The 2022/2023 UEFA Europa League is currently underway and some fans might be eager to find out how it all works, check out the competition format including the group stage, playoffs and knockout stages rules explained
Premier League duo Manchester United and Arsenal are currently the joint favourites of winning the Europa League.
UEFA Europa League 2022/2023 Format Change Explained And Playoffs Matches Rules
Knockout round play-off teams ✅
ℹ️ #UELdraw
📅 Monday 7 November
⏲️ 13:00 CET#UEL pic.twitter.com/ObuAPFt9OD— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) November 3, 2022
Leading the scoring charts… ⚽️🔝#UEL pic.twitter.com/blI9GuUWE6
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) November 4, 2022
🅰️ Dishing assists during the group stage…#UEL pic.twitter.com/ZzSNF4ZOuz
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) November 5, 2022
Manchester United are the most recent winners to feature in the current season’s competition. Eintracht Frankfurt won the trophy last season, which means that they automatically qualify for the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League.
The group stages of the competition kicked off in September, featuring different teams from across Europe.
UEFA Europa League Format 2022/2023
Every round of the Europa League features a draw, which confirms a particular team’s potential path in the competition.
For the initial preliminary rounds, the organizers seed the teams based on UEFA club coefficients. Teams are split into seeded and unseeded categories to determine their pairings.
Next, the organizers divide the teams into four pots to create eight groups of four teams for the group stages. A team is selected from each pot successively to complete each group.
The winners of each group automatically qualify for the knockout round and move on. The runners-up teams on the other hand will compete in playoffs against teams who have dropped down from the Champions League.
Europa League Group Stage Format
The group stages of the 2022/23 Europa League will comprise of eight groups of four teams.
Sixteen of the teams in the group stages come via league/domestic cup routes from 2021/22. The remaining half comes from Europa League playoff winners and Champions League playoff losers.
Each team will get to play six group games as the four teams in each group play each other twice. The tem with the highest points tops the group and in case of same points, the goal difference is considered.
While the winners of each group progress automatically to the knockout round, teams that finish in second will enter a playoff round to be played against eight teams dropping out of the Champions League.
Teams that finish third in their group will get into a playoff round to enter the Europa Conference League. The teams that finish at fourth position or bottom of the group exit the Europa League.
Europa League Knockout Stage Format
For the knockout stages/last 16, all the eight group winners are classified as the seeded teams. Each of these teams will draw against the winners of the eight-playoff ties. The last 16 round will begin on February 16, 2023.
By this stage, the Europa League becomes a straightforward knockout competition. Two teams compete against one another in a two-legged format. The team with the higher aggregate score progresses to the quarterfinals. Penalty shootouts occur in case of similar aggregate scores.
The quarterfinals follow the same format and will take place in April. The winners of the quarterfinals round will then move on to the semifinals in May. From there, two teams will reach the final of the Europa League.
Europa League 2022/2023 Final
The Europa League final will take place at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on May 31, 2023.
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