Europa League group stage draw: all you need to know

When and where is the draw?

The 2020/21 UEFA Europa League group stage draw takes place from 13:00 CET on Friday 2 October at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland. It will be streamed live on UEFA.com.

Who is involved in the draw?

ESP (3): Villarreal, Real Sociedad, Granada*
ENG (3): Leicester, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur*
ITA (3): Napoli, Roma, AC Milan*
BEL (3): Royal Antwerp, Gent**, Standard Liège*
NED (3): Feyenoord, AZ Alkmaar***, PSV Eindhoven*
AUT (3): Wolfsberg, Rapid Wien***, LASK*
CZE (3): Sparta Praha, Slavia Praha**, Slovan Liberec*
GER (2): Leverkusen, Hoffenheim
FRA (2): LOSC, Nice
POR (2): Braga, Benfica***
SCO (2): Celtic*, Rangers*
CRO (2): Dinamo Zagreb*, Rijeka*
GRE (2): PAOK**, AEK Athens*
ISR (2): Maccabi Tel-Aviv**, Hapoel Beer-Sheva*
BUL (2): Ludogorets*, CSKA Sofia*
RUS (1): CSKA Moskva
UKR (1): Zorya Luhansk
TUR (1): Sivasspor
CYP (1): Omonoia**
SUI (1): Young Boys*
SRB (1): Crvena zvezda*
NOR (1): Molde**
AZE (1): Qarabağ*
ROU (1): CFR Cluj*
POL (1): Lech Poznań*
IRL (1): Dundalk*

18 automatic entrants
* 21 Play-off round winners
** 6 Teams eliminated from UEFA Champions League play-off round
*** 3 Teams eliminated from UEFA Champions League third qualifying round (League Path)

What are the draw pots?

The four pots will be set according to club coefficients:

Pot 1

91.000 Arsenal (ENG)
85.000 Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
80.000 Roma (ITA)
77.000 Napoli (ITA)
70.000 Benfica (POR)
61.000 Leverkusen (GER)
56.000 Villarreal (ESP)
44.000 CSKA Moskva (RUS)
41.000 Braga (POR)
39.500 Gent (BEL)
37.000 PSV Eindhoven (NED)
34.000 Celtic (SCO)

Pot 2

33.500 Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
30.500 Sparta Praha (CZE)
27.500 Slavia Praha (CZE)
26.000 Ludogorets (BUL)
25.500 Young Boys (SUI)
22.750 Crvena zvezda (SRB)
22.000 Rapid Wien (AUT)
22.000 Leicester (ENG)
21.000 Qarabağ (AZE)
21.000 PAOK (GRE)
20.500 Standard Liège (BEL)
20.456 Real Sociedad (ESP)

Pot 3

20.456 Granada (ESP)
19.000 AC Milan (ITA)
18.500 AZ Alkmaar (NED)
17.000 Feyenoord (NED)
16.500 AEK Athens (GRE)
16.500 Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR)
16.250 Rangers (SCO)
15.000 Molde (NOR)
14.956 Hoffenheim (GER)
14.000 LASK (AUT)
14.000 Hapoel Beer-Sheva (ISR)
12.500 CFR Cluj (ROU)

Pot 4

12.500 Zorya Luhansk (UKR)
11.849 LOSC (FRA)
11.849 Nice (FRA)
11.000 Rijeka (CRO)
8.500 Dundalk (IRL)
8.000 Slovan Liberec (CZE)
7.580 Royal Antwerp (BEL)
7.000 Lech Poznań (POL)
6.720 Sivasspor (TUR)
6.585 Wolfsberg (AUT)
5.350 Omonoia (CYP)
3.475 CSKA Sofia (BUL)

Clubs' coefficients are determined either by the sum of all points won in the previous five years or by the association coefficient over the same period – whichever is higher.

How does the draw work?

• Before the draw, the 48 teams were split into four seeding pots determined by the club coefficient rankings. Each of the eventual 12 groups will contain one team from each seeding tier.
• No team can play a club from their own association. Based on decisions taken by the UEFA Executive Committee, clubs from Russia and Ukraine must not be drawn in the same group.

Will some clubs be paired?

In the case of associations with two or more representatives, clubs may be paired so that they play with different kick-off times (18.55 CET and 21:00 CET) for the benefit of TV audiences.

If a paired club is drawn, for example, in groups A, B, C, D, E or F the other paired club – once drawn – will automatically be assigned to the first available group of G, H, I, J, K or L.

Pairings are as follows:

A Arsenal & Tottenham
B Napoli & AC Milan
C Benfica & Braga
D Leverkusen & Hoffenheim
E Villarreal & Real Sociedad
F Gent & Standard Liège
G PSV Eindhoven & Feyenoord
H Celtic & Rangers
I Dinamo & Rijeka
J Sparta Praha & Slavia Praha
K Ludogorets & CSKA-Sofia
L Rapid Wien & LASK
M PAOK & AEK Athens
N Maccabi Tel-Aviv & Hapoel Beer-Sheva
O LOSC Lille & Nice

UEFA Europa League player of the season

The 2019/20 UEFA Europa League Player of the Season award will also be presented during the ceremony. The shortlist is: Éver Banega, Bruno Fernandes and Romelu Lukaku.

When will fixtures be confirmed?

The full fixture list for the group stage will be communicated on Friday evening after taking into account the calendars of participating clubs and stakeholders.

Match dates

Matchday 1: 22 October
Matchday 2: 29 October
Matchday 3: 5 November
Matchday 4: 26 November
Matchday 5: 3 December
Matchday 6: 10 December

Draws are provisional and are subject to the outcome of ongoing investigations and/or legal proceedings and final confirmation by UEFA.