The 2010–11 UEFA Europa League was the second season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 40th edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 1 July 2010, with the first qualifying round matches, and concluded on 18 May 2011, with the final at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, between Porto and first-time finalists Braga. This was the first all-Portuguese final of a European competition and only the third time that two Portuguese teams faced each other in Europe, following Braga's elimination of Benfica in the semi-finals. Porto defeated Braga 1–0, with a goal from the competition's top goalscorer Radamel Falcao, and won their second title in the competition, after victory in the 2002–03 UEFA Cup. Atletico Madrid were the defending champions but were eliminated in group stage.
Association team allocation A total of 194 teams from 53 UEFA associations participated in the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League. Associations were allocated places according to their 2009 UEFA country coefficient, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2004–05 to 2008–09.
Below is the qualification scheme for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League: Associations 1–6 each have three teams qualify Associations 7–9 each have four teams qualify Associations 10–51 each have three teams qualify, except Liechtenstein, which have one team qualify (as Liechtenstein only have a domestic cup and no domestic league) Associations 52–53 each have two teams qualify (an increase from only one team in the previous season) The top three associations of the 2009–10 UEFA Fair Play ranking each gain an additional berth Moreover, 33 teams eliminated from the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League are transferred to the Europa League.
Association ranking RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes 1 79.499 3 2 74.266 +1(UCL) 3 62.910 +1(UCL) 4 56.695 5 50.168 6 47.625 +3(UCL) 7 41.850 4 +1(UCL) 8 39.130 +2(UCL) 9 38.908 +1(UCL) 10 36.462 3 +2(UCL) 11 32.225 +1(UCL) 12 28.165 +1(UCL) 13 27.875 +2(UCL) 14 25.325 +2(UCL) 15 25.250 +2(UCL) 16 24.450 +1(FP) 17 21.250 +1(UCL) 18 20.750 +1(UCL)RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes 19 18.800 3 +1(UCL) 20 17.825 +1(UCL) 21 15.250 22 15.250 23 15.082 +1(UCL) 24 14.691 +1(FP)+1(UCL) 25 14.665 26 12.916 +1(UCL) 27 12.332 +1(UCL) 28 9.790 +1(FP)+1(UCL) 29 9.666 30 9.499 31 9.164 32 9.082 33 8.666 +1(UCL) 34 8.665 35 8.166 +1(UCL) 36 6.665RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes 37 6.665 3 +1(UCL) 38 6.664 39 5.500 1 40 5.165 3 41 4.498 42 4.332 43 3.999 44 3.249 +1(UCL) 45 2.999 46 2.331 +1(UCL) 47 2.165 48 2.165 49 1.332 50 1.000 51 0.500 52 0.499 2 53 0.250
Notes (FP): Additional fair play berth (Sweden, Denmark, Finland) (UCL): Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League
Distribution The winners of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, Atlético Madrid, were guaranteed a place in the group stage as the title holder, since they did not qualify for the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League. However, they also qualified for the Europa League third qualifying round through domestic performance, as they were the runners-up of the 2009–10 Copa del Rey to Champions League-qualified Sevilla. As a result, this place in the third qualifying round was vacated, which in turn led to the following changes to the default allocation system in order to compensate for this vacant spot: The domestic cup winners of association 28 (Finland) have been promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round. The domestic cup winners of associations 52 and 53 (Malta and San Marino) have been promoted from the first qualifying to the second qualifying round.
Teams entering in this roundTeams advancing from previous roundTeams transferred from Champions LeagueFirst qualifying round (52 teams)20 domestic league runners-up from associations 33–53 (except Liechtenstein) 29 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 22–51 (except Liechtenstein) 3 teams which qualified via Fair Play rankingsSecond qualifying round (80 teams)25 domestic cup winners from associations 29–53 14 domestic league runners-up from associations 19–32 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 7–926 winners from the first qualifying roundThird qualifying round (70 teams)13 domestic cup winners from associations 16–28 3 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–18 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) 2 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 1–3 (League Cup winners for England) (minus the spot vacated by Atlético Madrid)40 winners from the second qualifying roundPlay-off round (74 teams)15 domestic cup winners from associations 1–15 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 1–335 winners from the third qualifying round15 losers from the Champions League third qualifying roundGroup stage (48 teams)Title holder37 winners from the play-off round10 losers from the Champions League play-off roundKnockout phase (32 teams)12 group winners from the group stage 12 group runners-up from the group stage8 third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage
Redistribution rules A Europa League place is vacated when a team qualifies for both the Champions League and the Europa 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 the domestic cup winners (considered as the "highest-placed" qualifiers within the national association) also qualify for the Champions League, their Europa League place is vacated, and the remaining Europa League qualifiers are moved up one place, with the final place (with the earliest starting round) 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 finishers that have not yet qualified for the Europa League. When the domestic cup winners also qualify for the Europa League through league position, their place through the league position is vacated, and the Europa League qualifiers that finish lower in the league are moved up one place, with the final place taken by the highest-placed league finishers that have not yet qualified for the Europa League. A place vacated by the League Cup winners is taken by the highest-placed league finishers that have not yet qualified for the Europa League. A Fair Play place is taken by the highest-ranked team in the domestic Fair Play table that has not yet qualified for the Champions League or the Europa League.
Teams The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round: TH: Title holders CW: Cup winners CR: Cup runners-up LC: League Cup winners Nth: League position P-W: End-of-season European competition play-offs winners FP: Fair play UCL: Relegated from the Champions League GS: Third-placed teams from the group stage PO: Losers from the play-off round Q3: Losers from the third qualifying round
Round of 32 Twente (UCL GS) Benfica (UCL GS) Rangers (UCL GS) Rubin Kazan (UCL GS) Basel (UCL GS) Spartak Moscow (UCL GS) Ajax (UCL GS) Braga (UCL GS)Group stage Atlético Madrid (TH) Anderlecht (UCL PO) Rosenborg (UCL PO) Zenit Saint Petersburg (UCL PO) Red Bull Salzburg (UCL PO) Sevilla (UCL PO) Sparta Prague (UCL PO) Dynamo Kyiv (UCL PO) Sheriff Tiraspol (UCL PO) Sampdoria (UCL PO) Young Boys (UCL PO)Play-off round Manchester City (5th) Lokomotiv Moscow (4th) AEK Athens (3rd) Unirea Urziceni (UCL Q3) Aston Villa (6th) CSKA Moscow (5th) Dundee United (CW) Dinamo Zagreb (UCL Q3) Getafe (6th) Tavriya Simferopol (CW) Club Brugge (3rd) AIK (UCL Q3) Villarreal (7th) Metalist Kharkiv (3rd) Grasshopper (3rd) PAOK (UCL Q3) Palermo (5th) PSV Eindhoven (3rd) Aktobe (UCL Q3) Celtic (UCL Q3) Napoli (6th) Feyenoord (4th) HJK (UCL Q3) Fenerbahçe (UCL Q3) Bayer Leverkusen (4th) Vaslui (3rd) The New Saints (UCL Q3) Gent (UCL Q3) Borussia Dortmund (5th) Steaua București (4th) Litex Lovech (UCL Q3) Omonia (UCL Q3) Paris Saint-Germain (CW) Porto (CW) BATE Borisov (UCL Q3) Lech Poznań (UCL Q3) Lille (4th) Trabzonspor (CW) Debrecen (UCL Q3)Third qualifying round Liverpool (7th) Sporting CP (4th) Beroe Stara Zagora (CW) Apollon Limassol (CW) Juventus (7th) Galatasaray (3rd) CSKA Sofia (2nd) IFK Göteborg (2nd) VfB Stuttgart (6th) Aris (4th) Viktoria Plzeň (CW) Slovan Bratislava (CW) Montpellier (5th) Hibernian (4th) Jablonec (2nd) Jagiellonia Białystok (CW) Sibir Novosibirsk (CR) Genk (P-W) Aalesund (CW) Hajduk Split (CW) Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (4th) Luzern (4th) Sturm Graz (CW) Inter Turku (CW) AZ (5th) Nordsjælland (CW) Red Star Belgrade (CW) Timișoara (5th) Odense (2nd) Maccabi Haifa (2nd)Second qualifying round Karpaty Lviv (5th) Austria Wien (2nd) Shamrock Rovers (2nd) Sillamäe Kalev (2nd) Utrecht (P-W) Rapid Wien (3rd) Jelgava (CW) Besa (CW) Dinamo București (6th) OFK Beograd (3rd) Ventspils (2nd) Atyrau (CW) Marítimo (5th) Spartak Zlatibor Voda (4th) Maribor (CW) Mika (2nd) Beşiktaş (4th) Maccabi Tel Aviv (3rd) HIT Gorica (3rd) Bangor City (CW) Olympiacos (5th) APOEL (2nd) Dinamo Minsk (2nd) Cliftonville (2nd) Motherwell (5th) IF Elfsborg (3rd) Borac Banja Luka (CW) Víkingur Gøta (CW) Cercle Brugge (CR) Dukla Banská Bystrica (3rd) Videoton (2nd) Differdange 03 (CW) Lausanne-Sport (CR) Wisła Kraków (2nd) Breiðablik (CW) Budućnost Podgorica (2nd) Brøndby (3rd) Cibalia (3rd) Iskra-Stal (2nd) Sant Julià (CW) Levski Sofia (3rd) Honka (2nd) WIT Georgia (CW) Valletta (CW) Baník Ostrava (3rd) Sūduva (3rd) Vaduz (CW) Tre Penne (2nd) Molde (2nd) Šiauliai (4th) Teteks (CW) Stabæk (3rd) Sporting Fingal (CW) Baku (CW)First qualifying round Bnei Yehuda (CR) Široki Brijeg (2nd) Khazar Lankaran (4th) EB/Streymur (2nd) Anorthosis Famagusta (3rd) Zrinjski Mostar (4th) Narva Trans (3rd) NSÍ (4th) Kalmar FF (4th) Győri ETO (3rd) Flora (CR) F91 Dudelange (2nd) Nitra (4th) Zalaegerszeg (CR) Tirana (3rd) Grevenmacher (3rd) Ruch Chorzów (3rd) KR (2nd) Laçi (4th) Mogren (3rd) Šibenik (4th) Fylkir (3rd) Shakhter Karagandy (3rd) Zeta (4th) TPS (3rd) Olimpia Bălți (3rd) Tobol (4th) UE Santa Coloma (2nd) Tauras Tauragė (5th) Dacia Chișinău (CR) Ulisses (3rd) Lusitanos (4th) Dundalk (5th) Dinamo Tbilisi (2nd) Banants (CR) Sliema Wanderers (3rd) Skonto (3rd) Zestaponi (3rd) Llanelli (2nd) Faetano (3rd) Olimpija Ljubljana (4th) Rabotnicki (2nd) Port Talbot Town (3rd) Gefle IF (FP) Dnepr Mogilev (3rd) Metalurg Skopje (3rd) Glentoran (3rd) Randers (FP) Torpedo Zhodino (CR) Qarabağ (3rd) Portadown (CR) MYPA (FP)
Round and draw dates All draws held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland unless stated otherwise.
PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifyingFirst qualifying round21 June 20101 July 20108 July 2010Second qualifying round15 July 201022 July 2010Third qualifying round16 July 201029 July 20105 August 2010Play-offPlay-off round6 August 201019 August 201026 August 2010Group stageMatchday 127 August 2010(Monaco)16 September 2010Matchday 230 September 2010Matchday 321 October 2010Matchday 44 November 2010Matchday 51–2 December 2010Matchday 615–16 December 2010Knockout phaseRound of 3217 December 201017 February 201124 February 2011Round of 1610 March 201117 March 2011Quarter-finals18 March 20117 April 201114 April 2011Semi-finals28 April 20115 May 2011Final18 May 2011 at Aviva Stadium, Dublin
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.
Seeding