UEFA Europa League play-off round draw

The draw took place on Friday 18 September at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.

Champions Path

Young Boys (SUI) vs Tirana (ALB)
GNK Dinamo (CRO) vs Flora Tallinn (EST)
CFR Cluj (ROU) vs KuPS (FIN)
Ararat-Armenia (ARM) vs Crvena zvezda (SRB)
Dynamo Brest (BLR) vs Ludogorets (BUL)
Sarajevo (BIH) vs Celtic (SCO)
Legia (POL) vs Qarabağ (AZE)
Dundalk (IRL) vs KÍ (FRO)

Main Path

Hapoel Beer-Sheva (ISR) vs Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)
Rosenborg (NOR) vs PSV Eindhoven (NED)
AEK Athens (GRE) vs Wolfsburg (GER)
Basel (SUI) vs CSKA-Sofia (BUL)
Sporting CP (POR) vs LASK (AUT)
Charleroi (BEL) vs Lech (POL)
Rio Ave (POR) vs AC Milan (ITA)
Copenhagen (DEN) vs Rijeka (CRO)
Malmö (SWE) vs Granada (ESP)
Tottenham (ENG) vs Maccabi Haifa (ISR)
Slovan Liberec (CZE) vs APOEL (CYP)
Standard Liège (BEL) vs Fehérvár (HUN)
Rangers (SCO) vs Galatasaray (TUR)

What happens next?

These one-off ties take place on 1 October, with extra time and a penalty shoot-out if required. Winners advance to the UEFA Europa League group stage. The group stage draw will be held from 13:00 CET on on Friday 2 October.

Seedings

The teams in the Champions Path who were eliminated in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League were seeded. For the Main Path, clubs were divided equally between seeded and unseeded clubs in accordance with the club coefficient rankings.

Champions Path

Group 1

Seeded
Young Boys (SUI)*
GNK Dinamo (CRO)*

Unseeded
Flora Tallinn (EST)
Tirana (ALB)**
KuPS (FIN)
CFR Cluj (ROU)

Group 2

Seeded
Dynamo Brest (BLR)*
Crvena zvezda (SRB)*

Unseeded
Ludogorets (BUL)**
Sarajevo (BIH)
Celtic (SCO)
Ararat-Armenia (ARM)

Group 3

Seeded
Qarabağ (AZE)*

Unseeded
Dundalk (IRL)
KÍ (FRO)
Legia (POL)

*5 Teams eliminated from UEFA Champions League third qualifying round (Champions Path)
**2 Teams eliminated from UEFA Champions League second qualifying round (Champions Path)

Main Path

Group 1

Seeded
1 Basel (SUI)
2 Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)
3 Rio Ave (POR)

Unseeded
4 CSKA-Sofia (BUL)
5 AC Milan (ITA)
6 Hapoel Beer-Sheva (ISR)

Group 2

Seeded
1 Sporting CP (POR)
2 PSV Eindhoven (NED)
3 Copenhagen (DEN)

Unseeded
4 LASK (AUT)
5 Rijeka (CRO)
6 Rosenborg (NOR)

Group 3

Seeded
1 Charleroi (BEL)
2 Wolfsburg (GER)
3 Malmö (SWE)

Unseeded
4 Lech (POL)
5 Granada (ESP)
6 AEK Athens (GRE)

Group 4

Seeded
1 Galatasaray (TUR)
2 Tottenham (ENG)
3 Standard Liège (BEL)
4 APOEL (CYP)

Unseeded
5 Maccabi Haifa (ISR)
6 Rangers (SCO)
7 Fehérvár (HUN)
8 Slovan Liberec (CZE)

How the draw worked

The UEFA administration formed groups for the draw to avoid clubs without an approved stadium being drawn against each other, in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. Sides from the same association could not be drawn against each other.

Champions Path

The balls containing the names of the seeded teams were placed in one bowl and the balls containing the names of the unseeded teams were put into another bowl. One ball was taken from each bowl and placed in a large empty bowl in the middle, where they were shuffled. The first team drawn plays the tie at home. The last two balls containing unseeded teams were drawn one after another to pair them.

Main Path

Groups 1 to 3
All clubs in the three groups were ordered randomly and given a number: 1 to 3 for the seeded teams and 4 to 6 for the unseeded teams. Two bowls were prepared, one containing balls with slips of paper numbered 1 to 3 and the other containing balls with slips of paper numbered 4 to 6. A ball was taken from each bowl, placed in an empty bowl and shuffled. The first ball drawn will play the tie at home. The result of this draw was applied to Groups 1 to 3.

Group 4
All clubs were ordered randomly and given a number: 1 to 4 for the seeded teams and 5 to 8 for the unseeded teams. Two bowls were prepared, one containing balls with slips of paper numbered 1 to 4 and the other containing balls with slips of paper numbered 5 to 8. A ball was taken from each bowl, placed in an empty bowl and shuffled. The first ball drawn will play the tie at home.