The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League was the 45th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the seventh season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The final was played between Liverpool and Sevilla at the St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland, and won by Sevilla, their fifth title (extending their own record) and third win in a row (also a tournament record).
Sevilla initially started the 2015–16 European club season in the Champions League as the Europa League title holders, but qualified for the Europa League by finishing third in the Champions League group stage, and successfully defended their title. As the winners of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, they qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid, in the 2016 UEFA Super Cup.
Format changes The UEFA Executive Committee held in May and September 2013 approved the following changes to the UEFA Europa League starting from the 2015–16 season (for the three-year cycle until the 2017–18 season): The title holders of the UEFA Europa League will qualify for the UEFA Champions League, and therefore no Europa League berth will be reserved for them (although it is still possible for them to defend their title if they drop down to the Europa League after Champions League elimination). All associations will have a maximum of three teams entering the Europa League (excluding those transferred from the Champions League); previously associations 7–9 each had four entrants (the only exception is when both the Champions League title holders and the Europa League title holders are from the same top three ranked association and do not qualify for either the Champions League or Europa League through domestic competitions, and the fourth-placed team of their association enter the Europa League instead of the Champions League because a maximum of five teams from one association can enter the Champions League, meaning in this case, four teams from their association enter the Europa League). The number of teams directly qualifying for the group stage will be increased to 16 teams (from the top 12 associations); previously six teams (from the top six associations) directly qualified for the group stage. Should the domestic cup winners qualify for the Champions League or Europa League through league performance, the cup runners-up will no longer be granted a spot in the Europa League, and the spot will be given to the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions.
Association team allocation A total of 191 teams from all 54 UEFA member associations participated in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League. The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association: Associations 1–51 (except Liechtenstein) each had three teams qualify. As the winners of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, Sevilla qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League; the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League berth they would otherwise have earned for finishing fifth in the 2014–15 La Liga was vacated and not passed to another Spanish team. Associations 52–53 each had two teams qualify. Liechtenstein and Gibraltar each had one team qualify (Liechtenstein organised only a domestic cup and no domestic league; Gibraltar as per decision by the UEFA Executive Committee). The top three associations of the 2014–15 UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking each gained an additional berth (the 2015–16 season was the last where Fair Play berths were allocated to the Europa League). Moreover, 33 teams eliminated from the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League were transferred to the Europa League.
Association ranking For the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2014 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2009–10 to 2013–14.
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Europa League, as noted below: – Additional berth via Fair Play ranking (Netherlands, England, Republic of Ireland) – Additional teams transferred from Champions League – Vacated berth due to Europa League title holders playing in Champions League
RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes197.7133284.748381.641466.938562.299656.500746.998844.312940.9661036.3001134.2001233.6001333.2251430.9251529.3501627.2571726.8751823.250RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes1921.30032019.6252118.8752218.6252316.5662416.3252515.6252614.2752714.1252811.6252911.0003011.0003110.3753210.375339.875348.250357.500367.175RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes376.7503386.250396.000405.500415.250425.250435.125444.875454.833464.5001473.6253483.000492.875502.875512.125520.9992530.833540.0001
Distribution In the default access list, Sevilla entered the group stage (as the fifth-placed team of the 2014–15 La Liga). However, since they qualified for the Champions League as the Europa League title holders, the spot which they qualified for in the Europa League group stage was vacated, and the following changes to the default allocation system were made: The domestic cup winners of association 13 (Switzerland) were promoted from the third qualifying round to the group stage. The domestic cup winners of association 18 (Cyprus) were promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round. The domestic cup winners of associations 24 (Sweden) and 25 (Bulgaria) were promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.
Teams entering in this roundTeams advancing from previous roundTeams transferred from Champions LeagueFirst qualifying round(102 teams)29 domestic cup winners from associations 26–54 35 domestic league runners-up from associations 18–53 (except Liechtenstein) 35 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 16–51 (except Liechtenstein) 3 teams which qualified via Fair Play rankingSecond qualifying round(66 teams)7 domestic cup winners from associations 19–25 2 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–17 6 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 10–1551 winners from first qualifying roundThird qualifying round(58 teams)5 domestic cup winners from associations 14–18 9 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–15 5 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 5–9 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)33 winners from second qualifying roundPlay-off round(44 teams)29 winners from third qualifying round15 losers from Champions League third qualifying roundGroup stage(48 teams)13 domestic cup winners from associations 1–13 1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 4 2 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–3 (except Europa League title holders)22 winners from play-off round10 losers from Champions League play-off roundKnockout phase(32 teams)12 group winners from group stage 12 group runners-up from group stage8 third-placed teams from 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 (regulations Articles 3.03 and 3.04): 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, 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" (the 2015–16 season was the first with this particular arrangement where the domestic cup runners-up were no longer guaranteed a place in the Europa League in this scenario). 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. 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 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: TH: Title holders CW: Cup winners 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position LC: League Cup winners PW: End-of-season Europa League play-off winners FP: Fair Play CL: Transferred from Champions League GS: Third-placed teams from group stage PO: Losers from play-off round Q3: Losers from third qualifying round
Round of 32 Shakhtar Donetsk Galatasaray Bayer Leverkusen Porto Manchester United SevillaTH Olympiacos Valencia Group stage Villarreal Braga Asteras Tripolis Lazio Tottenham Hotspur Marseille Sion Club Brugge Liverpool Lokomotiv Moscow APOEL Sporting CP FC Augsburg Groningen Skënderbeu Rapid Wien Schalke 04 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Celtic Monaco Fiorentina Anderlecht Basel Napoli Beşiktaş Partizan Play-off round Lech Poznań Steaua București Videoton Sparta Prague Milsami Orhei Midtjylland Red Bull Salzburg Ajax HJK Viktoria Plzeň Panathinaikos Fenerbahçe Qarabağ Molde Young Boys Third qualifying round Athletic Bilbao Bordeaux Standard Liège Jablonec Southampton Krasnodar İstanbul Başakşehir Târgu Mureș Borussia Dortmund Rubin Kazan Atromitos Ironi Kiryat Shmona Sampdoria AZ Zürich AEK Larnaca Vitória de Guimarães Vitesse Rheindorf Altach Belenenses Zorya Luhansk Sturm Graz Saint-Étienne Vorskla Poltava Slovan Liberec Second qualifying round Charleroi Wolfsberger AC Copenhagen Inverness CT Trabzonspor Mladá Boleslav Rijeka IFK Göteborg PAOK Astra Giurgiu Legia Warsaw Cherno More Thun Hapoel Be'er Sheva Dinamo Minsk First qualifying round Botoșani Debrecen FH Vaduz Beitar Jerusalem Koper Víkingur Reykjavík Glentoran Apollon Limassol Celje Jelgava Linfield Omonia Domžale Skonto Glenavon Brøndby Žilina Spartaks Jūrmala Bala Town Randers Slovan Bratislava Mladost Podgorica Airbus UK Broughton Hajduk Split Spartak Trnava Sutjeska Newtown Lokomotiva Zagreb Sheriff Tiraspol Budućnost Podgorica Ulisses Jagiellonia Białystok Dacia Chișinău Laçi Shirak Śląsk Wrocław Saxan Kukësi Alashkert Shakhtyor Soligorsk Inter Baku Partizani Nõmme Kalju Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino Gabala Kruoja Pakruojis Sillamäe Kalev Aberdeen Neftçi Atlantas Flora St Johnstone Dinamo Tbilisi Trakai Víkingur Gøta AIK Dinamo Batumi Rabotnicki HB IF Elfsborg Tskhinvali Shkëndija NSÍ Beroe Stara Zagora Kairat Renova Juvenes/Dogana Litex Lovech Aktobe St Patrick's Athletic La Fiorita Rosenborg Ordabasy Cork City Sant Julià Odd Olimpic Shamrock Rovers Lusitanos Strømsgodset Željezničar Differdange 03 Europa Čukarički Zrinjski Mostar F91 Dudelange Go Ahead Eagles Red Star Belgrade SJK Progrès Niederkorn West Ham United Vojvodina Lahti Birkirkara UCD Ferencváros VPS Valletta MTK Budapest KR Balzan