales, but participated in the Europa League through one of the berths for England as they won the 2012–13 Football League Cup (any coefficient points they earned counted toward England and not Wales).
PAS Giannina, the fifth-placed team of the 2012–13 Superleague Greece, would have qualified for the Europa League second qualifying round, but failed to obtain a UEFA license.[18] As a result, the berth was given to Xanthi, the seventh-placed team of the league, since Panathinaikos, the sixth-placed team of the league, also failed to obtain a UEFA license.[19]
On 14 August 2013, Metalist Kharkiv were disqualified from the 2013–14 UEFA club competitions because of previous match-fixing.[20] UEFA decided to replace Metalist Kharkiv in the Champions League play-off round with PAOK, who were eliminated by Metalist Kharkiv in the third qualifying round.[21]
Republic of Ireland (IRL):Derry City are a club based in Northern Ireland, but participated in the Europa League through one of the berths for Republic of Ireland as they won the 2012 FAI Cup (any coefficient points they earned counted toward Republic of Ireland and not Northern Ireland).
Spain (ESP):Málaga, the sixth-placed team of the 2012–13 La Liga, would have qualified for the Europa League play-off round, but were banned by UEFA from participating due to violations of UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations.[23] As a result, Real Betis, the seventh-placed team of the league, entered the play-off round instead of the third qualifying round, and the third qualifying round berth was given to Sevilla, the ninth-placed team of the league, since Rayo Vallecano, the eighth-placed team of the league, failed to obtain a UEFA license.[24] Málaga appealed against their ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but it was denied.[25]
Turkey (TUR): On 25 June 2013, Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe were banned by UEFA from the 2013–14 UEFA club competitions because of the 2011 Turkish sports corruption scandal.[26][27] They appealed the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and on 18 July 2013 it was ruled that the ban should be temporarily lifted and they should be included in the qualifying round draws of the Champions League and Europa League, until the final decision to be made before the end of August 2013.[28][29][30] Fenerbahçe competed in the Champions League qualifying rounds and lost in the play-off round, while Beşiktaş competed in the Europa League play-off round and won. On 28 and 30 August 2013, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld UEFA's ban on Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş respectively, meaning the two clubs were banned from the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League.[31][32][33] UEFA decided to replace Beşiktaş in the Europa League group stage with Tromsø, who were eliminated by Beşiktaş in the play-off round,[34] while a draw was held to select a team to replace Fenerbahçe among the teams eliminated in the play-off round,[35] and was won by APOEL.[36]
Round and draw dates
The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).[9]
Matches in the qualifying, play-off, and knockout rounds may also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts.
In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2013 UEFA club coefficients,[37][38][39] and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.
First qualifying round
The draws for the first and second qualifying rounds were held on 24 June 2013.[40] The first legs were played on 2, 3 and 4 July, and the second legs were played on 9, 10 and 11 July 2013.
Inter Turku lodged a protest after losing the second leg to Víkingur Gøta,[41][42] and two match officials were later banned for life by UEFA for attempted match-fixing.[43]
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 19 July 2013.[44] The first legs were played on 1 August, and the second legs were played on 8 August 2013.
The draw for the play-off round was held on 9 August 2013.[45] The first legs were played on 22 August, and the second legs were played on 29 August 2013.
On 14 August 2013, Metalist Kharkiv were disqualified from the 2013–14 UEFA club competitions because of previous match-fixing.[20] UEFA decided to replace Metalist Kharkiv in the Champions League play-off round with PAOK, who were eliminated by Metalist Kharkiv in the third qualifying round.[21] Thus, Maccabi Tel Aviv, the opponent of PAOK in the Europa League play-off round, qualified directly for the Europa League group stage.
Location of teams of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League group stage. Red: Group A; Yellow: Group B; Green: Group C; Dark green: Group D; Purple: Group E; Pink: Group F; Blue: Group G; Orange: Group H; Brown: Group I; Deep pink: Group J; Cyan: Group K; Spring green: Group L.
The draw for the group stage was held in Monaco on 30 August 2013.[46] Prior to the draw, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld UEFA's ban on Fenerbahce (which lost in the Champions League play-off round) and Beşiktaş, meaning the two clubs were banned from the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League.[31][32][33] UEFA decided to replace Beşiktaş in the Europa League group stage with Tromsø, who were eliminated by Beşiktaş in the play-off round,[34] while a draw was held to select a team to replace Fenerbahçe among the teams eliminated in the play-off round,[35] and was won by APOEL.[36]
The 48 teams were allocated into four pots based on their 2013 UEFA club coefficients.[37][38][39][47] They were drawn into twelve groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.
In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays were 19 September, 3 October, 24 October, 7 November, 28 November, and 12 December 2013. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 32, where they were joined by the 8 third-placed teams from the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage.
A total of 27 associations were represented in the group stage. This was also the first time team from Kazakhstan qualified for group stage. Swansea City, Kuban Krasnodar, Sankt Gallen, Ludogorets, Chornomorets Odesa, Esbjerg, Elfsborg, Zulte Waregem, Wigan Athletic, Paços de Ferreira, Pandurii Târgu Jiu, Eintracht Frankfurt, APOEL, Thun, Slovan Liberec, SC Freiburg, Estoril, Real Betis, Vitória de Guimarães, Rijeka, Trabzonspor, Apollon Limassol, Tromsø and Shakhter Karagandy all made their debut in UEFA Europa League group stage (although Elfsborg, Zulte Waregem, Eintracht Frankfurt, Slovan Liberec, Vitória de Guimarães and Tromsø played already in UEFA Cup as well as Thun, Real Betis, Trabzonspor already disputed the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League knockout stage).
In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:
In the draw for the round of 32, the twelve group winners and the four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage with the better group records were seeded, and the twelve group runners-up and the other four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association could not be drawn against each other.
In the draws for the round of 16 onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other.
The draw for the round of 32 and round of 16 was held on 16 December 2013.[48] The first legs were played on 20 February, and the second legs were played on 27 February 2014.
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 21 March 2014.[49] The first legs were played on 3 April, and the second legs were played on 10 April 2014.
The draw for the semi-finals and final (to determine the "home" team for administrative purposes) was held on 11 April 2014.[50] The first legs were played on 24 April, and the second legs were played on 1 May 2014.