The 2017–18 UEFA Europa League was the 47th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 9th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The final was played at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Décines-Charpieu, France. Atlético Madrid defeated Marseille to win their third Europa League title.
As winners, Atlético Madrid earned the right to play against the winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid, in the 2018 UEFA Super Cup. Moreover, they would also have been automatically qualified for the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage, but since they had already qualified through their league performance, the berth reserved was given to the third-placed team of the 2017–18 Ligue 1, the fifth-ranked association according to next season's access list.
Manchester United qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League as the title holders of Europa League. They were unable to defend their title as they qualified for the Champions League knockout phase, and were eliminated by Sevilla in the round of 16.
Association team allocation A total of 190 teams from all 55 UEFA member associations participated in the 2017–18 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 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, Manchester United qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League; the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League berth they would otherwise have earned for finishing 6th in the 2016–17 Premier League was vacated and not passed to another English team. Associations 52–54 each had two teams qualify. Liechtenstein and Kosovo (association 55) each had one team qualify (Liechtenstein organised only a domestic cup and no domestic league; Kosovo as per decision by the UEFA Executive Committee). Moreover, 33 teams eliminated from the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League were transferred to the Europa League.
Starting from this season, Gibraltar were granted two spots instead of one in the Europa League. Kosovo, who became a UEFA member on 3 May 2016, made their debut in the UEFA Europa League.
Association ranking For the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2016 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2011–12 to 2015–16.
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Europa League, as noted below: – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League – Vacated berth due to UEFA Europa League title holders playing in UEFA Champions League
RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes1105.7133280.177376.284470.439553.082652.749751.082844.883940.0001035.5631134.6001233.7751332.9251429.7001525.3831625.1001723.8751822.5001922.175RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes2020.00032119.8752219.2502318.6252418.6002517.3002614.8752714.6252814.1252913.1253013.1253112.0003210.5001339.8753349.125358.750368.125377.400RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes387.1253396.625406.000415.450425.375435.250444.875454.625464.500474.250484.125493.625503.583513.500521.0002530.999540.333550.0001
Distribution In the default access list, Manchester United entered the group stage (as the sixth-placed team of the 2016–17 Premier League). 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 (Czech Republic) are promoted from the third qualifying round to the group stage. The domestic cup winners of association 18 (Poland) are promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round. The domestic cup winners of associations 25 (Scotland) and 26 (Azerbaijan) are 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(100 teams)29 domestic cup winners from associations 27–55 36 domestic league runners-up from associations 18–54 (except Liechtenstein) 35 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 16–51 (except Liechtenstein)Second qualifying round(66 teams)8 domestic cup winners from associations 19–26 2 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–17 6 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 10–1550 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 moving 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 moving up one "place" if possible. For associations where a Europa League place was reserved for either the League Cup or end-of-season European competition play-offs 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.
Teams The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round: CW: Cup winners 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position LC: League Cup winners RW: Regular season winners PW: End-of-season European competition play-offs winners UCL: Transferred 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 CSKA Moscow Atlético Madrid Spartak Moscow RB Leipzig Celtic Sporting CP Napoli Borussia Dortmund Group stage Villarreal Vitória de Guimarães Lugano İstanbul Başakşehir Real Sociedad Lyon Fastav Zlín Young Boys 1. FC Köln Lokomotiv Moscow Copenhagen Nice Hertha BSC Zorya Luhansk Slavia Prague TSG Hoffenheim Arsenal Zulte Waregem Rijeka FCSB Atalanta Vitesse Astana Lazio Konyaspor Hapoel Be'er Sheva Play-off round BATE Borisov Rosenborg Sheriff Tiraspol Dynamo Kyiv Legia Warsaw Ludogorets Razgrad Partizan AEK Athens FH Viitorul Constanța Viktoria Plzeň Club Brugge Vardar Red Bull Salzburg Ajax Third qualifying round Athletic Bilbao Bordeaux PSV Eindhoven Universitatea Craiova SC Freiburg Zenit Saint Petersburg Fenerbahçe Austria Wien Everton Krasnodar Sion Dinamo Zagreb AC Milan Olimpik Donetsk Sparta Prague Arka Gdynia Braga Oleksandriya PAOK Marítimo Gent Panathinaikos Marseille Oostende Dinamo București Second qualifying round Utrecht Panionios Apollon Limassol Bnei Yehuda Galatasaray Astra Giurgiu Dynamo Brest Brøndby Luzern Sturm Graz Östersunds FK Aberdeen Mladá Boleslav Hajduk Split Brann Gabala First qualifying round Rheindorf Altach Ordabasy VPS Crusaders Osijek Botev Plovdiv Široki Brijeg Coleraine Jagiellonia Białystok Levski Sofia Željezničar Ballymena United Lech Poznań Dunav Ruse Sarajevo Levadia Tallinn AEK Larnaca Domžale Tirana Nõmme Kalju AEL Limassol Gorica Partizani Flora Shakhtyor Soligorsk Olimpija Ljubljana Skënderbeu Shirak Dinamo Minsk Slovan Bratislava Pelister Gandzasar Kapan AIK Ružomberok Shkëndija Pyunik IFK Norrköping Trenčín Rabotnicki KÍ Odd Vaduz Cork City NSÍ Haugesund Ferencváros Derry City B36 Maccabi Tel Aviv Videoton Shamrock Rovers Floriana Beitar Jerusalem Vasas Ventspils Balzan Lyngby Dacia Chișinău Jelgava Valletta Midtjylland Milsami Orhei Liepāja Bala Town Rangers Zaria Bălți Differdange 03 Connah's Quay Nomads St Johnstone Valur Fola Esch Bangor City Inter Baku Stjarnan Progrès Niederkorn Lincoln Red Imps Zira KR Sutjeska St Joseph's Red Star Belgrade Torpedo Kutaisi Zeta UE Santa Coloma Vojvodina Chikhura Sachkhere Mladost Podgorica Sant Julià Mladost Lučani Dinamo Batumi Trakai Tre Penne Kairat SJK Sūduva Folgore Irtysh HJK Atlantas Prishtina
Notably two teams took part in the competition that were not playing in their national top division, Tirana (2nd tier) and Vaduz (representing Liechtenstein, playing in Swiss second tier).
Notes
Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).
PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifyingFirst qualifying round19 June 201729 June 20176 July 2017Second qualifying round13 July 201720 July 2017Third qualifying round14 July 201727 July 20173 August 2017Play-offPlay-off round4 August 201717 August 201724 August 2017Group stageMatchday 125 August 2017(Monaco)14 September 2017Matchday 228 September 2017Matchday 319 October 2017Matchday 42 November 2017Matchday 523 November 2017Matchday 67 December 2017Knockout phaseRound of 3211 December 201715 February 201822 February 2018Round of 1623 February 20188 March 201815 March 2018Quarter-finals16 March 20185 April 201812 April 2018Semi-finals13 April 201826 April 20183 May 2018Final16 May 2018 at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Décines-Charpieu
Matches in the qualifying, play-off, and knockout rounds could also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts.
Qualifying rounds
In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2017 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
First qualifying round
Second qualifying round
Third qualifying round
Play-off round
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 25 August 2017, 13:00 CEST, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. The 48 teams were drawn into twelve groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on their 2017 UEFA club coefficients.