Europa League group stage draw – all you need to know

The draw features 32 teams – 12 automatic qualifiers, 10 sides transferring from the UEFA Champions League play-offs or third qualifying round path and 10 Europa League play-off winners which will be determined on Thursday night.

The 32 teams will be split into four seeding pots based on the club coefficient rankings, with the seeding pots to be confirmed on the morning of the draw.

No team can play a side from their own association, with pairings and any other restrictions to be announced ahead of the draw.

After three years away, the draw returns to the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and will be streamed live on UEFA.com.

Fixtures will be confirmed after the draw, with the group stage played on Thursday evening from September 21 to December 14 on the same night as the UEFA Europa Conference League games, kicking off at 5.45pm or 8pm.

Group winners advance to the last 16, while runners-up contest the knockout round play-offs against the third-placed sides from the UEFA Champions League. 

The third-placed sides in each Europa League group transfer to the Europa Conference League knockout round play-offs, where they will face the Europa Conference League group runners-up for places in the last 16.

The final of the Europa League will be on May 22 at the Republic of Ireland’s Dublin Arena, which also staged the all-Portuguese showpiece between winners Porto and Braga in 2011. 

Sevilla won the tournament for the seventh time last season, beating Roma 4-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Budapest.

Qualifiers (22)

Austria: Sturm Graz; England: Brighton, Liverpool, West Ham; France: Marseille, Rennes, Toulouse; Germany: Freiburg, Leverkusen; Greece: Panathinaikos, AEK Athens; Israel: Maccabi Haifa; Italy: Atalanta, Roma; Norway: Molde; Poland: Rakow Czestochowa; Portugal: Sporting CP; Scotland: Rangers; Serbia: TSC; Spain: Real Betis, Villarreal; Switzerland: Servette.

Europa League Play-offs (10)

FK Qarabag v Olimpija Ljubljana (2-0); Aris Limassol v Slovan Bratislava (1-2); Sheriff Tiraspol v Kl Klaksvik (1-1); Sparta Prague v Dinamo Zagreb (1-3); Aorya Luhansk v Slavia Prague (0-2); Ajax v Ludogorets Razgrad (4-1); FK Cukaricki v Olympiakos (1-3); Lugano v Union Saint-Gilloise (0-2); Aberdeen v BK Hacken (2-2); Zrinjski Mostar v LASK (1-2). *First-leg scores in brackets.

Key dates

Matchday 1: September 21; Matchday 2: October 5; Matchday 3: October 26; Matchday 4: November 9; Matchday 5: November 30; Matchday 6: December 14; Knockout round: February 15/22; Last 16: March 7/14; Quarter-finals: April 11/18; Semi-finals: May 2/9; Final: May 22.