The 2020–21 UEFA Europa League was the 50th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 12th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
Villarreal defeated Manchester United in the final, played at the Stadion Gdańsk in Gdańsk, Poland, 11–10 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra time, winning the competition for the first time in club history. Villarreal thus automatically qualified for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League group stage and earned the right to play in the 2021 UEFA Super Cup. The stadium was originally appointed to host the 2020 UEFA Europa League final, but this was moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe in 2020.
As the title holders of the Europa League, Sevilla qualified for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, although they had already qualified before the final through their league performance. They were unable to defend their title as they advanced to the Champions League knockout stage, and were eliminated by Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16.
Association team allocation A total of 213 teams from all 55 UEFA member associations participated in the 2020–21 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 1–50 (except Liechtenstein) each had three teams qualify. Associations 51–55 each had two teams qualify (starting from this season, with association 51 losing one spot and association 55 gaining one spot). Liechtenstein had one team qualify (Liechtenstein organised only a domestic cup and no domestic league). Moreover, 55 teams eliminated from the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League were transferred to the Europa League (default number was 57, but two fewer teams competed in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League).
Association ranking For the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2019 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2014–15 to 2018–19.
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below: – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League
+Association ranking for 2020–21 UEFA Europa LeagueRankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes1103.5693285.462374.725471.927558.498650.549748.232839.900938.9001034.6001132.4331231.2501328.6751427.6001527.3751627.0251726.9001824.9251922.250RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes2022.12532121.8752220.9002320.2002419.2502519.2502619.0002718.6252817.5002915.9503015.6253115.0003213.50013310.5003348.000357.750367.500377.450RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes387.2753397.250407.125416.750425.625435.500445.250455.125465.000474.750484.125494.125504.000514.0002523.875532.500541.831550.666
Distribution The following was the access list for this season.
+Access list for 2020–21 UEFA Europa LeagueTeams entering in this roundTeams advancing from previous roundTeams transferred from Champions LeaguePreliminary round(16 teams)6 domestic cup winners from associations 50–55 7 domestic league runners-up from associations 49–55 3 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 48–50First qualifying round(94 teams)25 domestic cup winners from associations 25–49 30 domestic league runners-up from associations 18–48 (except Liechtenstein) 31 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 16–47 (except Liechtenstein)8 winners from preliminary roundSecond qualifying roundChampions Path(20 teams)17 teams eliminated from Champions League first qualifying round 3 teams eliminated from Champions League preliminary roundMain Path(72 teams)5 domestic cup winners from associations 20–24 2 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–17 3 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 13–15 9 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 7–15 2 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 5–6 (League Cup winners for France) 4 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 1–4 (League Cup winners for England)47 winners from first qualifying roundThird qualifying roundChampions Path(18 teams)10 winners from second qualifying round (Champions Path)8 teams eliminated from Champions League second qualifying round (Champions Path)Main Path(52 teams)6 domestic cup winners from associations 14–19 6 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–12 1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 636 winners from second qualifying round (Main Path)3 teams eliminated from Champions League second qualifying round (League Path)Play-off roundChampions Path(16 teams)9 winners from third qualifying round (Champions Path)5 teams eliminated from Champions League third qualifying round (Champions Path) 2 teams eliminated from Champions League second qualifying round (Champions Path)Main Path(26 teams)26 winners from third qualifying round (Main Path)Group stage(48 teams)13 domestic cup winners from associations 1–13 1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 5 4 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–48 winners from play-off round (Champions Path) 13 winners from play-off round (Main Path)4 teams eliminated from Champions League play-off round (Champions Path) 2 teams eliminated from Champions League play-off round (League Path) 3 teams eliminated from Champions League third qualifying round (League Path)Knockout phase(32 teams)12 group winners from group stage 12 group runners-up from group stage8 third-placed teams from Champions League group stage
Changes were made to the default access list since the Champions League title holders, Bayern Munich, and the Europa League title holders, Sevilla, which were guaranteed berths in the Champions League group stage, already qualified for the Champions League group stage via their domestic leagues, meaning there were fewer teams transferred from the Champions League due to changes in the Champions League access list. However, as a result of schedule delays to both the 2019–20 and 2020–21 European seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020–21 European season started before the conclusion of the 2019–20 European season. Therefore, the changes to the access list that should have been made based on the Champions League and Europa League title holders could not be certain until matches of the earlier qualifying rounds had been played and/or their draws had been made. UEFA used "adaptive re-balancing" to change the access list once the berths for the Champions League and Europa League title holders were determined, and rounds which had already been drawn or played by the time the title holders were determined would not be impacted (Regulations Article 3.07) The following changes were made: Since the Champions League title holder berth in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage was vacated, only five losers of the Champions League third qualifying round (Champions Path), instead of the original six, were transferred to the Europa League play-off round (Champions Path). In this case, two losers of Champions League second qualifying round (Champions Path), determined by draw, received a bye to the play-off round (Champions Path) instead of entering the third qualifying round (Champions Path). At the time when the draws for the preliminary round and first qualifying round were held on 9 and 10 August 2020, it was not certain whether the Europa League title holder berth in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage would be vacated as four of the quarter-finalists of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Bayer Leverkusen, Copenhagen and Basel, did not qualify for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage via their domestic leagues. Therefore, these draws proceeded as normal per the default access list, and the matches drawn, which were played on 18–21 and 25–27 August 2020, were not changed even though after the quarter-finals of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, which were played on 10–11 August 2020, it was confirmed all four semi-finalists, Sevilla, Manchester United, Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk, already qualified for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage via their domestic leagues, meaning the Europa League title holder berth would be vacated. As a result, only three losers of the Champions League third qualifying round (League Path), instead of the original four, were transferred to the Europa League group stage, and "adaptive re-balancing" started from the second qualifying round (Main Path), whose draw was held on 31 August 2020, and the following changes to the access list were made: The cup winners of association 13 (Czech Republic), entered the group stage instead of the third qualifying round (Main Path). The cup winners of associations 18 (Cyprus) and 19 (Serbia), entered the third qualifying round (Main Path) instead of the second qualifying round (Main Path).
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: 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". 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 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