UEFA Europa League play-off round draw

The 2023/24 UEFA Europa League play-off round draw was held at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, on Monday 7 August.

Play-off fixtures

The two-legged play-off round ties will take place on Thursdays 24 and 31 August.

SK Slavia Praha (CZE) / SC Dnipro-1 (UKR) vs FC Zorya Luhansk (UKR)
Olympiacos FC (GRE) / KRC Genk (BEL) vs FK Čukarički (SRB)
R. Union Saint-Gilloise (BEL) vs FC Lugano (SUI)
FC Astana (KAZ) / PFC Ludogorets 1945 (BUL) vs AFC Ajax (NED)
FK Žalgiris Vilnius (LTU) / BK Häcken (SWE) vs Aberdeen FC (SCO)
LASK (AUT) vs HŠK Zrinjski (BIH) / Breidablik (ISL)
KÍ Klaksvík (FRO) / Molde FK (NOR) vs FC Sheriff Tiraspol (MDA) / FC BATE Borisov (BLR)
NK Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN) / Galatasaray AŞ (TUR) vs Qarabağ FK (AZE) / HJK Helsinki (FIN)
ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK) / Maccabi Haifa FC (ISR) vs Raków Czestochowa (POL) / Aris Limassol FC (CYP)
AEK Athens FC (GRE) / GNK Dinamo (CRO) vs FC Copenhagen (DEN) / AC Sparta Praha (CZE)

Conditions of the draw

In accordance with paragraph 13.05 of the Regulations of the UEFA Europa League 2023/24, teams were seeded and drawn based on the principles set out by the Club Competitions Committee (CCC) to guarantee that eight clubs eliminated from the UEFA Champions League (champions path) were drawn against each other.

The Regulations foresaw no country protection in this draw.

Due to the rebalancing of this year's access list which led to only two teams qualifying from the Europa League third qualifying round main path instead of three (and seven teams instead of the six foreseen by the Regulations directly qualified to the Europa League play-offs), in compliance with the decision of the CCC the seventh team directly qualified to the play-offs (i.e. the team of association 14) remained priority 4, as originally foreseen by the Regulations.

As decided by the UEFA Executive Committee, teams from Ukraine and Belarus could not be drawn against each other.

The teams were seeded in the following order of priority:

Priority 1

The six teams from associations 7 to 9 and 11 to 13 (Netherlands, Austria, Scotland, Serbia, Ukraine and Belgium) that enter the play-offs directly.

Priority 2

The six teams that enter the play-offs through the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League champions path, indicated for the purposes of this draw as Matches 1 to 6.

Priority 3

The five teams that enter the play-offs through the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League champions path, indicated for the purposes of this draw as Winners of Matches 1 to 5.

Priority 4

The team from association 14 (Switzerland) that enters the play-offs directly and the two teams that enter the play-offs through the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League main path, indicated for the purposes of this draw as Winners of Matches 6 to 7.

Any changes of date and fixture reversals will be communicated in writing to clubs and national associations by 18:00 CET on Tuesday 8 August.

Draw procedure

The following bowls were prepared:

• One bowl marked 'Priority 1' containing six balls, representing the six teams from associations 7 to 9 and 11 to 13 (Netherlands, Austria, Scotland, Serbia, Ukraine and Belgium) that enter the play-offs directly.

• One bowl marked 'Priority 2' containing six balls, representing the teams entering the play-offs from the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League (champions path).

• One bowl marked 'Priority 3' containing five balls, representing the teams entering the play-offs from the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round champions path.

• One bowl marked 'Priority 4' containing three balls, representing the team from association 14 (Switzerland) that enters the play-offs directly and the two teams that enter the play-offs through the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League main path.

The draw began by pairing three teams from Priority 1 with the three teams in Priority 4 as follows:

• One ball was drawn from the Priority 1 bowl and another from the Priority 4 bowl. The two balls were placed in an empty bowl and shuffled. The first team drawn from this bowl plays its first match at home, against the second team drawn.

• This procedure was repeated to complete the second and third pairings.

The three remaining Priority 1 teams were then paired with teams from Priority 3 as follows:

• One ball was drawn from the Priority 1 bowl and another from the Priority 3 bowl. The two balls were placed in an empty bowl and shuffled. The first team drawn from this bowl plays its first match at home, against the second team drawn.

• This procedure was repeated to complete the fifth and sixth pairings.

The two remaining Priority 3 teams were then paired with teams from Priority 2 as follows:

• One ball was drawn from the Priority 3 bowl and another from the Priority 2 bowl. The two balls were placed in an empty bowl and shuffled. The first team drawn from this bowl plays its first match at home, against the second team drawn.

• This procedure was repeated to complete the eighth pairing.

The four remaining Priority 2 balls were then drawn one after another to complete the ninth and tenth pairings (open draw). The first team drawn plays its first match at home, against the second team drawn. Likewise, the third team drawn plays its first match at home, against the fourth team drawn.

Groupings

Priority 1

AFC Ajax (NED)
LASK (AUT)
Aberdeen FC (SCO)
FK Čukarički (SRB)
FC Zorya Luhansk (UKR)
R. Union Saint-Gilloise (BEL)

Priority 2

Match 1 Raków Czestochowa (POL) vs Aris Limassol FC (CYP)
Match 2 ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK) vs Maccabi Haifa FC (ISR)
Match 3 AEK Athens FC (GRE) vs GNK Dinamo (CRO)
Match 4 NK Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN) vs Galatasaray AŞ (TUR)
Match 5 FC Copenhagen (DEN) vs AC Sparta Praha (CZE)
Match 6 KÍ Klaksvík (FRO) vs Molde FK (NOR)

Priority 3

Winners match 1 FK Žalgiris Vilnius (LTU) vs BK Häcken (SWE)
Winners match 2 Qarabağ FK (AZE) vs HJK Helsinki (FIN)
Winners match 3 HŠK Zrinjski (BIH) vs Breidablik (ISL)
Winners match 4 FC Sheriff Tiraspol (MDA) vs FC BATE Borisov (BLR)
Winners match 5 FC Astana (KAZ) vs PFC Ludogorets 1945 (BUL)

Priority 4

FC Lugano (SUI)
Winners match 6 Olympiacos FC (GRE) vs KRC Genk (BEL)
Winners match 7 SK Slavia Praha (CZE) vs SC Dnipro-1 (UKR)

Summary

Teams were drawn as follows, according to the order of priorities presented above:

• Pairings 1-3: any three of the six Priority 1 teams were drawn against the three Priority 4 teams.

• Pairings 4-6: the remaining three Priority 1 teams were drawn against any three of the five Priority 3 teams.

• Pairings 7-8: the remaining two Priority 3 teams were drawn against any two of the six Priority 2 teams.

• Pairings 9-10: the remaining four Priority 2 teams were drawn against each other.