2015–16 UEFA Europa League

2015–16 UEFA Europa League

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

2015–16 UEFA Europa League

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

2015–16 UEFA Europa League

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 have 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 5th in the 2014–15 La Liga was vacated and not passed to another Spanish team. • Associations 52–53 each have two teams qualify. • Liechtenstein and Gibraltar each have one team qualify (Liechtenstein organises 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 gain an additional berth (the 2015–16 season will be the last where Fair Play berths are allocated to the Europa League). • Moreover, 33 teams eliminated from the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League are 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 may have additional teams participating in the Europa League, as noted below:

• (FP) – Additional berth via Fair Play ranking (Netherlands, England, Republic of Ireland) • (CL) – Additional teams transferred from Champions League • (EL) – Vacated berth due to Europa League title holders playing in Champions League

Rank	Association	Coeff.	Teams	Notes
1	Spain	97.713	3	−1(EL) +2(CL)
2	England	84.748	+1(FP) +1(CL)
3	Germany	81.641	+1(CL)
4	Italy	66.938	+1(CL)
5	Portugal	62.299	+2(CL)
6	France	56.500	+1(CL)
7	Russia	46.998
8	Netherlands	44.312	+1(FP) +1(CL)
9	Ukraine	40.966	+1(CL)
10	Belgium	36.300	+1(CL)
11	Turkey	34.200	+2(CL)
12	Greece	33.600	+2(CL)
13	Switzerland	33.225	+2(CL)
14	Austria	30.925	+2(CL)
15	Czech Republic	29.350	+2(CL)
16	Romania	27.257	+1(CL)
17	Israel	26.875
18	Cyprus	23.250	+1(CL)
Rank	Association	Coeff.	Teams	Notes
19	Denmark	21.300	3	+1(CL)
20	Croatia	19.625
21	Poland	18.875	+1(CL)
22	Belarus	18.625
23	Scotland	16.566	+1(CL)
24	Sweden	16.325
25	Bulgaria	15.625
26	Norway	14.275	+1(CL)
27	Serbia	14.125	+1(CL)
28	Hungary	11.625	+1(CL)
29	Slovenia	11.000
30	Slovakia	11.000
31	Moldova	10.375	+1(CL)
32	Azerbaijan	10.375	+1(CL)
33	Georgia	9.875
34	Kazakhstan	8.250
35	Bosnia and Herzegovina	7.500
36	Finland	7.175	+1(CL)
Rank	Association	Coeff.	Teams	Notes
37	Iceland	6.750	3
38	Latvia	6.250
39	Montenegro	6.000
40	Albania	5.500	+1(CL)
41	Lithuania	5.250
42	Macedonia	5.250
43	Republic of Ireland	5.125	+1(FP)
44	Luxembourg	4.875
45	Malta	4.833
46	Liechtenstein	4.500	1
47	Northern Ireland	3.625	3
48	Wales	3.000
49	Armenia	2.875
50	Estonia	2.875
51	Faroe Islands	2.125
52	San Marino	0.999	2
53	Andorra	0.833
54	Gibraltar	0.000	1

Distribution

In the default access list, Sevilla enter 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 is vacated, and the following changes to the default allocation system are made:

• The domestic cup winners of association 13 (Switzerland) are promoted from the third qualifying round to the group stage. • The domestic cup winners of association 18 (Cyprus) are promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round. • The domestic cup winners of associations 24 (Sweden) and 25 (Bulgaria) are promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.

	Teams entering in this round	Teams advancing from previous round	Teams transferred from Champions League
First qualifying round (102 teams)
Second qualifying round (66 teams)
Third qualifying round (58 teams)
Play-off round (44 teams)
Group stage (48 teams)
Knockout phase (32 teams)

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 (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 qualify for the Champions League, their Europa League place is vacated. As a result, the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions qualify for the Europa League, with the Europa League qualifiers which finish above them in the league moved up one "place" (the 2015–16 season will be the first with this particular arrangement where the domestic cup runners-up are no longer guaranteed a place in the Europa League in this scenario). • When the domestic cup winners also qualify for the Europa League through league position, their place through the league position is vacated. As a result, the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions qualify for the Europa League, with the Europa League qualifiers which finish above them in the league moved up one "place" if possible. • For associations where a Europa League place is reserved for the League Cup winners, they always qualify for the Europa League as the "lowest-placed" qualifier. If the League Cup winners have already qualified for European competitions through other methods, this reserved Europa League place is taken by the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions. • A Fair Play place is taken by the highest-ranked team in the domestic Fair Play table which have 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

<table><thead><tr><th>Round of 32</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Shakhtar Donetsk (CL GS)</td><td>Galatasaray (CL GS)</td><td>Bayer Leverkusen (CL GS)</td><td>Porto (CL GS)</td></tr><tr><td>Manchester United (CL GS)</td><td>SevillaTH (CL GS)</td><td>Olympiacos (CL GS)</td><td>Valencia (CL GS)</td></tr><tr><td>Group stage</td></tr><tr><td>Villarreal (6th)</td><td>Braga (4th)</td><td>Asteras Tripolis (3rd)</td><td>Lazio (CL PO)</td></tr><tr><td>Tottenham Hotspur (5th)</td><td>Marseille (4th)</td><td>Sion (CW)</td><td>Club Brugge (CL PO)</td></tr><tr><td>Liverpool (6th)</td><td>Lokomotiv Moscow (CW)</td><td>APOEL (CL PO)</td><td>Sporting CP (CL PO)</td></tr><tr><td>FC Augsburg (5th)</td><td>Groningen (CW)</td><td>Skënderbeu (CL PO)</td><td>Rapid Wien (CL PO)</td></tr><tr><td>Schalke 04 (6th)</td><td>Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (3rd)</td><td>Celtic (CL PO)</td><td>Monaco (CL PO)</td></tr><tr><td>Fiorentina (4th)</td><td>Anderlecht (3rd)</td><td>Basel (CL PO)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Napoli (5th)</td><td>Beşiktaş (3rd)</td><td>Partizan (CL PO)</td></tr><tr><td>Play-off round</td></tr><tr><td>Lech Poznań (CL Q3)</td><td>Steaua București (CL Q3)</td><td>Videoton (CL Q3)</td><td>Sparta Prague (CL Q3)</td></tr><tr><td>Milsami Orhei (CL Q3)</td><td>Midtjylland (CL Q3)</td><td>Red Bull Salzburg (CL Q3)</td><td>Ajax (CL Q3)</td></tr><tr><td>HJK (CL Q3)</td><td>Viktoria Plzeň (CL Q3)</td><td>Panathinaikos (CL Q3)</td><td>Fenerbahçe (CL Q3)</td></tr><tr><td>Qarabağ (CL Q3)</td><td>Molde (CL Q3)</td><td>Young Boys (CL Q3)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Third qualifying round</td></tr><tr><td>Athletic Bilbao (7th)</td><td>Bordeaux (6th)</td><td>Standard Liège (4th)</td><td>Jablonec (3rd)</td></tr><tr><td>Southampton (7th)</td><td>Krasnodar (3rd)</td><td>İstanbul Başakşehir (4th)</td><td>Târgu Mureș (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Borussia Dortmund (7th)</td><td>Rubin Kazan (5th)</td><td>Atromitos (4th)</td><td>Ironi Kiryat Shmona (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Sampdoria (7th)</td><td>AZ (3rd)</td><td>Zürich (3rd)</td><td>AEK Larnaca (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Vitória de Guimarães (5th)</td><td>Vitesse (PW)</td><td>Rheindorf Altach (3rd)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Belenenses (6th)</td><td>Zorya Luhansk (4th)</td><td>Sturm Graz (4th)</td></tr><tr><td>Saint-Étienne (5th)</td><td>Vorskla Poltava (5th)</td><td>Slovan Liberec (CW)</td></tr><tr><td>Second qualifying round</td></tr><tr><td>Charleroi (PW)</td><td>Wolfsberger AC (5th)</td><td>Copenhagen (CW)</td><td>Inverness CT (CW)</td></tr><tr><td>Trabzonspor (5th)</td><td>Mladá Boleslav (4th)</td><td>Rijeka (2nd)</td><td>IFK Göteborg (CW)</td></tr><tr><td>PAOK (5th)</td><td>Astra Giurgiu (4th)</td><td>Legia Warsaw (CW)</td><td>Cherno More (CW)</td></tr><tr><td>Thun (4th)</td><td>Hapoel Be'er Sheva (3rd)</td><td>Dinamo Minsk (2nd)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>First qualifying round</td></tr><tr><td>Botoșani (8th)</td><td>Debrecen (4th)</td><td>FH (2nd)</td><td>Vaduz (CW)</td></tr><tr><td>Beitar Jerusalem (4th)</td><td>Koper (CW)</td><td>Víkingur Reykjavík (4th)</td><td>Glentoran (CW)</td></tr><tr><td>Apollon Limassol (3rd)</td><td>Celje (2nd)</td><td>Jelgava (CW)</td><td>Linfield (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Omonia (4th)</td><td>Domžale (3rd)</td><td>Skonto (2nd)</td><td>Glenavon (3rd)</td></tr><tr><td>Brøndby (3rd)</td><td>Žilina (2nd)</td><td>Spartaks Jūrmala (6th)</td><td>Bala Town (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Randers (4th)</td><td>Slovan Bratislava (3rd)</td><td>Mladost Podgorica (CW)</td><td>Airbus UK Broughton (3rd)</td></tr><tr><td>Hajduk Split (3rd)</td><td>Spartak Trnava (4th)</td><td>Sutjeska (2nd)</td><td>Newtown (PW)</td></tr><tr><td>Lokomotiva Zagreb (4th)</td><td>Sheriff Tiraspol (CW)</td><td>Budućnost Podgorica (3rd)</td><td>Ulisses (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Jagiellonia Białystok (3rd)</td><td>Dacia Chișinău (2nd)</td><td>Laçi (CW)</td><td>Shirak (3rd)</td></tr><tr><td>Śląsk Wrocław (4th)</td><td>Saxan (5th)</td><td>Kukësi (2nd)</td><td>Alashkert (4th)</td></tr><tr><td>Shakhtyor Soligorsk (3rd)</td><td>Inter Baku (2nd)</td><td>Partizani (3rd)</td><td>Nõmme Kalju (CW)</td></tr><tr><td>Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino (4th)</td><td>Gabala (3rd)</td><td>Kruoja Pakruojis (2nd)</td><td>Sillamäe Kalev (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Aberdeen (2nd)</td><td>Neftçi (4th)</td><td>Atlantas (3rd)</td><td>Flora (3rd)</td></tr><tr><td>St Johnstone (4th)</td><td>Dinamo Tbilisi (CW)</td><td>Trakai (4th)</td><td>Víkingur Gøta (CW)</td></tr><tr><td>AIK (3rd)</td><td>Dinamo Batumi (2nd)</td><td>Rabotnicki (CW)</td><td>HB (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>IF Elfsborg (4th)</td><td>Tskhinvali (4th)</td><td>Shkëndija (3rd)</td><td>NSÍ (4th)</td></tr><tr><td>Beroe Stara Zagora (2nd)</td><td>Kairat (CW)</td><td>Renova (4th)</td><td>Juvenes/Dogana (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Litex Lovech (4th)</td><td>Aktobe (2nd)</td><td>St Patrick's Athletic (CW)</td><td>La Fiorita (3rd)</td></tr><tr><td>Rosenborg (2nd)</td><td>Ordabasy (4th)</td><td>Cork City (2nd)</td><td>Sant Julià (CW)</td></tr><tr><td>Odd (3rd)</td><td>Olimpic (CW)</td><td>Shamrock Rovers (4th)</td><td>Lusitanos (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Strømsgodset (4th)</td><td>Željezničar (2nd)</td><td>Differdange 03 (CW)</td><td>Europa (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Čukarički (CW)</td><td>Zrinjski Mostar (3rd)</td><td>F91 Dudelange (3rd)</td><td>Go Ahead Eagles (FP)</td></tr><tr><td>Red Star Belgrade (2nd)</td><td>SJK (2nd)</td><td>Progrès Niederkorn (4th)</td><td>West Ham United (FP)</td></tr><tr><td>Vojvodina (4th)</td><td>Lahti (3rd)</td><td>Birkirkara (CW)</td><td>UCD (FP)</td></tr><tr><td>Ferencváros (CW)</td><td>VPS (4th)</td><td>Valletta (2nd)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>MTK Budapest (3rd)</td><td>KR (CW)</td><td>Balzan (4th)</td></tr></tbody></table>

Notably two teams took part in the competition that were not playing in their national top-division. They were Go Ahead Eagles (2nd tier) and UCD (2nd tier).

Round and draw dates

2015–16 UEFA Europa League

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).

Phase	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Qualifying	First qualifying round	22 June 2015	2 July 2015	9 July 2015
Second qualifying round	16 July 2015	23 July 2015
Third qualifying round	17 July 2015	30 July 2015	6 August 2015
Play-off	Play-off round	7 August 2015	20 August 2015	27 August 2015
Group stage	Matchday 1	28 August 2015 (Monaco)	17 September 2015
Matchday 2	1 October 2015
Matchday 3	22 October 2015
Matchday 4	5 November 2015
Matchday 5	26 November 2015
Matchday 6	10 December 2015
Knockout phase	Round of 32	14 December 2015	18 February 2016	25 February 2016
Round of 16	26 February 2016	10 March 2016	17 March 2016
Quarter-finals	18 March 2016	7 April 2016	14 April 2016
Semi-finals	15 April 2016	28 April 2016	5 May 2016
Final	18 May 2016 at St. Jakob-Park, Basel

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.

Qualifying rounds

2015–16 UEFA Europa League

In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2015 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

The draw for the first and second qualifying round was held on 22 June 2015. With 102 teams involved, it was UEFA's biggest ever tournament draw. The first legs were played on 30 June and 2 July, and the second legs were played on 7 and 9 July 2015.

<table><thead><tr><th>Team 1</th><th>Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score</th><th>Team 2</th><th>1st leg</th><th>2nd leg</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Víkingur Reykjavík </td><td>2–3</td><td> Koper</td><td>0–1</td><td>2–2</td></tr><tr><td>Sheriff Tiraspol </td><td>0–3</td><td> Odd</td><td>0–3</td><td>0–0</td></tr><tr><td>Kukësi </td><td>2–0</td><td> Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino</td><td>2–0</td><td>0–0</td></tr><tr><td>Alashkert </td><td>2–2 (a)</td><td> St Johnstone</td><td>1–0</td><td>1–2</td></tr><tr><td>Jelgava </td><td>3–3 (a)</td><td> Litex Lovech</td><td>1–1</td><td>2–2</td></tr><tr><td>Newtown </td><td>4–2</td><td> Valletta</td><td>2–1</td><td>2–1</td></tr><tr><td>Dinamo Tbilisi </td><td>2–3</td><td> Gabala</td><td>2–1</td><td>0–2</td></tr><tr><td>Renova </td><td>1–5</td><td> Dacia Chișinău</td><td>0–1</td><td>1–4</td></tr><tr><td>Olimpic </td><td>1–1 (a)</td><td> Spartak Trnava</td><td>1–1</td><td>0–0</td></tr><tr><td>West Ham United </td><td>4–0</td><td> Lusitanos</td><td>3–0</td><td>1–0</td></tr><tr><td>Glenavon </td><td>1–5</td><td> Shakhtyor Soligorsk</td><td>1–2</td><td>0–3</td></tr><tr><td>Differdange 03 </td><td>4–3</td><td> Bala Town</td><td>3–1</td><td>1–2</td></tr><tr><td>Shkëndija </td><td>1–1 (a)</td><td> Aberdeen</td><td>1–1</td><td>0–0</td></tr><tr><td>Víkingur Gøta </td><td>0–2</td><td> Rosenborg</td><td>0–2</td><td>0–0</td></tr><tr><td>SJK </td><td>0–2</td><td> FH</td><td>0–1</td><td>0–1</td></tr><tr><td>Linfield </td><td>5–4</td><td> NSÍ</td><td>2–0</td><td>3–4</td></tr><tr><td>Brøndby </td><td>11–0</td><td> Juvenes/Dogana</td><td>9–0</td><td>2–0</td></tr><tr><td>MTK Budapest </td><td>1–3</td><td> Vojvodina</td><td>0–0</td><td>1–3</td></tr><tr><td>Skonto </td><td>4–1</td><td> St Patrick's Athletic</td><td>2–1</td><td>2–0</td></tr><tr><td>Lahti </td><td>2–7</td><td> IF Elfsborg</td><td>2–2</td><td>0–5</td></tr><tr><td>Atlantas </td><td>1–5</td><td> Beroe Stara Zagora</td><td>0–2</td><td>1–3</td></tr><tr><td>Debrecen </td><td>3–2</td><td> Sutjeska</td><td>3–0</td><td>0–2</td></tr><tr><td>Ordabasy </td><td>1–2</td><td> Beitar Jerusalem</td><td>0–0</td><td>1–2</td></tr><tr><td>Balzan </td><td>0–3</td><td> Željezničar</td><td>0–2</td><td>0–1</td></tr><tr><td>Sillamäe Kalev </td><td>3–7</td><td> Hajduk Split</td><td>1–1</td><td>2–6</td></tr><tr><td>Budućnost Podgorica </td><td>1–3</td><td> Spartaks Jūrmala</td><td>1–3</td><td>0–0</td></tr><tr><td>Red Star Belgrade </td><td>1–4</td><td> Kairat</td><td>0–2</td><td>1–2</td></tr><tr><td>Flora </td><td>1–2</td><td> Rabotnicki</td><td>1–0</td><td>0–2</td></tr><tr><td>Sant Julià </td><td>0–4</td><td> Randers</td><td>0–1</td><td>0–3</td></tr><tr><td>Saxan </td><td>0–4</td><td> Apollon Limassol</td><td>0–2</td><td>0–2</td></tr><tr><td>Progrès Niederkorn </td><td>0–3</td><td> Shamrock Rovers</td><td>0–0</td><td>0–3</td></tr><tr><td>Aktobe </td><td>0–1</td><td> Nõmme Kalju</td><td>0–1</td><td>0–0</td></tr><tr><td>Dinamo Batumi </td><td>1–2</td><td> Omonia</td><td>1–0</td><td>0–2</td></tr><tr><td>Kruoja Pakruojis </td><td>0–9</td><td> Jagiellonia Białystok</td><td>0–1</td><td>0–8</td></tr><tr><td>Shirak </td><td>3–2</td><td> Zrinjski Mostar</td><td>2–0</td><td>1–2</td></tr><tr><td>Cork City </td><td>2–3</td><td> KR</td><td>1–1</td><td>1–2 (a.e.t.)</td></tr><tr><td>Go Ahead Eagles </td><td>2–5</td><td> Ferencváros</td><td>1–1</td><td>1–4</td></tr><tr><td>Trakai </td><td>7–1</td><td> HB</td><td>3–0</td><td>4–1</td></tr><tr><td>Laçi </td><td>1–1 (a)</td><td> Inter Baku</td><td>1–1</td><td>0–0</td></tr><tr><td>VPS </td><td>2–6</td><td> AIK</td><td>2–2</td><td>0–4</td></tr><tr><td>UCD </td><td>2–2 (a)</td><td> F91 Dudelange</td><td>1–0</td><td>1–2</td></tr><tr><td>Domžale </td><td>0–1</td><td> Čukarički</td><td>0–1</td><td>0–0</td></tr><tr><td>Glentoran </td><td>1–7</td><td> Žilina</td><td>1–4</td><td>0–3</td></tr><tr><td>Strømsgodset </td><td>4–1</td><td> Partizani</td><td>3–1</td><td>1–0</td></tr><tr><td>Neftçi </td><td>3–3 (a)</td><td> Mladost Podgorica</td><td>2–2</td><td>1–1</td></tr><tr><td>Celje </td><td>1–4</td><td> Śląsk Wrocław</td><td>0–1</td><td>1–3</td></tr><tr><td>La Fiorita </td><td>1–10</td><td> Vaduz</td><td>0–5</td><td>1–5</td></tr><tr><td>Birkirkara </td><td>3–1</td><td> Ulisses</td><td>0–0</td><td>3–1</td></tr><tr><td>Airbus UK Broughton </td><td>3–5</td><td> Lokomotiva Zagreb</td><td>1–3</td><td>2–2</td></tr><tr><td>Botoșani </td><td>4–2</td><td> Tskhinvali</td><td>1–1</td><td>3–1</td></tr><tr><td>Europa </td><td>0–9</td><td> Slovan Bratislava</td><td>0–6</td><td>0–3</td></tr></tbody></table>

Second qualifying round

The first legs were played on 16 July, and the second legs were played on 21 and 23 July 2015.

<table><thead><tr><th>Team 1</th><th>Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score</th><th>Team 2</th><th>1st leg</th><th>2nd leg</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Kukësi </td><td>4–3</td><td> Mladost Podgorica</td><td>0–1</td><td>4–2</td></tr><tr><td>Lokomotiva Zagreb </td><td>2–7</td><td> PAOK</td><td>2–1</td><td>0–6</td></tr><tr><td>Slovan Bratislava </td><td>6–1</td><td> UCD</td><td>1–0</td><td>5–1</td></tr><tr><td>Ferencváros </td><td>0–3</td><td> Željezničar</td><td>0–1</td><td>0–2</td></tr><tr><td>Vaduz </td><td>5–1</td><td> Nõmme Kalju</td><td>3–1</td><td>2–0</td></tr><tr><td>Beroe Stara Zagora </td><td>0–1</td><td> Brøndby</td><td>0–1</td><td>0–0</td></tr><tr><td>KR </td><td>0–4</td><td> Rosenborg</td><td>0–1</td><td>0–3</td></tr><tr><td>AIK </td><td>4–0</td><td> Shirak</td><td>2–0</td><td>2–0</td></tr><tr><td>Legia Warsaw </td><td>4–0</td><td> Botoșani</td><td>1–0</td><td>3–0</td></tr><tr><td>Dacia Chișinău </td><td>3–6</td><td> Žilina</td><td>1–2</td><td>2–4</td></tr><tr><td>Shamrock Rovers </td><td>1–4</td><td> Odd</td><td>0–2</td><td>1–2</td></tr><tr><td>Hapoel Be'er Sheva </td><td>2–3</td><td> Thun</td><td>1–1</td><td>1–2</td></tr><tr><td>Kairat </td><td>4–2</td><td> Alashkert</td><td>3–0</td><td>1–2</td></tr><tr><td>Vojvodina </td><td>4–1</td><td> Spartaks Jūrmala</td><td>3–0</td><td>1–1</td></tr><tr><td>Jagiellonia Białystok </td><td>0–1</td><td> Omonia</td><td>0–0</td><td>0–1</td></tr><tr><td>Jelgava </td><td>1–2</td><td> Rabotnicki</td><td>1–0</td><td>0–2</td></tr><tr><td>Čukarički </td><td>1–2</td><td> Gabala</td><td>1–0</td><td>0–2</td></tr><tr><td>Shakhtyor Soligorsk </td><td>0–3</td><td> Wolfsberger AC</td><td>0–1</td><td>0–2</td></tr><tr><td>Trabzonspor </td><td>3–1</td><td> Differdange 03</td><td>1–0</td><td>2–1</td></tr><tr><td>Charleroi </td><td>9–2</td><td> Beitar Jerusalem</td><td>5–1</td><td>4–1</td></tr><tr><td>Randers </td><td>0–1</td><td> IF Elfsborg</td><td>0–0</td><td>0–1 (a.e.t.)</td></tr><tr><td>Mladá Boleslav </td><td>2–2 (a)</td><td> Strømsgodset</td><td>1–2</td><td>1–0</td></tr><tr><td>Cherno More </td><td>1–5</td><td> Dinamo Minsk</td><td>1–1</td><td>0–4</td></tr><tr><td>Rijeka </td><td>2–5</td><td> Aberdeen</td><td>0–3</td><td>2–2</td></tr><tr><td>West Ham United </td><td>1–1 (5–3 p)</td><td> Birkirkara</td><td>1–0</td><td>0–1 (a.e.t.)</td></tr><tr><td>Apollon Limassol </td><td>4–0</td><td> Trakai</td><td>4–0</td><td>0–0</td></tr><tr><td>Koper </td><td>4–6</td><td> Hajduk Split</td><td>3–2</td><td>1–4</td></tr><tr><td>FH </td><td>3–4</td><td> Inter Baku</td><td>1–2</td><td>2–2 (a.e.t.)</td></tr><tr><td>Inverness CT </td><td>0–1</td><td> Astra Giurgiu</td><td>0–1</td><td>0–0</td></tr><tr><td>Spartak Trnava </td><td>5–2</td><td> Linfield</td><td>2–1</td><td>3–1</td></tr><tr><td>Copenhagen </td><td>5–1</td><td> Newtown</td><td>2–0</td><td>3–1</td></tr><tr><td>Śląsk Wrocław </td><td>0–2</td><td> IFK Göteborg</td><td>0–0</td><td>0–2</td></tr><tr><td>Skonto </td><td>4–11</td><td> Debrecen</td><td>2–2</td><td>2–9</td></tr></tbody></table>

Third qualifying round

The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 17 July 2015. The first legs were played on 29 and 30 July, and the second legs were played on 6 August 2015.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Zürich	1–2	Dinamo Minsk	0–1	1–1 (a.e.t.)
Kairat	3–2	Aberdeen	2–1	1–1
Žilina	3–3 (a)	Vorskla Poltava	2–0	1–3 (a.e.t.)
AZ	4–1	İstanbul Başakşehir	2–0	2–1
Bordeaux	4–0	AEK Larnaca	3–0	1–0
PAOK	2–1	Spartak Trnava	1–0	1–1
Târgu Mureș	2–4	Saint-Étienne	0–3	2–1
Debrecen	3–6	Rosenborg	2–3	1–3
Jablonec	3–3 (a)	Copenhagen	0–1	3–2
Thun	2–2 (a)	Vaduz	0–0	2–2
Belenenses	2–1	IFK Göteborg	2–1	0–0
Sampdoria	2–4	Vojvodina	0–4	2–0
Kukësi	0–4	Legia Warsaw	0–3	0–1
Charleroi	0–5	Zorya Luhansk	0–2	0–3
Sturm Graz	3–4	Rubin Kazan	2–3	1–1
IF Elfsborg	2–3	Odd	2–1	0–2
Southampton	5–0	Vitesse	3–0	2–0
Slovan Liberec	5–1	Ironi Kiryat Shmona	2–1	3–0
Apollon Limassol	1–2	Gabala	1–1	0–1
Wolfsberger AC	0–6	Borussia Dortmund	0–1	0–5
AIK	1–4	Atromitos	1–3	0–1
Standard Liège	3–1	Željezničar	2–1	1–0
West Ham United	3–4	Astra Giurgiu	2–2	1–2
Athletic Bilbao	2–0	Inter Baku	2–0	0–0
Rabotnicki	2–1	Trabzonspor	1–0	1–1 (a.e.t.)
Brøndby	2–2 (a)	Omonia	0–0	2–2
Rheindorf Altach	6–2	Vitória de Guimarães	2–1	4–1
Hajduk Split	4–0	Strømsgodset	2–0	2–0
Krasnodar	5–3	Slovan Bratislava	2–0	3–3

Play-off round

2015–16 UEFA Europa League

The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 August 2015. The first legs were played on 20 August, and the second legs were played on 27 August 2015.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Rheindorf Altach	0–1	Belenenses	0–1	0–0
Žilina	3–3 (a)	Athletic Bilbao	3–2	0–1
Steaua București	1–3	Rosenborg	0–3	1–0
Zorya Luhansk	2–4	Legia Warsaw	0–1	2–3
Viktoria Plzeň	5–0	Vojvodina	3–0	2–0
Milsami Orhei	1–2	Saint-Étienne	1–1	0–1
Ajax	1–0	Jablonec	1–0	0–0
Young Boys	0–4	Qarabağ	0–1	0–3
Molde	3–3 (a)	Standard Liège	2–0	1–3
PAOK	6–1	Brøndby	5–0	1–1
Bordeaux	2–2 (a)	Kairat	1–0	1–2
Lech Poznań	4–0	Videoton	3–0	1–0
Dinamo Minsk	2–2 (3–2 p)	Red Bull Salzburg	2–0	0–2 (a.e.t.)
Rabotnicki	1–2	Rubin Kazan	1–1	0–1
Slovan Liberec	2–0	Hajduk Split	1–0	1–0
Atromitos	0–4	Fenerbahçe	0–1	0–3
Gabala	2–2 (a)	Panathinaikos	0–0	2–2
Southampton	1–2	Midtjylland	1–1	0–1
Astra Giurgiu	3–4	AZ	3–2	0–2
Odd	5–11	Borussia Dortmund	3–4	2–7
Krasnodar	5–1	HJK	5–1	0–0
Sparta Prague	6–4	Thun	3–1	3–3

Group stage

2015–16 UEFA Europa League

The draw for the group stage was held in Monaco on 28 August 2015. The 48 teams were drawn into twelve groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on their 2015 UEFA club coefficients.

In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 32, where they were joined by the eight third-placed teams of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage. The matchdays were 17 September, 1 October, 22 October, 5 November, 26 November, and 10 December 2015.

A total of 24 national associations were represented in the group stage. FC Augsburg, Belenenses, Gabala, Groningen, Midtjylland, Monaco, Sion and Skënderbeu made their debut appearances in the group stage (although Monaco have appeared in the UEFA Cup group stage). Skënderbeu Korçë were the first team from Albania to play in the group stage of any UEFA club competition.

Tiebreakers
The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied in the order given to determine the rankings (regulations Article 16.01):

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MOL	FEN	AJX	CEL
1	Molde	6	3	2	1	10	7	+3	11	Advance to knockout phase		—	0–2	1–1	3–1
2	Fenerbahçe	6	2	3	1	7	6	+1	9		1–3	—	1–0	1–1
3	Ajax	6	1	4	1	6	6	0	7			1–1	0–0	—	2–2
4	Celtic	6	0	3	3	8	12	−4	3		1–2	2–2	1–2	—

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LIV	SIO	RUB	BOR
1	Liverpool	6	2	4	0	6	4	+2	10	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–1	1–1	2–1
2	Sion	6	2	3	1	5	5	0	9		0–0	—	2–1	1–1
3	Rubin Kazan	6	1	3	2	6	6	0	6			0–1	2–0	—	0–0
4	Bordeaux	6	0	4	2	5	7	−2	4		1–1	0–1	2–2	—

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		KRA	DOR	PAOK	QAB
1	Krasnodar	6	4	1	1	9	4	+5	13	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–0	2–1	2–1
2	Borussia Dortmund	6	3	1	2	10	5	+5	10		2–1	—	0–1	4–0
3	PAOK	6	1	4	1	3	3	0	7			0–0	1–1	—	0–0
4	Gabala	6	0	2	4	2	12	−10	2		0–3	1–3	0–0	—

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		NAP	MID	BRU	LEG
1	Napoli	6	6	0	0	22	3	+19	18	Advance to knockout phase		—	5–0	5–0	5–2
2	Midtjylland	6	2	1	3	6	12	−6	7		1–4	—	1–1	1–0
3	Club Brugge	6	1	2	3	4	11	−7	5			0–1	1–3	—	1–0
4	Legia Warsaw	6	1	1	4	4	10	−6	4		0–2	1–0	1–1	—

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		RW	VIL	PLZ	DMI
1	Rapid Wien	6	5	0	1	10	6	+4	15	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–1	3–2	2–1
2	Villarreal	6	4	1	1	12	6	+6	13		1–0	—	1–0	4–0
3	Viktoria Plzeň	6	1	1	4	8	10	−2	4			1–2	3–3	—	2–0
4	Dinamo Minsk	6	1	0	5	3	11	−8	3		0–1	1–2	1–0	—

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BRA	MAR	LIB	GRO
1	Braga	6	4	1	1	7	4	+3	13	Advance to knockout phase		—	3–2	2–1	1–0
2	Marseille	6	4	0	2	12	7	+5	12		1–0	—	0–1	2–1
3	Slovan Liberec	6	2	1	3	6	8	−2	7			0–1	2–4	—	1–1
4	Groningen	6	0	2	4	2	8	−6	2		0–0	0–3	0–1	—

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LAZ	SET	DNI	ROS
1	Lazio	6	4	2	0	13	6	+7	14	Advance to knockout phase		—	3–2	3–1	3–1
2	Saint-Étienne	6	2	3	1	10	7	+3	9		1–1	—	3–0	2–2
3	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	6	2	1	3	6	8	−2	7			1–1	0–1	—	3–0
4	Rosenborg	6	0	2	4	4	12	−8	2		0–2	1–1	0–1	—

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LMO	SPO	BES	SKE
1	Lokomotiv Moscow	6	3	2	1	12	7	+5	11	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–4	1–1	2–0
2	Sporting CP	6	3	1	2	14	11	+3	10		1–3	—	3–1	5–1
3	Beşiktaş	6	2	3	1	7	6	+1	9			1–1	1–1	—	2–0
4	Skënderbeu	6	1	0	5	4	13	−9	3		0–3	3–0	0–1	—

Group I

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BSL	FIO	LCH	BEL
1	Basel	6	4	1	1	10	5	+5	13	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–2	2–0	1–2
2	Fiorentina	6	3	1	2	11	6	+5	10		1–2	—	1–2	1–0
3	Lech Poznań	6	1	2	3	2	6	−4	5			0–1	0–2	—	0–0
4	Belenenses	6	1	2	3	2	8	−6	5		0–2	0–4	0–0	—

Group J

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TOT	AND	MON	QAR
1	Tottenham Hotspur	6	4	1	1	12	6	+6	13	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–1	4–1	3–1
2	Anderlecht	6	3	1	2	8	6	+2	10		2–1	—	1–1	2–1
3	Monaco	6	1	3	2	5	9	−4	6			1–1	0–2	—	1–0
4	Qarabağ	6	1	1	4	4	8	−4	4		0–1	1–0	1–1	—

Group K

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SCH	SPP	AT	APO
1	Schalke 04	6	4	2	0	15	3	+12	14	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–2	4–0	1–0
2	Sparta Prague	6	3	3	0	10	5	+5	12		1–1	—	1–0	2–0
3	Asteras Tripolis	6	1	1	4	4	12	−8	4			0–4	1–1	—	2–0
4	APOEL	6	1	0	5	3	12	−9	3		0–3	1–3	2–1	—

Group L

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ATH	AUG	PAR	AZ
1	Athletic Bilbao	6	4	1	1	16	8	+8	13	Advance to knockout phase		—	3–1	5–1	2–2
2	FC Augsburg	6	3	0	3	12	11	+1	9		2–3	—	1–3	4–1
3	Partizan	6	3	0	3	10	14	−4	9			0–2	1–3	—	3–2
4	AZ	6	1	1	4	8	13	−5	4		2–1	0–1	1–2	—

Knockout phase

2015–16 UEFA Europa League

In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:

• In the draw for the round of 32, the twelve group winners and the four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage with the better group records were seeded, and the twelve group runners-up and the other four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association could not be drawn against each other. • In the draws for the round of 16 onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other.

Round of 32

The draw for the round of 32 was held on 14 December 2015. The first legs were played on 16 and 18 February, and the second legs were played on 24 and 25 February 2016.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Valencia	10–0	Rapid Wien	6–0	4–0
Fiorentina	1–4	Tottenham Hotspur	1–1	0–3
Borussia Dortmund	3–0	Porto	2–0	1–0
Fenerbahçe	3–1	Lokomotiv Moscow	2–0	1–1
Anderlecht	3–1	Olympiacos	1–0	2–1 (a.e.t.)
Midtjylland	3–6	Manchester United	2–1	1–5
FC Augsburg	0–1	Liverpool	0–0	0–1
Sparta Prague	4–0	Krasnodar	1–0	3–0
Galatasaray	2–4	Lazio	1–1	1–3
Sion	3–4	Braga	1–2	2–2
Shakhtar Donetsk	3–0	Schalke 04	0–0	3–0
Marseille	1–2	Athletic Bilbao	0–1	1–1
Sevilla	3–1	Molde	3–0	0–1
Sporting CP	1–4	Bayer Leverkusen	0–1	1–3
Villarreal	2–1	Napoli	1–0	1–1
Saint-Étienne	4–4 (a)	Basel	3–2	1–2

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 26 February 2016. The first legs were played on 10 March, and the second legs were played on 17 March 2016.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Shakhtar Donetsk	4–1	Anderlecht	3–1	1–0
Basel	0–3	Sevilla	0–0	0–3
Villarreal	2–0	Bayer Leverkusen	2–0	0–0
Athletic Bilbao	2–2 (a)	Valencia	1–0	1–2
Liverpool	3–1	Manchester United	2–0	1–1
Sparta Prague	4–1	Lazio	1–1	3–0
Borussia Dortmund	5–1	Tottenham Hotspur	3–0	2–1
Fenerbahçe	2–4	Braga	1–0	1–4

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 18 March 2016. The first legs were played on 7 April, and the second legs were played on 14 April 2016.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Braga	1–6	Shakhtar Donetsk	1–2	0–4
Villarreal	6–3	Sparta Prague	2–1	4–2
Athletic Bilbao	3–3 (4–5 p)	Sevilla	1–2	2–1 (a.e.t.)
Borussia Dortmund	4–5	Liverpool	1–1	3–4

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals was held on 15 April 2016. The first legs were played on 28 April, and the second legs were played on 5 May 2016.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Shakhtar Donetsk	3–5	Sevilla	2–2	1–3
Villarreal	1–3	Liverpool	1–0	0–3

Final

The final was played on 18 May 2016 at the St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland. The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the semi-final draw.

Statistics

2015–16 UEFA Europa League

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals	Minutes played
1	Aritz Aduriz	Athletic Bilbao	10	907
2	Cédric Bakambu	Villarreal	9	942
3	Kevin Gameiro	Sevilla	8	674
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang	Borussia Dortmund	772
5	Raúl Bobadilla	FC Augsburg	6	412
Erik Lamela	Tottenham Hotspur	572
7	Aboubakar Oumarou	Partizan	5	331
Dries Mertens	Napoli	417
José Callejón	Napoli	448
Franco Di Santo	Schalke 04	451
David Lafata	Sparta Prague	558
Aleksandr Samedov	Lokomotiv Moscow	720
Marco Reus	Borussia Dortmund	742

Top assists

Rank	Player	Team	Assists	Minutes played
1	Denis Suárez	Villarreal	6	966
2	Bořek Dočkal	Sparta Prague	5	1029
3	Son Heung-min	Tottenham Hotspur	4	504
Nolan Roux	Saint-Étienne	538
Vitolo	Sevilla	634
Beñat	Athletic Bilbao	733
Henrikh Mkhitaryan	Borussia Dortmund	902
Rafa Silva	Braga	1070
9	15 players	3	—N/a

Squad of the Season

The UEFA technical study group selected the following 18 players as the squad of the tournament.

Pos.	Name	Team
GK	David Soria	Sevilla
David de Gea	Manchester United
DF	Toby Alderweireld	Tottenham Hotspur
Mats Hummels	Borussia Dortmund
Adil Rami	Sevilla
Mariano	Sevilla
Darijo Srna	Shakhtar Donetsk
MF	Emre Can	Liverpool
Gonzalo Castro	Borussia Dortmund
Philippe Coutinho	Liverpool
Éver Banega	Sevilla
Grzegorz Krychowiak	Sevilla
Steven Nzonzi	Sevilla
Marlos	Shakhtar Donetsk
FW	Aritz Aduriz	Athletic Bilbao
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang	Borussia Dortmund
Cédric Bakambu	Villarreal
Kevin Gameiro	Sevilla