2020–21 UEFA Europa League

2020–21 UEFA Europa League

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

2020–21 UEFA Europa League

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:

• (UCL) – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League

Rank	Association	Coeff.	Teams	Notes
1	Spain	103.569	3
2	England	85.462	+1 (UCL)
3	Italy	74.725
4	Germany	71.927
5	France	58.498
6	Russia	50.549	+2 (UCL)
7	Portugal	48.232	+1 (UCL)
8	Belgium	39.900	+2 (UCL)
9	Ukraine	38.900	+2 (UCL)
10	Turkey	34.600	+1 (UCL)
11	Netherlands	32.433	+2 (UCL)
12	Austria	31.250	+2 (UCL)
13	Czech Republic	28.675	+2 (UCL)
14	Greece	27.600	+2 (UCL)
15	Croatia	27.375	+2 (UCL)
16	Denmark	27.025
17	Switzerland	26.900	+1 (UCL)
18	Cyprus	24.925	+1 (UCL)
19	Serbia	22.250	+1 (UCL)
Rank	Association	Coeff.	Teams	Notes
20	Scotland	22.125	3	+1 (UCL)
21	Belarus	21.875	+1 (UCL)
22	Sweden	20.900	+1 (UCL)
23	Norway	20.200	+1 (UCL)
24	Kazakhstan	19.250	+1 (UCL)
25	Poland	19.250	+1 (UCL)
26	Azerbaijan	19.000	+1 (UCL)
27	Israel	18.625	+1 (UCL)
28	Bulgaria	17.500	+1 (UCL)
29	Romania	15.950	+1 (UCL)
30	Slovakia	15.625	+1 (UCL)
31	Slovenia	15.000	+1 (UCL)
32	Liechtenstein	13.500	1
33	Hungary	10.500	3
34	North Macedonia	8.000	+1 (UCL)
35	Moldova	7.750	+1 (UCL)
36	Albania	7.500	+1 (UCL)
37	Republic of Ireland	7.450	+1 (UCL)
Rank	Association	Coeff.	Teams	Notes
38	Finland	7.275	3	+1 (UCL)
39	Iceland	7.250	+1 (UCL)
40	Bosnia and Herzegovina	7.125	+1 (UCL)
41	Lithuania	6.750	+1 (UCL)
42	Latvia	5.625	+1 (UCL)
43	Luxembourg	5.500	+1 (UCL)
44	Armenia	5.250	+1 (UCL)
45	Malta	5.125	+1 (UCL)
46	Estonia	5.000	+1 (UCL)
47	Georgia	4.750	+1 (UCL)
48	Wales	4.125	+1 (UCL)
49	Montenegro	4.125	+1 (UCL)
50	Faroe Islands	4.000	+1 (UCL)
51	Gibraltar	4.000	2	+1 (UCL)
52	Northern Ireland	3.875	+1 (UCL)
53	Kosovo	2.500	+1 (UCL)
54	Andorra	1.831	+1 (UCL)
55	San Marino	0.666	+1 (UCL)

Distribution

The following was the access list for this season.

	Teams entering in this round	Teams advancing from previous round	Teams transferred from Champions League
Preliminary round (16 teams)
First qualifying round (94 teams)
Second qualifying round	Champions Path (20 teams)
Main Path (72 teams)
Third qualifying round	Champions Path (18 teams)
Main Path (52 teams)
Play-off round	Champions Path (16 teams)
Main Path (26 teams)
Group stage (48 teams)
Knockout phase (32 teams)

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

In early April 2020, UEFA announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the deadline for entering the tournament had been postponed until further notice. UEFA also sent a letter to all member associations that domestic leagues must be completed in full without ending prematurely in order to qualify for European competitions. After meeting with the 55 UEFA associations on 21 April 2020, UEFA strongly recommended them to finish domestic top league and cup competitions, although in some special cases where it was not possible, UEFA developed guidelines concerning participation in its club competitions in case of a cancelled league or cup. After the UEFA Executive Committee meeting on 23 April 2020, UEFA announced that if a domestic competition was prematurely terminated for legitimate reasons in accordance with conditions related to public health or economic problems, the national associations concerned were required to select their participating teams for the 2020–21 UEFA club competitions based on sporting merit in the 2019–20 domestic competitions, and UEFA reserved the right to refuse their admission if UEFA deemed the termination of the competitions not legitimate, or the selection procedure not objective, transparent and non-discriminatory, or the team was perceived by the public as qualifying unfairly. A suspended domestic competition could also be restarted with a different format from the original one in a manner which would still facilitate qualification on sporting merit. All leagues were initially to communicate to UEFA by 25 May 2020 whether they intended to restart their competitions, but this deadline was later extended. On 17 June 2020, UEFA announced that associations had to enter their teams by 3 August 2020. If a cup was abandoned or not completed by the UEFA registration deadline, the Europa League places were distributed by league positions only.

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 of the previous season • LC: League Cup winners • RW: Regular season winners • PW: End-of-season Europa League play-offs winners • UCL: Transferred from the Champions League • GS: Third-placed teams from the group stage • CH/LP PO: Losers from the play-off round (Champions/League Path) • CH/LP Q3: Losers from the third qualifying round (Champions/League Path) • CH/LP Q2: Losers from the second qualifying round (Champions/League Path) • Q1: Losers from the first qualifying round • PR: Losers from the preliminary round (F: final; SF: semi-finals) • Abd-: League positions of abandoned season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe as determined by the national association; all teams were subject to approval by UEFA as per the guidelines for entry to European competitions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round were divided into Champions Path (CH) and Main Path (MP).

<table><thead><tr><th>Entry round</th><th>Teams</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>R32</td><td>Red Bull Salzburg (UCL GS)</td><td>Olympiacos (UCL GS)</td><td>Krasnodar (UCL GS)</td><td>Dynamo Kyiv (UCL GS)</td></tr><tr><td>Shakhtar Donetsk (UCL GS)</td><td>Ajax (UCL GS)</td><td>Club Brugge (UCL GS)</td><td>Manchester United (UCL GS)</td></tr><tr><td>GS</td><td>Villarreal (5th)</td><td>TSG Hoffenheim (6th)</td><td>Sivasspor (4th)</td><td>Maccabi Tel Aviv (UCL CH PO)</td></tr><tr><td>Real Sociedad (6th/CW)</td><td>Lille (Abd-4th)</td><td>Feyenoord (Abd-3rd)</td><td>Gent (UCL LP PO)</td></tr><tr><td>Arsenal (CW)</td><td>Nice (Abd-5th)</td><td>Wolfsberger AC (3rd)</td><td>PAOK (UCL LP PO)</td></tr><tr><td>Leicester City (5th)</td><td>CSKA Moscow (4th)</td><td>Sparta Prague (CW)</td><td>Benfica (UCL LP Q3)</td></tr><tr><td>Napoli (CW)</td><td>Braga (3rd)</td><td>Slavia Prague (UCL CH PO)</td><td>AZ (UCL LP Q3)</td></tr><tr><td>Roma (5th)</td><td>Antwerp (CW)</td><td>Omonia (UCL CH PO)</td><td>Rapid Wien (UCL LP Q3)</td></tr><tr><td>Bayer Leverkusen (5th)</td><td>Zorya Luhansk (3rd)</td><td>Molde (UCL CH PO)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>PO</td><td>CH</td><td>Dinamo Zagreb (UCL CH Q3)</td><td>Young Boys (UCL CH Q3)</td><td>Red Star Belgrade (UCL CH Q3)</td><td>Dynamo Brest (UCL CH Q3)</td></tr><tr><td>Qarabağ (UCL CH Q3)</td><td>Ludogorets Razgrad (UCL CH Q2)</td><td>Tirana (UCL CH Q2)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Q3</td><td>CH</td><td>Celtic (UCL CH Q2)</td><td>Legia Warsaw (UCL CH Q2)</td><td>CFR Cluj (UCL CH Q2)</td><td>Celje (UCL CH Q2)</td></tr><tr><td>Sheriff Tiraspol (UCL CH Q2)</td><td>Sarajevo (UCL CH Q2)</td><td>Sūduva (UCL CH Q2)</td><td>KÍ (UCL CH Q2)</td></tr><tr><td>MP</td><td>Rostov (5th)</td><td>Sporting CP (4th)</td><td>Charleroi (Abd-3rd)</td><td>Desna Chernihiv (4th)</td></tr><tr><td>Alanyaspor (5th)</td><td>PSV Eindhoven (Abd-4th)</td><td>LASK (4th)</td><td>AEK Athens (3rd)</td></tr><tr><td>Rijeka (CW)</td><td>SønderjyskE (CW)</td><td>St. Gallen (2nd)</td><td>Anorthosis Famagusta (Abd-2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Vojvodina (CW)</td><td>Beşiktaş (UCL LP Q2)</td><td>Viktoria Plzeň (UCL LP Q2)</td><td>Lokomotiva Zagreb (UCL LP Q2)</td></tr><tr><td>Q2</td><td>CH</td><td>Djurgårdens IF (UCL Q1)</td><td>Astana (UCL Q1)</td><td>Slovan Bratislava (UCL Q1)</td><td>Sileks (UCL Q1)</td></tr><tr><td>Dundalk (UCL Q1)</td><td>KuPS (UCL Q1)</td><td>KR (UCL Q1)</td><td>Riga (UCL Q1)</td></tr><tr><td>Fola Esch (UCL Q1)</td><td>Ararat-Armenia (UCL Q1)</td><td>Floriana (UCL Q1)</td><td>Flora (UCL Q1)</td></tr><tr><td>Dinamo Tbilisi (UCL Q1)</td><td>Connah's Quay Nomads (UCL Q1)</td><td>Budućnost Podgorica (UCL Q1)</td><td>Europa (UCL Q1)</td></tr><tr><td>Linfield (UCL Q1)</td><td>Drita (UCL PR F)</td><td>Inter Club d'Escaldes (UCL PR SF)</td><td>Tre Fiori (UCL PR SF)</td></tr><tr><td>MP</td><td>Granada (7th)</td><td>Tottenham Hotspur (6th)</td><td>Milan (6th)</td><td>VfL Wolfsburg (7th)</td></tr><tr><td>Reims (Abd-6th)</td><td>Dynamo Moscow (6th)</td><td>Rio Ave (5th)</td><td>Standard Liège (Abd-5th)</td></tr><tr><td>Kolos Kovalivka (PW)</td><td>Galatasaray (6th)</td><td>Willem II (Abd-5th)</td><td>Hartberg (PW)</td></tr><tr><td>Jablonec (4th)</td><td>Slovan Liberec (PW)</td><td>Aris (5th)</td><td>OFI (6th)</td></tr><tr><td>Osijek (4th)</td><td>Hajduk Split (5th)</td><td>Copenhagen (2nd)</td><td>Basel (3rd)</td></tr><tr><td>Rangers (Abd-2nd)</td><td>BATE Borisov (CW)</td><td>IFK Göteborg (CW)</td><td>Viking (CW)</td></tr><tr><td>Kaisar (CW)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Q1</td><td>AGF (PW)</td><td>Servette (4th)</td><td>APOEL (Abd-3rd)</td><td>Apollon Limassol (Abd-4th)</td></tr><tr><td>Partizan (2nd)</td><td>TSC (4th)</td><td>Motherwell (Abd-3rd)</td><td>Aberdeen (Abd-4th)</td></tr><tr><td>Shakhtyor Soligorsk (3rd)</td><td>Dinamo Minsk (4th)</td><td>Malmö FF (2nd)</td><td>Hammarby IF (3rd)</td></tr><tr><td>Bodø/Glimt (2nd)</td><td>Rosenborg (3rd)</td><td>Kairat (2nd)</td><td>Ordabasy (3rd)</td></tr><tr><td>Cracovia (CW)</td><td>Lech Poznań (2nd)</td><td>Piast Gliwice (3rd)</td><td>Neftçi (Abd-2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Keşla (Abd-3rd)</td><td>Sumgayit (Abd-4th)</td><td>Hapoel Be'er Sheva (CW)</td><td>Maccabi Haifa (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Beitar Jerusalem (3rd)</td><td>Lokomotiv Plovdiv (CW)</td><td>CSKA Sofia (2nd)</td><td>Slavia Sofia (PW)</td></tr><tr><td>FCSB (CW)</td><td>Universitatea Craiova (2nd)</td><td>Botoșani (4th)</td><td>Žilina (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>DAC Dunajská Streda (3rd)</td><td>Ružomberok (PW)</td><td>Mura (CW)</td><td>Maribor (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Olimpija Ljubljana (3rd)</td><td>Vaduz (Abd-Cup)</td><td>Honvéd (CW)</td><td>MOL Fehérvár (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Puskás Akadémia (3rd)</td><td>Shkëndija (Abd-3rd)</td><td>Renova (Abd-4th)</td><td>Shkupi (Abd-5th)</td></tr><tr><td>Petrocub Hîncești (CW)</td><td>Sfîntul Gheorghe (2nd)</td><td>Dinamo-Auto (4th)</td><td>Teuta (CW)</td></tr><tr><td>Kukësi (2nd)</td><td>Laçi (3rd)</td><td>Shamrock Rovers (CW)</td><td>Bohemians (3rd)</td></tr><tr><td>Derry City (4th)</td><td>Ilves (CW)</td><td>Inter Turku (2nd)</td><td>Honka (PW)</td></tr><tr><td>Víkingur Reykjavík (CW)</td><td>Breiðablik (2nd)</td><td>FH (3rd)</td><td>Željezničar (Abd-2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Zrinjski Mostar (Abd-3rd)</td><td>Borac Banja Luka (Abd-4th)</td><td>Žalgiris (2nd)</td><td>Riteriai (3rd)</td></tr><tr><td>Kauno Žalgiris (4th)</td><td>RFS (CW)</td><td>Ventspils (3rd)</td><td>Valmiera (4th)</td></tr><tr><td>Progrès Niederkorn (Abd-2nd)</td><td>Differdange 03 (Abd-3rd)</td><td>Union Titus Pétange (Abd-4th)</td><td>Noah (CW)</td></tr><tr><td>Alashkert (3rd)</td><td>Shirak (4th)</td><td>Valletta (Abd-2nd)</td><td>Hibernians (Abd-3rd)</td></tr><tr><td>Sirens (Abd-4th)</td><td>FCI Levadia (2nd)</td><td>Nõmme Kalju (3rd)</td><td>Paide Linnameeskond (4th)</td></tr><tr><td>Saburtalo Tbilisi (CW)</td><td>Dinamo Batumi (2nd)</td><td>Locomotive Tbilisi (4th)</td><td>The New Saints (Abd-2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>Bala Town (Abd-3rd)</td><td>Sutjeska (Abd-2nd)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>PR</td><td>Barry Town United (Abd-4th)</td><td>Iskra (Abd-3rd)</td><td>Zeta (Abd-4th)</td><td>HB (CW)</td></tr><tr><td>B36 (2nd)</td><td>NSÍ (3rd)</td><td>St Joseph's (Abd-2nd)</td><td>Lincoln Red Imps (Abd-3rd)</td></tr><tr><td>Glentoran (CW)</td><td>Coleraine (Abd-2nd)</td><td>Prishtina (CW)</td><td>Gjilani (2nd)</td></tr><tr><td>FC Santa Coloma (2nd)</td><td>Engordany (3rd)</td><td>Tre Penne (Abd-3rd)</td><td>La Fiorita (Abd-4th)</td></tr></tbody></table>

Round and draw dates

2020–21 UEFA Europa League

The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland). The tournament would originally have started in June 2020, but was delayed to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. The new schedule was announced by the UEFA Executive Committee on 17 June 2020. All qualifying matches, including the play-off round, were played as single leg matches, hosted by one of the teams decided by draw. Matches were typically played on Thursdays, but could also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays if there were scheduling conflicts.

The group stage draw was originally to be held at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, Greece, but UEFA announced on 9 September 2020 that it would be relocated to Nyon.

Phase	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Qualifying	Preliminary round	9 August 2020	20 August 2020
First qualifying round	10 August 2020	27 August 2020
Second qualifying round	31 August 2020	17 September 2020
Third qualifying round	1 September 2020	24 September 2020
Play-off	Play-off round	18 September 2020	1 October 2020
Group stage	Matchday 1	2 October 2020	22 October 2020
Matchday 2	29 October 2020
Matchday 3	5 November 2020
Matchday 4	26 November 2020
Matchday 5	3 December 2020
Matchday 6	10 December 2020
Knockout phase	Round of 32	14 December 2020	18 February 2021	25 February 2021
Round of 16	26 February 2021	11 March 2021	18 March 2021
Quarter-finals	19 March 2021	8 April 2021	15 April 2021
Semi-finals	29 April 2021	6 May 2021
Final	26 May 2021 at Stadion Gdańsk, Gdańsk

The original schedule of the competition, as planned before the pandemic, was as follows (all draws were to be held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

2020–21 UEFA Europa League

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the following special rules were applicable to the competition:

• If there were travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented the away team from entering the home team's country or returning to their own country, the match could be played at a neutral country or the away team's country that allowed the match to take place. • If a team refused to play or was considered responsible for a match not taking place, they were considered to have forfeited the match. If both teams refused to play or were considered responsible for a match not taking place, both teams were disqualified. • If a team had players and/or officials tested positive for SARS-2 coronavirus preventing them from playing the match before the deadline set by UEFA, they were considered to have forfeited the match.

On 24 September 2020, UEFA announced that five substitutions would be permitted from the group stage onward, with a sixth allowed in extra time. However, each team was only given three opportunities to make substitutions during matches, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time. Consequently, a maximum of twelve players could be listed on the substitute bench.

All qualifying matches were played behind closed doors. Following the partial return of fans at the 2020 UEFA Super Cup, UEFA announced on 1 October 2020 that matches from the group stage onward could be played at 30% capacity if allowed by the local authorities. Video assistant referees were not introduced for the group stage as planned (now to start in 2021–22), but were still used in the knockout phase.

Qualifying rounds

Preliminary round

The draw for the preliminary round was held on 9 August 2020, 13:00 CEST. The matches were played on 18, 20 and 21 August 2020. The match between Lincoln Red Imps and Prishtina on 18 August was postponed due to the whole Prishtina team being put into quarantine after eight players had tested positive for SARS-2 coronavirus. The game was rescheduled to 22 August, with Prishtina using UEFA regulations to sign on emergency loan players from rival Kosovar Superleague clubs Feronikel, Llapi, Trepca '89, Flamurtar, Ballkani, Drenica and Vushtrria in order to fulfil the fixture. However the rearranged fixture also had to be cancelled after 7 more players tested positive for coronavirus, and Lincoln Red Imps were awarded a technical 3–0 win by UEFA.

<table><thead><tr><th>Home team</th><th>Score</th><th>Away team</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Tre Penne </td><td>1–3</td><td> Gjilani</td></tr><tr><td>Lincoln Red Imps </td><td>3–0</td><td> Prishtina</td></tr><tr><td>FC Santa Coloma </td><td>0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p)</td><td> Iskra</td></tr><tr><td>Engordany </td><td>1–3</td><td> Zeta</td></tr><tr><td>Glentoran </td><td>1–0</td><td> HB</td></tr><tr><td>St Joseph's </td><td>1–2</td><td> B36</td></tr><tr><td>Coleraine </td><td>1–0</td><td> La Fiorita</td></tr><tr><td>NSÍ </td><td>5–1</td><td> Barry Town United</td></tr></tbody></table>

First qualifying round

The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 10 August 2020, 13:00 CEST. Most matches were played on 25, 26 and 27 August 2020, however two matches were postponed to 9 and 10 September 2020.

<table><thead><tr><th>Home team</th><th>Score</th><th>Away team</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Maribor </td><td>1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p)</td><td> Coleraine</td></tr><tr><td>Olimpija Ljubljana </td><td>2–1 (a.e.t.)</td><td> Víkingur Reykjavík</td></tr><tr><td>B36 </td><td>4–3 (a.e.t.)</td><td> FCI Levadia</td></tr><tr><td>Riteriai </td><td>3–2 (a.e.t.)</td><td> Derry City</td></tr><tr><td>Žalgiris </td><td>2–0</td><td> Paide Linnameeskond</td></tr><tr><td>Honvéd </td><td>2–1 (a.e.t.)</td><td> Inter Turku</td></tr><tr><td>Zrinjski Mostar </td><td>3–0</td><td> Differdange 03</td></tr><tr><td>Valletta </td><td>0–1</td><td> Bala Town</td></tr><tr><td>Lincoln Red Imps </td><td>2–0</td><td> Union Titus Pétange</td></tr><tr><td>Rosenborg </td><td>4–2</td><td> Breiðablik</td></tr><tr><td>Aberdeen </td><td>6–0</td><td> NSÍ</td></tr><tr><td>Motherwell </td><td>5–1</td><td> Glentoran</td></tr><tr><td>Hammarby IF </td><td>3–0</td><td> Puskás Akadémia</td></tr><tr><td>Malmö FF </td><td>2–0</td><td> Cracovia</td></tr><tr><td>Kukësi </td><td>2–1</td><td> Slavia Sofia</td></tr><tr><td>Ventspils </td><td>2–1</td><td> Dinamo-Auto</td></tr><tr><td>Shakhtyor Soligorsk </td><td>0–0 (a.e.t.) (1–4 p)</td><td> Sfîntul Gheorghe</td></tr><tr><td>Dinamo Minsk </td><td>0–2</td><td> Piast Gliwice</td></tr><tr><td>AGF </td><td>5–2</td><td> Honka</td></tr><tr><td>Shamrock Rovers </td><td>2–2 (a.e.t.) (12–11 p)</td><td> Ilves</td></tr><tr><td>FH </td><td>0–2</td><td> DAC Dunajská Streda</td></tr><tr><td>The New Saints </td><td>3–1 (a.e.t.)</td><td> Žilina</td></tr><tr><td>Vaduz </td><td>0–2</td><td> Hibernians</td></tr><tr><td>Servette </td><td>3–0</td><td> Ružomberok</td></tr><tr><td>Neftçi </td><td>2–1</td><td> Shkupi</td></tr><tr><td>Keşla </td><td>0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p)</td><td> Laçi</td></tr><tr><td>Hapoel Be'er Sheva </td><td>3–0</td><td> Dinamo Batumi</td></tr><tr><td>Nõmme Kalju </td><td>0–4</td><td> Mura</td></tr><tr><td>Bodø/Glimt </td><td>6–1</td><td> Kauno Žalgiris</td></tr><tr><td>MOL Fehérvár </td><td>1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p)</td><td> Bohemians</td></tr><tr><td>Apollon Limassol </td><td>5–1</td><td> Saburtalo Tbilisi</td></tr><tr><td>Maccabi Haifa </td><td>3–1</td><td> Željezničar</td></tr><tr><td>Alashkert </td><td>0–1</td><td> Renova</td></tr><tr><td>Partizan </td><td>1–0</td><td> RFS</td></tr><tr><td>Lech Poznań </td><td>3–0</td><td> Valmiera</td></tr><tr><td>Ordabasy </td><td>1–2</td><td> Botoșani</td></tr><tr><td>FCSB </td><td>3–0</td><td> Shirak</td></tr><tr><td>Progrès Niederkorn </td><td>3–0</td><td> Zeta</td></tr><tr><td>CSKA Sofia </td><td>2–1</td><td> Sirens</td></tr><tr><td>Petrocub Hîncești </td><td>0–2</td><td> TSC</td></tr><tr><td>Sumgayit </td><td>0–2</td><td> Shkëndija</td></tr><tr><td>Kairat </td><td>4–1</td><td> Noah</td></tr><tr><td>Locomotive Tbilisi </td><td>2–1</td><td> Universitatea Craiova</td></tr><tr><td>Teuta </td><td>2–0</td><td> Beitar Jerusalem</td></tr><tr><td>Borac Banja Luka </td><td>1–0</td><td> Sutjeska</td></tr><tr><td>Iskra </td><td>0–1</td><td> Lokomotiv Plovdiv</td></tr><tr><td>Gjilani </td><td>0–2 (a.e.t.)</td><td> APOEL</td></tr></tbody></table>

Second qualifying round

The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 31 August 2020, 13:00 CEST. The matches were played on 16, 17 and 18 September 2020.

<table><thead><tr><th>Home team</th><th>Score</th><th>Away team</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Champions Path</td></tr><tr><td>Inter Club d'Escaldes </td><td>0–1</td><td> Dundalk</td></tr><tr><td>KuPS </td><td>1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)</td><td> Slovan Bratislava</td></tr><tr><td>Linfield </td><td>0–1</td><td> Floriana</td></tr><tr><td>Riga </td><td>1–0</td><td> Tre Fiori</td></tr><tr><td>Djurgårdens IF </td><td>2–1</td><td> Europa</td></tr><tr><td>Flora </td><td>2–1</td><td> KR</td></tr><tr><td>Sileks </td><td>0–2</td><td> Drita</td></tr><tr><td>Astana </td><td>0–1</td><td> Budućnost Podgorica</td></tr><tr><td>Ararat-Armenia </td><td>4–3 (a.e.t.)</td><td> Fola Esch</td></tr><tr><td>Connah's Quay Nomads </td><td>0–1</td><td> Dinamo Tbilisi</td></tr><tr><td>Main Path</td></tr><tr><td>Hammarby IF </td><td>0–3</td><td> Lech Poznań</td></tr><tr><td>Kaisar </td><td>1–4</td><td> APOEL</td></tr><tr><td>Mura </td><td>3–0</td><td> AGF</td></tr><tr><td>Maccabi Haifa </td><td>2–1</td><td> Kairat</td></tr><tr><td>Locomotive Tbilisi </td><td>2–1</td><td> Dynamo Moscow</td></tr><tr><td>Neftçi </td><td>1–3</td><td> Galatasaray</td></tr><tr><td>B36 </td><td>2–2 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)</td><td> The New Saints</td></tr><tr><td>Coleraine </td><td>2–2 (a.e.t.) (0–3 p)</td><td> Motherwell</td></tr><tr><td>IFK Göteborg </td><td>1–2</td><td> Copenhagen</td></tr><tr><td>TSC </td><td>6–6 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p)</td><td> FCSB</td></tr><tr><td>Teuta </td><td>0–4</td><td> Granada</td></tr><tr><td>OFI </td><td>0–1</td><td> Apollon Limassol</td></tr><tr><td>Progrès Niederkorn </td><td>0–5</td><td> Willem II</td></tr><tr><td>Viking </td><td>0–2</td><td> Aberdeen</td></tr><tr><td>Standard Liège </td><td>2–0</td><td> Bala Town</td></tr><tr><td>Sfîntul Gheorghe </td><td>0–1 (a.e.t.)</td><td> Partizan</td></tr><tr><td>CSKA Sofia </td><td>2–0</td><td> BATE Borisov</td></tr><tr><td>Botoșani </td><td>0–1</td><td> Shkëndija</td></tr><tr><td>Lokomotiv Plovdiv </td><td>1–2</td><td> Tottenham Hotspur</td></tr><tr><td>Laçi </td><td>1–2</td><td> Hapoel Be'er Sheva</td></tr><tr><td>Aris </td><td>1–2</td><td> Kolos Kovalivka</td></tr><tr><td>Honvéd </td><td>0–2</td><td> Malmö FF</td></tr><tr><td>Ventspils </td><td>1–5</td><td> Rosenborg</td></tr><tr><td>Riteriai </td><td>1–5</td><td> Slovan Liberec</td></tr><tr><td>Lincoln Red Imps </td><td>0–5</td><td> Rangers</td></tr><tr><td>Servette </td><td>0–1</td><td> Reims</td></tr><tr><td>Borac Banja Luka </td><td>0–2</td><td> Rio Ave</td></tr><tr><td>Renova </td><td>0–1</td><td> Hajduk Split</td></tr><tr><td>Olimpija Ljubljana </td><td>2–3 (a.e.t.)</td><td> Zrinjski Mostar</td></tr><tr><td>Kukësi </td><td>0–4</td><td> VfL Wolfsburg</td></tr><tr><td>DAC Dunajská Streda </td><td>5–3 (a.e.t.)</td><td> Jablonec</td></tr><tr><td>Piast Gliwice </td><td>3–2</td><td> Hartberg</td></tr><tr><td>Osijek </td><td>1–2</td><td> Basel</td></tr><tr><td>Shamrock Rovers </td><td>0–2</td><td> Milan</td></tr><tr><td>Hibernians </td><td>0–1</td><td> MOL Fehérvár</td></tr><tr><td>Bodø/Glimt </td><td>3–1</td><td> Žalgiris</td></tr></tbody></table>

Third qualifying round

The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 1 September 2020, 13:00 CEST. The matches were played on 23 and 24 September 2020.

<table><thead><tr><th>Home team</th><th>Score</th><th>Away team</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Champions Path</td></tr><tr><td>Tirana </td><td>Bye</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>Ludogorets Razgrad </td><td>Bye</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>Sarajevo </td><td>2–1</td><td> Budućnost Podgorica</td></tr><tr><td>Sheriff Tiraspol </td><td>1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–5 p)</td><td> Dundalk</td></tr><tr><td>Ararat-Armenia </td><td>1–0 (a.e.t.)</td><td> Celje</td></tr><tr><td>Riga </td><td>0–1</td><td> Celtic</td></tr><tr><td>KuPS </td><td>2–0</td><td> Sūduva</td></tr><tr><td>Legia Warsaw </td><td>2–0</td><td> Drita</td></tr><tr><td>KÍ </td><td>6–1</td><td> Dinamo Tbilisi</td></tr><tr><td>Djurgårdens IF </td><td>0–1</td><td> CFR Cluj</td></tr><tr><td>Floriana </td><td>0–0 (a.e.t.) (2–4 p)</td><td> Flora</td></tr><tr><td>Main Path</td></tr><tr><td>Mura </td><td>1–5</td><td> PSV Eindhoven</td></tr><tr><td>Malmö FF </td><td>5–0</td><td> Lokomotiva Zagreb</td></tr><tr><td>Sporting CP </td><td>1–0</td><td> Aberdeen</td></tr><tr><td>Charleroi </td><td>2–1 (a.e.t.)</td><td> Partizan</td></tr><tr><td>Rosenborg </td><td>1–0</td><td> Alanyaspor</td></tr><tr><td>VfL Wolfsburg </td><td>2–0</td><td> Desna Chernihiv</td></tr><tr><td>MOL Fehérvár </td><td>0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–1 p)</td><td> Reims</td></tr><tr><td>Granada </td><td>2–0</td><td> Locomotive Tbilisi</td></tr><tr><td>Rijeka </td><td>2–0 (a.e.t.)</td><td> Kolos Kovalivka</td></tr><tr><td>St. Gallen </td><td>0–1</td><td> AEK Athens</td></tr><tr><td>LASK </td><td>7–0</td><td> DAC Dunajská Streda</td></tr><tr><td>Milan </td><td>3–2</td><td> Bodø/Glimt</td></tr><tr><td>Shkëndija </td><td>1–3</td><td> Tottenham Hotspur</td></tr><tr><td>Standard Liège </td><td>2–1 (a.e.t.)</td><td> Vojvodina</td></tr><tr><td>Rostov </td><td>1–2</td><td> Maccabi Haifa</td></tr><tr><td>Willem II </td><td>0–4</td><td> Rangers</td></tr><tr><td>Apollon Limassol </td><td>0–5</td><td> Lech Poznań</td></tr><tr><td>Beşiktaş </td><td>1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–4 p)</td><td> Rio Ave</td></tr><tr><td>FCSB </td><td>0–2</td><td> Slovan Liberec</td></tr><tr><td>Hapoel Be'er Sheva </td><td>3–0</td><td> Motherwell</td></tr><tr><td>Copenhagen </td><td>3–0</td><td> Piast Gliwice</td></tr><tr><td>Basel </td><td>3–2</td><td> Anorthosis Famagusta</td></tr><tr><td>Galatasaray </td><td>2–0</td><td> Hajduk Split</td></tr><tr><td>Viktoria Plzeň </td><td>3–0</td><td> SønderjyskE</td></tr><tr><td>APOEL </td><td>2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p)</td><td> Zrinjski Mostar</td></tr><tr><td>CSKA Sofia </td><td>3–1</td><td> B36</td></tr></tbody></table>

Play-off round

2020–21 UEFA Europa League

The draw for the play-off round was held on 18 September 2020, 14:00 CEST. The matches were played on 1 October 2020.

<table><thead><tr><th>Home team</th><th>Score</th><th>Away team</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Champions Path</td></tr><tr><td>Young Boys </td><td>3–0</td><td> Tirana</td></tr><tr><td>Dinamo Zagreb </td><td>3–1</td><td> Flora</td></tr><tr><td>CFR Cluj </td><td>3–1</td><td> KuPS</td></tr><tr><td>Ararat-Armenia </td><td>1–2</td><td> Red Star Belgrade</td></tr><tr><td>Dynamo Brest </td><td>0–2</td><td> Ludogorets Razgrad</td></tr><tr><td>Sarajevo </td><td>0–1</td><td> Celtic</td></tr><tr><td>Legia Warsaw </td><td>0–3</td><td> Qarabağ</td></tr><tr><td>Dundalk </td><td>3–1</td><td> KÍ</td></tr><tr><td>Main Path</td></tr><tr><td>Hapoel Be'er Sheva </td><td>1–0</td><td> Viktoria Plzeň</td></tr><tr><td>Basel </td><td>1–3</td><td> CSKA Sofia</td></tr><tr><td>Rio Ave </td><td>2–2 (a.e.t.) (8–9 p)</td><td> Milan</td></tr><tr><td>Rosenborg </td><td>0–2</td><td> PSV Eindhoven</td></tr><tr><td>Sporting CP </td><td>1–4</td><td> LASK</td></tr><tr><td>Copenhagen </td><td>0–1</td><td> Rijeka</td></tr><tr><td>AEK Athens </td><td>2–1</td><td> VfL Wolfsburg</td></tr><tr><td>Charleroi </td><td>1–2</td><td> Lech Poznań</td></tr><tr><td>Malmö FF </td><td>1–3</td><td> Granada</td></tr><tr><td>Tottenham Hotspur </td><td>7–2</td><td> Maccabi Haifa</td></tr><tr><td>Slovan Liberec </td><td>1–0</td><td> APOEL</td></tr><tr><td>Standard Liège </td><td>3–1</td><td> MOL Fehérvár</td></tr><tr><td>Rangers </td><td>2–1</td><td> Galatasaray</td></tr></tbody></table>

Group stage

2020–21 UEFA Europa League

A total of 48 teams played in the group phase: 18 teams which entered in this phase, the 21 winners of the play-off round (eight from Champions Path, thirteen from Main Path), the six losers of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League play-off round (four from Champions Path, two from League Path), and the three League Path losers of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.

The draw for the group phase was held on 2 October 2020, 13:00 CEST. 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 2020 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 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group phase.

Antwerp, Granada, Leicester City, Omonia and Sivasspor made their debut appearances in the group stage. Furthermore, Granada qualified for any European competition for the first time in the club's history.

Tiebreakers
Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Articles 16.01):

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ROM	YB	CLJ	CSS
1	Roma	6	4	1	1	13	5	+8	13	Advance to knockout phase		—	3–1	5–0	0–0
2	Young Boys	6	3	1	2	9	7	+2	10		1–2	—	2–1	3–0
3	CFR Cluj	6	1	2	3	4	10	−6	5			0–2	1–1	—	0–0
4	CSKA Sofia	6	1	2	3	3	7	−4	5		3–1	0–1	0–2	—

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ARS	MOL	RW	DUN
1	Arsenal	6	6	0	0	20	5	+15	18	Advance to knockout phase		—	4–1	4–1	3–0
2	Molde	6	3	1	2	9	11	−2	10		0–3	—	1–0	3–1
3	Rapid Wien	6	2	1	3	11	13	−2	7			1–2	2–2	—	4–3
4	Dundalk	6	0	0	6	8	19	−11	0		2–4	1–2	1–3	—

Group C

<table><thead><tr><th>Pos</th><th>Team</th><th>Pld</th><th>W</th><th>D</th><th>L</th><th>GF</th><th>GA</th><th>GD</th><th>Pts</th><th>Qualification</th><th></th><th>LEV</th><th>SLP</th><th>HBS</th><th>NCE</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>Bayer Leverkusen</td><td>6</td><td>5</td><td>0</td><td>1</td><td>21</td><td>8</td><td>+13</td><td>15</td><td>Advance to knockout phase</td><td></td><td>—</td><td>4–0</td><td>4–1</td><td>6–2</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Slavia Prague</td><td>6</td><td>4</td><td>0</td><td>2</td><td>11</td><td>10</td><td>+1</td><td>12</td><td></td><td>1–0</td><td>—</td><td>3–0</td><td>3–2</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>Hapoel Be'er Sheva</td><td>6</td><td>2</td><td>0</td><td>4</td><td>7</td><td>13</td><td>−6</td><td>6</td><td></td><td></td><td>2–4</td><td>3–1</td><td>—</td><td>1–0</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Nice</td><td>6</td><td>1</td><td>0</td><td>5</td><td>8</td><td>16</td><td>−8</td><td>3</td><td></td><td>2–3</td><td>1–3</td><td>1–0</td><td>—</td></tr></tbody></table>

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		RAN	BEN	STL	LCH
1	Rangers	6	4	2	0	13	7	+6	14	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–2	3–2	1–0
2	Benfica	6	3	3	0	18	9	+9	12		3–3	—	3–0	4–0
3	Standard Liège	6	1	1	4	7	14	−7	4			0–2	2–2	—	2–1
4	Lech Poznań	6	1	0	5	6	14	−8	3		0–2	2–4	3–1	—

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PSV	GRA	PAOK	OMO
1	PSV Eindhoven	6	4	0	2	12	9	+3	12	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–2	3–2	4–0
2	Granada	6	3	2	1	6	3	+3	11		0–1	—	0–0	2–1
3	PAOK	6	1	3	2	8	7	+1	6			4–1	0–0	—	1–1
4	Omonia	6	1	1	4	5	12	−7	4		1–2	0–2	2–1	—

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		NAP	RSO	AZ	RJK
1	Napoli	6	3	2	1	7	4	+3	11	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–1	0–1	2–0
2	Real Sociedad	6	2	3	1	5	4	+1	9		0–1	—	1–0	2–2
3	AZ	6	2	2	2	7	5	+2	8			1–1	0–0	—	4–1
4	Rijeka	6	1	1	4	6	12	−6	4		1–2	0–1	2–1	—

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LEI	BRA	ZOR	AEK
1	Leicester City	6	4	1	1	14	5	+9	13	Advance to knockout phase		—	4–0	3–0	2–0
2	Braga	6	4	1	1	14	10	+4	13		3–3	—	2–0	3–0
3	Zorya Luhansk	6	2	0	4	6	11	−5	6			1–0	1–2	—	1–4
4	AEK Athens	6	1	0	5	7	15	−8	3		1–2	2–4	0–3	—

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MIL	LOSC	SPP	CEL
1	Milan	6	4	1	1	12	7	+5	13	Advance to knockout phase		—	0–3	3–0	4–2
2	Lille	6	3	2	1	14	8	+6	11		1–1	—	2–1	2–2
3	Sparta Prague	6	2	0	4	10	12	−2	6			0–1	1–4	—	4–1
4	Celtic	6	1	1	4	10	19	−9	4		1–3	3–2	1–4	—

Group I

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		VIL	MTA	SIV	QRB
1	Villarreal	6	5	1	0	17	5	+12	16	Advance to knockout phase		—	4–0	5–3	3–0
2	Maccabi Tel Aviv	6	3	2	1	6	7	−1	11		1–1	—	1–0	1–0
3	Sivasspor	6	2	0	4	9	11	−2	6			0–1	1–2	—	2–0
4	Qarabağ	6	0	1	5	4	13	−9	1		1–3	1–1	2–3	—

Group J

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TOT	ANT	LASK	LUD
1	Tottenham Hotspur	6	4	1	1	15	5	+10	13	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–0	3–0	4–0
2	Antwerp	6	4	0	2	8	5	+3	12		1–0	—	0–1	3–1
3	LASK	6	3	1	2	11	12	−1	10			3–3	0–2	—	4–3
4	Ludogorets Razgrad	6	0	0	6	7	19	−12	0		1–3	1–2	1–3	—

Group K

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		DZG	WAC	FEY	CSM
1	Dinamo Zagreb	6	4	2	0	9	1	+8	14	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–0	0–0	3–1
2	Wolfsberger AC	6	3	1	2	7	6	+1	10		0–3	—	1–0	1–1
3	Feyenoord	6	1	2	3	4	8	−4	5			0–2	1–4	—	3–1
4	CSKA Moscow	6	0	3	3	3	8	−5	3		0–0	0–1	0–0	—

Group L

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HOF	ZVE	LIB	GNT
1	TSG Hoffenheim	6	5	1	0	17	2	+15	16	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–0	5–0	4–1
2	Red Star Belgrade	6	3	2	1	9	4	+5	11		0–0	—	5–1	2–1
3	Slovan Liberec	6	2	1	3	4	13	−9	7			0–2	0–0	—	1–0
4	Gent	6	0	0	6	4	15	−11	0		1–4	0–2	1–2	—

Knockout phase

2020–21 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 cannot 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. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals were held together before the quarter-finals were played, the identity of the quarter-final winners was not known at the time of the semi-final draw. A draw was also held to determine which semi-final winner was designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it was played at a neutral venue).

Round of 32

The draw for the round of 32 was held on 14 December 2020, 13:00 CET. The first legs were played on 18 February, and the second legs were played on 24 and 25 February 2021.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Wolfsberger AC	1–8	Tottenham Hotspur	1–4	0–4
Dynamo Kyiv	2–1	Club Brugge	1–1	1–0
Real Sociedad	0–4	Manchester United	0–4	0–0
Benfica	3–4	Arsenal	1–1	2–3
Red Star Belgrade	3–3 (a)	Milan	2–2	1–1
Antwerp	5–9	Rangers	3–4	2–5
Slavia Prague	2–0	Leicester City	0–0	2–0
Red Bull Salzburg	1–4	Villarreal	0–2	1–2
Braga	1–5	Roma	0–2	1–3
Krasnodar	2–4	Dinamo Zagreb	2–3	0–1
Young Boys	6–3	Bayer Leverkusen	4–3	2–0
Molde	5–3	TSG Hoffenheim	3–3	2–0
Granada	3–2	Napoli	2–0	1–2
Maccabi Tel Aviv	0–3	Shakhtar Donetsk	0–2	0–1
Lille	2–4	Ajax	1–2	1–2
Olympiacos	5–4	PSV Eindhoven	4–2	1–2

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 26 February 2021, 13:00 CET. The first legs were played on 11 March, and the second legs were played on 18 March 2021.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Ajax	5–0	Young Boys	3–0	2–0
Dynamo Kyiv	0–4	Villarreal	0–2	0–2
Roma	5–1	Shakhtar Donetsk	3–0	2–1
Olympiacos	2–3	Arsenal	1–3	1–0
Tottenham Hotspur	2–3	Dinamo Zagreb	2–0	0–3 (a.e.t.)
Manchester United	2–1	Milan	1–1	1–0
Slavia Prague	3–1	Rangers	1–1	2–0
Granada	3–2	Molde	2–0	1–2

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 19 March 2021, 13:00 CET. The first legs were played on 8 April, and the second legs were played on 15 April 2021.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Granada	0–4	Manchester United	0–2	0–2
Arsenal	5–1	Slavia Prague	1–1	4–0
Ajax	2–3	Roma	1–2	1–1
Dinamo Zagreb	1–3	Villarreal	0–1	1–2

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals was held on 19 March 2021, 13:00 CET, after the quarter-final draw. The first legs were played on 29 April, and the second legs were played on 6 May 2021.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Manchester United	8–5	Roma	6–2	2–3
Villarreal	2–1	Arsenal	2–1	0–0

Final

The final was played on 26 May 2021 at the Stadion Gdańsk in Gdańsk. A draw was held on 19 March 2021, after the quarter-final and semi-final draws, to determine the "home" team for administrative purposes.

Statistics

2020–21 UEFA Europa League

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.

Top goalscorers

<table><thead><tr><th>Rank</th><th>Player</th><th>Team</th><th>Goals</th><th>Minutes played</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>Pizzi</td><td>Benfica</td><td>7</td><td>385</td></tr><tr><td>Yusuf Yazıcı</td><td>Lille</td><td>625</td></tr><tr><td>Borja Mayoral</td><td>Roma</td><td>659</td></tr><tr><td>Gerard Moreno</td><td>Villarreal</td><td>879</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Edinson Cavani</td><td>Manchester United</td><td>6</td><td>368</td></tr><tr><td>Mu'nas Dabbur</td><td>TSG Hoffenheim</td><td>468</td></tr><tr><td>Carlos Vinícius</td><td>Tottenham Hotspur</td><td>499</td></tr><tr><td>Paco Alcácer</td><td>Villarreal</td><td>519</td></tr><tr><td>Edin Džeko</td><td>Roma</td><td>566</td></tr><tr><td>Nicolas Pépé</td><td>Arsenal</td><td>903</td></tr><tr><td>Mislav Oršić</td><td>Dinamo Zagreb</td><td>976</td></tr></tbody></table>

Top assists

Rank	Player	Team	Assists	Minutes played
1	Galeno	Braga	5	571
Samuel Chukwueze	Villarreal	772
Gerard Moreno	Villarreal	879
4	Joe Willock	Arsenal	4	344
Lior Refaelov	Antwerp	636
Alfredo Morelos	Rangers	717
Bruno Fernandes	Manchester United	748
Magnus Wolff Eikrem	Molde	816
Nicolas Pépé	Arsenal	903
Lovro Majer	Dinamo Zagreb	909

Squad of the season

The UEFA technical study group selected the following 23 players as the squad of the tournament.

Pos.	Player	Team
GK	Dominik Livaković	Dinamo Zagreb
Pau López	Roma
Gerónimo Rulli	Villarreal
DF	Raúl Albiol	Villarreal
Harry Maguire	Manchester United
Aaron Wan-Bissaka	Manchester United
Gianluca Mancini	Roma
Leonardo Spinazzola	Roma
Alfonso Pedraza	Villarreal
Pau Torres	Villarreal
MF	Bruno Fernandes	Manchester United
Dani Parejo	Villarreal
Lorenzo Pellegrini	Roma
Paul Pogba	Manchester United
Étienne Capoue	Villarreal
Mislav Oršić	Dinamo Zagreb
Lukáš Provod	Slavia Prague
Scott McTominay	Manchester United
FW	Gerard Moreno	Villarreal
Edinson Cavani	Manchester United
Dušan Tadić	Ajax
Edin Džeko	Roma
Nicolas Pépé	Arsenal

Player of the season

Votes were cast by coaches of the 48 teams in the group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, representing each of UEFA's member associations. The coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own teams. Jury members selected their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. The shortlist of the top three players was announced on 13 August 2021. The award winner was announced during the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League group stage draw in Turkey on 27 August 2021.

Rank	Player	Team(s)	Points
Shortlist of top three
1	Gerard Moreno	Villarreal	289
2	Bruno Fernandes	Manchester United	160
3	Edinson Cavani	Manchester United	44
Players ranked 4–10
4	Paul Pogba	Manchester United	36
5	Pau Torres	Villarreal	34
6	Raúl Albiol	Villarreal	19
7	Dani Parejo	Villarreal	18
8	Leonardo Spinazzola	Roma	14
9	Étienne Capoue	Villarreal	8
Nicolas Pépé	Arsenal