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2025–26 UEFA Europa League

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2025–26 UEFA Europa League
Beşiktaş Stadium in Istanbul will host the final
Tournament details
DatesQualifying:
10 July – 28 August 2025
Competition proper:
24 September 2025 – 20 May 2026
TeamsCompetition proper: 25+11
Total: 45+32 (from 41 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsTBD (1st title)
Tournament statistics
Matches played188
Goals scored509 (2.71 per match)
Attendance4,916,809 (26,153 per match)
Top scorer(s)Igor Jesus (Nottingham Forest)
Petar Stanić (Ludogorets Razgrad)
7 goals each
All statistics correct as of 30 April 2026.

The 2025–26 UEFA Europa League is the 55th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 17th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.

The final will be played on 20 May 2026 at Beşiktaş Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey.[1]

This is the second season played under a new format, which replaced the 32-team group stage with a 36-team league phase.

As the reigning champions, Tottenham Hotspur automatically qualified for the Champions League league phase, and are unable to defend their title as the new format does not allow clubs to transfer from the Champions League into the Europa League from the league phase onwards.

Association team allocation

[edit]

A total of 77 teams from between 33 and 40 of the 55 UEFA member associations are expected to participate in the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League. Among them, 33 associations have teams directly qualifying for the Europa League, while for the other 12 associations that do not have any teams directly qualifying may have teams playing after being transferred from the Champions League. The association ranking based on the UEFA association coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[2]

Association ranking

[edit]

For the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2024 UEFA association coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2019–20 to 2023–24.[3]

Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Europa League, as noted below:

  • (UCL) – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League
  • (CON) – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Conference League
Association ranking for 2025–26 UEFA Europa League
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
1  England 104.303 2 [Note ENG]
2  Italy 90.284
3  Spain 89.489
4  Germany 86.624
5  France 66.831 +1 (UCL)
6  Netherlands 61.300 +1 (UCL)
7  Portugal 56.316
8  Belgium 48.800
9  Turkey 38.600 +1 (UCL)
10  Czech Republic 36.050 +1 (UCL)
11  Scotland 36.050 +2 (UCL)
12  Switzerland 32.975 +2 (UCL)
13  Austria 32.600 1 +2 (UCL)
14  Norway 31.625 +1 (UCL)
15  Greece 31.525 +1 (UCL)
16  Denmark 31.450
17  Israel 31.125 +1 (UCL)
18  Ukraine 28.000 +1 (UCL)
19  Serbia 27.775 +1 (UCL)
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
20  Croatia 25.525 1 +1 (UCL)
21  Poland 25.375 +1 (UCL)
22  Russia 22.965 0 [Note RUS]
23  Cyprus 22.100 1
24  Hungary 21.875 +1 (UCL)
25  Sweden 21.500 +1 (UCL)
26  Romania 21.375 +1 (UCL)
27  Bulgaria 20.375 +1 (UCL)
28  Azerbaijan 20.125
29  Slovakia 19.625 +1 (UCL)
30  Slovenia 13.250
31  Moldova 13.125
32  Kosovo 11.541 +1 (UCL)
33  Kazakhstan 11.500
34  Finland 11.125 0 +1 (UCL)
+1 (CON)
35  Republic of Ireland 10.875 +1 (UCL)
36  Armenia 10.625 +1 (UCL)
37  Latvia 10.625 +1 (UCL)
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
38  Faroe Islands 10.375 0
39  Bosnia and Herzegovina 10.000 +1 (UCL)
40  Liechtenstein 10.000
41  Iceland 9.583 +1 (UCL)
42  Northern Ireland 9.208
43  Luxembourg 8.625
44  Lithuania 8.500
45  Malta 8.250 +1 (UCL)
46  Georgia 7.625
47  Albania 7.375
48  Estonia 7.207
49  Belarus 6.625
50  North Macedonia 6.000 +1 (UCL)
51  Andorra 5.998
52  Wales 5.791
53  Montenegro 5.708
54  Gibraltar 4.957 +1 (UCL)
55  San Marino 1.832

Distribution

[edit]
Teams entering in this round Teams advancing from the previous round Teams transferred from Champions League
First qualifying round
(16 teams)
  • 16 domestic cup winners from associations 17–34 (except Russia[Note RUS] and Croatia)
Second qualifying round
(16 teams)
  • 1 domestic cup winner from association 16
  • 6 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–12
  • 1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 6
  • 8 winners from the first qualifying round
Third qualifying round
(26 teams)
Champions Path
(12 teams)
  • 12 losers from Champions League second qualifying round (Champions Path)
League Path
(14 teams)
  • 3 domestic cup winners from associations 13–15
  • 8 winners from second qualifying round
  • 3 losers from Champions League second qualifying round (League Path)
Play-off round
(24 teams)
  • 5 domestic cup winners from associations 8–12
  • 13 winners from third qualifying round
  • 6 losers from Champions League third qualifying round (Champions Path)
League phase
(36 teams)
  • 7 domestic cup winners from associations 1–7
  • 5 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–5
  • 1 cup winner from association 20 as the team with the highest club coefficient, originally from the first qualifying round
  • 12 winners from play-off round
  • 5 losers from Champions League play-off round (Champions Path)
  • 4 losers from Champions League third qualifying round (League Path)
  • 2 losers from Champions League play-off round (League Path)
Knockout phase play-offs
(16 teams)
  • 16 teams ranked 9–24 from the league phase
Round of 16
(16 teams)
  • 8 teams ranked 1–8 from the league phase
  • 8 winners from the knockout phase play-offs

The information here reflects the ongoing suspension of Russia in European football, and so the following changes to the default access list have been made:

  • The cup winners of association 16 (Denmark) will enter the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.

As the Conference League title holders (Chelsea) qualified for the Champions League league phase via their domestic league's standard berth allocation, the following changes to the default access list have been made:

  • Dinamo Zagreb, as the club with the highest club coefficient that would otherwise have entered the qualifying phase or play-off round, will enter the league phase instead of the first qualifying round.
  • The cup winners of association 34 (Finland) will enter the first qualifying round, instead of the Conference League second qualifying round.

Teams

[edit]

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:

  • CON: Conference League title holders
  • CW: Cup winners
  • 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.: League position of the previous season
  • RL: Winners of the regular league phase
  • CL: Transferred from the Champions League
    • 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)

The third qualifying round is divided into Champions Path (CH) and Main Path (MP).

Qualified teams for 2025–26 UEFA Europa League
Entry round Teams
League phase England Aston Villa (6th) England Nottingham Forest (7th)[Note ENG] Italy Bologna (CW) Italy Roma (5th)
Spain Real Betis (6th) Spain Celta Vigo (7th) Germany VfB Stuttgart (CW) Germany SC Freiburg (5th)
France Lille (5th) France Lyon (6th) Netherlands Go Ahead Eagles (CW) Portugal Porto (3rd)
Croatia Dinamo Zagreb (2nd) Scotland Celtic (CL CH PO) Switzerland Basel (CL CH PO) Austria Sturm Graz (CL CH PO)
Serbia Red Star Belgrade (CL CH PO) Hungary Ferencváros (CL CH PO) Turkey Fenerbahçe (CL LP PO) Scotland Rangers (CL LP PO)
France Nice (CL LP Q3) Netherlands Feyenoord (CL LP Q3) Czech Republic Viktoria Plzeň (CL LP Q3) Austria Red Bull Salzburg (CL LP Q3)
Play-off round Belgium Genk (3rd) Turkey Samsunspor (3rd) Czech Republic Sigma Olomouc (CW) Scotland Aberdeen (CW)
Switzerland Young Boys (3rd) Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv (CL CH Q3) Poland Lech Poznań (CL CH Q3) Sweden Malmö FF (CL CH Q3)
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad (CL CH Q3) Slovakia Slovan Bratislava (CL CH Q3) North Macedonia Shkëndija (CL CH Q3)
Third qualifying round CH Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv (CL CH Q2) Croatia Rijeka (CL CH Q2) Romania FCSB (CL CH Q2) Kosovo Drita (CL CH Q2)
Finland KuPS (CL CH Q2) Republic of Ireland Shelbourne (CL CH Q2) Armenia Noah (CL CH Q2) Latvia RFS (CL CH Q2)
Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski Mostar (CL CH Q2) Iceland Breiðablik (CL CH Q2) Malta Hamrun Spartans (CL CH Q2) Gibraltar Lincoln Red Imps (CL CH Q2)
MP Austria Wolfsberger AC (CW) Norway Fredrikstad (CW) Greece PAOK (3rd) Switzerland Servette (CL LP Q2)
Norway Brann (CL LP Q2) Greece Panathinaikos (CL LP Q2)
Second qualifying round Netherlands Utrecht (4th) Portugal Braga (4th) Belgium Anderlecht (4th) Turkey Beşiktaş (4th)
Czech Republic Baník Ostrava (3rd) Scotland Hibernian (3rd) Switzerland Lugano (4th) Denmark Midtjylland (2nd)
First qualifying round Israel Hapoel Be'er Sheva (CW) Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk (CW) Serbia Partizan (2nd) Poland Legia Warsaw (CW)
Cyprus AEK Larnaca (CW) Hungary Paks (CW) Sweden BK Häcken (CW) Romania CFR Cluj (CW)
Bulgaria Levski Sofia (2nd) Azerbaijan Sabah (CW) Slovakia Spartak Trnava (CW) Slovenia Celje (CW)
Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol (CW) Kosovo Prishtina (CW) Kazakhstan Aktobe (CW) Finland Ilves (2nd)

Notes

  1. ^
    England (ENG): Initially, Crystal Palace qualified for the Europa League as the winners of the 2024–25 FA Cup. However, UEFA ruled[4] that Crystal Palace and Lyon were both part of a group owned by the same company prior to 1 March, and as such could not compete in the same competition under UEFA rules so their place in the Europa League was awarded to Nottingham Forest under a swap of European rights. Palace's appeal was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 11 August, resulting in Forest's Europa League place being confirmed.[5] Forest had previously gained entry to the Conference League based on their 2024–25 Premier League position, in lieu of 2024–25 EFL Cup winners Newcastle United who qualified for the Champions League via league position.[6]
  2. ^
    Russia (RUS): On 28 February 2022, Russian football clubs and national teams were suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[7] The tables reflect Russia's ongoing suspension from UEFA competitions.[8]

Schedule

[edit]

The schedule of the competition is as follows.[9] Matches are scheduled for Thursdays, apart from the final, which takes place on a Wednesday, though exceptionally can take place on Tuesdays or Wednesdays due to scheduling conflicts. One exclusive week was held where both Wednesday and Thursdays were matchdays, on 24 and 25 September.[10]

Schedule for 2025–26 UEFA Europa League
Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying First qualifying round 17 June 2025 10 July 2025 17 July 2025
Second qualifying round 18 June 2025 24 July 2025 31 July 2025
Third qualifying round 21 July 2025 7 August 2025 14 August 2025
Play-offs Play-off round 4 August 2025 21 August 2025 28 August 2025
League phase Matchday 1 29 August 2025 24–25 September 2025
Matchday 2 2 October 2025
Matchday 3 23 October 2025
Matchday 4 6 November 2025
Matchday 5 27 November 2025
Matchday 6 11 December 2025
Matchday 7 22 January 2026
Matchday 8 29 January 2026
Knockout phase Knockout round play-offs 30 January 2026 19 February 2026 26 February 2026
Round of 16 27 February 2026 12 March 2026 19 March 2026
Quarter-finals N/a 9 April 2026 16 April 2026
Semi-finals 30 April 2026 7 May 2026
Final 20 May 2026 at Beşiktaş Stadium, Istanbul

Qualifying rounds

[edit]

First qualifying round

[edit]

The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 17 June 2025. The first legs were played on 10 July, and the second legs were played on 17 July 2025.

The winners of the ties advanced to the second qualifying round. The losers were transferred to the Conference League Main Path second qualifying round.

First qualifying round
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Shakhtar Donetsk Ukraine6–0Finland Ilves6–00–0
Sheriff Tiraspol Moldova5–2Kosovo Prishtina4–01–2
Spartak Trnava Slovakia2–3Sweden BK Häcken0–12–2
Sabah Azerbaijan5–6Slovenia Celje2–33–3 (a.e.t.)
Legia Warsaw Poland2–0Kazakhstan Aktobe1–01–0
Levski Sofia Bulgaria1–1 (3–1 p)Israel Hapoel Be'er Sheva0–01–1 (a.e.t.)
AEK Larnaca Cyprus2–2 (6–5 p)Serbia Partizan1–01–2 (a.e.t.)
Paks Hungary0–3Romania CFR Cluj0–00–3

Second qualifying round

[edit]

The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 18 June 2025. The first legs were played on 24 July and the second legs were played on 31 July 2025.

The winners of the ties advanced to the Main Path third qualifying round. The losers were transferred to the Conference League Main Path third qualifying round.

Second qualifying round
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Lugano Switzerland0–1Romania CFR Cluj0–00–1 (a.e.t.)
Celje Slovenia2–3Cyprus AEK Larnaca1–11–2
Levski Sofia Bulgaria0–1Portugal Braga0–00–1 (a.e.t.)
Baník Ostrava Czech Republic3–4Poland Legia Warsaw2–21–2
Anderlecht Belgium2–2 (2–4 p)Sweden BK Häcken1–01–2 (a.e.t.)
Sheriff Tiraspol Moldova2–7Netherlands Utrecht1–31–4
Midtjylland Denmark3–2Scotland Hibernian1–12–1 (a.e.t.)
Beşiktaş Turkey2–6Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk2–40–2

Third qualifying round

[edit]

The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 21 July 2025. The first legs were played on 5, 6 and 7 August, and the second legs were played on 12 and 14 August 2025.

The winners of the ties advanced to the play-off round. The losers were transferred to the Conference League play-off round.

Third qualifying round
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Champions Path
Lincoln Red Imps Gibraltar1–1 (6–5 p)Armenia Noah1–10–0 (a.e.t.)
Rijeka Croatia4–3Republic of Ireland Shelbourne1–23–1
RFS Latvia1–3Finland KuPS1–20–1
Hamrun Spartans Malta2–5Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv1–21–3
Zrinjski Mostar Bosnia and Herzegovina3–2Iceland Breiðablik1–12–1
FCSB Romania6–3Kosovo Drita3–23–1
Main Path
AEK Larnaca Cyprus5–3Poland Legia Warsaw4–11–2
Fredrikstad Norway1–5Denmark Midtjylland1–30–2
CFR Cluj Romania1–4Portugal Braga1–20–2
PAOK Greece1–0Austria Wolfsberger AC0–01–0 (a.e.t.)
Servette Switzerland2–5Netherlands Utrecht1–31–2
BK Häcken Sweden1–2Norway Brann0–21–0
Panathinaikos Greece0–0 (4–3 p)Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk0–00–0 (a.e.t.)

Play-off round

[edit]

The draw for the play-off round was held on 4 August 2025. The first legs were played on 21 August, and the second legs will be played on 27 and 28 August 2025.

The winners of the ties will advance to the league phase. The losers will be transferred to the Conference League league phase.

Play-off round
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Maccabi Tel Aviv Israel3–2Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv3–10–1
Shkëndija North Macedonia3–5Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad2–11–4 (a.e.t.)
Slovan Bratislava Slovakia2–4Switzerland Young Boys0–12–3
Malmö FF Sweden5–0Czech Republic Sigma Olomouc3–02–0
Panathinaikos Greece2–1Turkey Samsunspor2–10–0
Aberdeen Scotland2–5Romania FCSB2–20–3
Lech Poznań Poland3–6Belgium Genk1–52–1
Midtjylland Denmark6–0Finland KuPS4–02–0
Lincoln Red Imps Gibraltar1–9Portugal Braga0–41–5
Zrinjski Mostar Bosnia and Herzegovina0–2Netherlands Utrecht0–20–0
Brann Norway6–1Cyprus AEK Larnaca2–14–0
Rijeka Croatia1–5Greece PAOK1–00–5

League phase

[edit]
Location of Benelux teams in the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League league phase

The league phase draw for the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League took place on 29 August 2025. The 36 teams were divided into four pots of nine teams each, based on their UEFA club coefficient.

The draw ceremony was held along with the league phase draw for the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League, as a change from the previous season. When the 36 teams were manually drawn one at a time, the draw was entirely computer generated with all 36 teams' opponents and home/away locations drawn at once, but revealed pot by pot.[11] Each team faced two opponents from each of the four pots, one at home and one away. Teams could not face opponents from their own association, and could only be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same association.[12][13]

Aston Villa, Bologna, Brann, Go Ahead Eagles and Nottingham Forest made their debut appearances since the introduction of the group stage (although Aston Villa and Brann had previously appeared in the UEFA Cup group stage). Go Ahead Eagles and Nottingham Forest made their debut appearances in a major UEFA competition group or league phase.

A total of 23 national associations were represented in the league phase.

Table

[edit]

The top eight ranked teams received a bye to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th contested the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th were eliminated from European competition.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 France Lyon 8 7 0 1 18 5 +13 21 Advance to round of 16 (seeded)
2 England Aston Villa 8 7 0 1 14 6 +8 21
3 Denmark Midtjylland 8 6 1 1 18 8 +10 19
4 Spain Real Betis 8 5 2 1 13 7 +6 17[a]
5 Portugal Porto 8 5 2 1 13 7 +6 17[a]
6 Portugal Braga 8 5 2 1 11 5 +6 17
7 Germany SC Freiburg 8 5 2 1 10 4 +6 17
8 Italy Roma 8 5 1 2 13 6 +7 16
9 Belgium Genk 8 5 1 2 11 7 +4 16 Advance to knockout phase play-offs (seeded)
10 Italy Bologna 8 4 3 1 14 7 +7 15
11 Germany VfB Stuttgart 8 5 0 3 15 9 +6 15
12 Hungary Ferencváros 8 4 3 1 12 11 +1 15
13 England Nottingham Forest 8 4 2 2 15 7 +8 14
14 Czech Republic Viktoria Plzeň 8 3 5 0 8 3 +5 14
15 Serbia Red Star Belgrade 8 4 2 2 7 6 +1 14
16 Spain Celta Vigo 8 4 1 3 15 11 +4 13
17 Greece PAOK 8 3 3 2 17 14 +3 12 Advance to knockout phase play-offs (unseeded)
18 France Lille 8 4 0 4 12 9 +3 12
19 Turkey Fenerbahçe 8 3 3 2 10 7 +3 12
20 Greece Panathinaikos 8 3 3 2 11 9 +2 12
21 Scotland Celtic 8 3 2 3 13 15 −2 11
22 Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad 8 3 1 4 12 15 −3 10
23 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 8 3 1 4 12 16 −4 10
24 Norway Brann 8 2 3 3 9 11 −2 9
25 Switzerland Young Boys 8 3 0 5 10 16 −6 9
26 Austria Sturm Graz 8 2 1 5 5 11 −6 7
27 Romania FCSB 8 2 1 5 9 16 −7 7
28 Netherlands Go Ahead Eagles 8 2 1 5 6 14 −8 7
29 Netherlands Feyenoord 8 2 0 6 11 15 −4 6
30 Switzerland Basel 8 2 0 6 9 13 −4 6
31 Austria Red Bull Salzburg 8 2 0 6 10 15 −5 6
32 Scotland Rangers 8 1 1 6 5 14 −9 4
33 France Nice 8 1 0 7 7 15 −8 3
34 Netherlands Utrecht 8 0 1 7 5 15 −10 1
35 Sweden Malmö FF 8 0 1 7 4 15 −11 1
36 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv 8 0 1 7 2 22 −20 1
Source: UEFA[14]
Rules for classification: League phase tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Away goals scored: Real Betis 5, Porto 3.

Results

[edit]

Knockout phase

[edit]

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 bracket structure for the knockout phase was partially fixed in advance using seeding, with teams' positions in the bracket determined by the final standings in the league phase. In the knockout phase, there was no country protection, with teams from the same association able to face each other in any round. Teams could also face opponents they played during the league phase.

The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:[2]

  • In the draw for the knockout phase play-offs, the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 9–16 were seeded, and the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 17–24 were unseeded. The draw was split into four sections based on the predetermined bracket, with the seeded teams in each section drawn against one of their two possible unseeded opponents. The seeded teams hosted the second leg.
  • In the draw for the round of 16, the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 1–8 were seeded, and the eight winners of the knockout phase play-offs were unseeded. Again, the draw was split into four sections based on the predetermined bracket, with the seeded teams in each section drawn against one of their two possible unseeded opponents. The seeded teams hosted the second leg.

In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, both the exact match pairings and order of legs were predetermined based on the tournament bracket. The teams with the better league phase ranking played the second leg of each round at home if they continued advancing. Should a seeded team have been beaten, the team that eliminated them took over their seeding position. The winner of semi-final 1 was designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes, as it is played at a neutral venue).

Bracket

[edit]
Knockout phase play-offsRound of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
22Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad202
12Hungary Ferencváros123 12Hungary Ferencváros202
6Portugal Braga044
6Portugal Braga145
20Greece Panathinaikos (p)213 (4)
4Spain Real Betis123
14Czech Republic Viktoria Plzeň213 (3) 20Greece Panathinaikos101
4Spain Real Betis044
6Portugal Braga213
23Croatia Dinamo Zagreb134
7Germany SC Freiburg134
9Belgium Genk (a.e.t.)336 9 Belgium Genk112
7Germany SC Freiburg055
7 Germany SC Freiburg336
17Greece PAOK101
16Spain Celta Vigo011
16Spain Celta Vigo213 16Spain Celta Vigo123
20 May – Istanbul
1France Lyon101
7Germany SC Freiburg
21Scotland Celtic112
2England Aston Villa
11Germany VfB Stuttgart404 11Germany VfB Stuttgart101
5Portugal Porto224
5 Portugal Porto101
19Turkey Fenerbahçe022
13England Nottingham Forest112
13England Nottingham Forest314 13England Nottingham Forest (p)022 (3)
3Denmark Midtjylland112 (0)
13England Nottingham Forest101
24Norway Brann000
2England Aston Villa044
10Italy Bologna112 10Italy Bologna (a.e.t.)145
8Italy Roma134
10Italy Bologna101
18France Lille (a.e.t.)022
2England Aston Villa347
15Serbia Red Star Belgrade101 18France Lille000
2England Aston Villa123

Knockout phase play-offs

[edit]

The draw for the knockout phase play-offs was held on 30 January 2026, 13:00 CET.[15] The first legs were played on 19 February, and the second legs were played on 26 February 2026.[16]

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Ludogorets Razgrad Bulgaria2–3Hungary Ferencváros2–10–2
Panathinaikos Greece3–3 (4–3 p)Czech Republic Viktoria Plzeň2–21–1 (a.e.t.)
Dinamo Zagreb Croatia4–6Belgium Genk1–33–3 (a.e.t.)
PAOK Greece1–3Spain Celta Vigo1–20–1
Celtic Scotland2–4Germany VfB Stuttgart1–41–0
Fenerbahçe Turkey2–4England Nottingham Forest0–32–1
Brann Norway0–2Italy Bologna0–10–1
Lille France2–1Serbia Red Star Belgrade0–12–0 (a.e.t.)

Round of 16

[edit]

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 27 February 2026, 13:00 CET.[17] The first legs were played on 12 March, and the second legs were played on 18 and 19 March 2026.[18]

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Ferencváros Hungary2–4Portugal Braga2–00–4
Panathinaikos Greece1–4Spain Real Betis1–00–4
Genk Belgium2–5Germany SC Freiburg1–01–5
Celta Vigo Spain3–1France Lyon1–12–0
VfB Stuttgart Germany1–4Portugal Porto1–20–2
Nottingham Forest England2–2 (3–0 p)Denmark Midtjylland0–12–1 (a.e.t.)
Bologna Italy5–4Italy Roma1–14–3 (a.e.t.)
Lille France0–3England Aston Villa0–10–2

Quarter-finals

[edit]

The first legs were played on 8 and 9 April, and the second legs were played on 16 April 2026.[19]

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Braga Portugal5–3Spain Real Betis1–14–2
SC Freiburg Germany6–1Spain Celta Vigo3–03–1
Porto Portugal1–2England Nottingham Forest1–10–1
Bologna Italy1–7England Aston Villa1–30–4

Semi-finals

[edit]

The first legs were played on 30 April, and the second legs were played on 7 May 2026.

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Braga Portugal3–4Germany SC Freiburg2–11–3
Nottingham Forest England1–4England Aston Villa1–00–4

Final

[edit]

The final will be played on 20 May 2026 at the Beşiktaş Stadium in Istanbul. The winner of semi-final 1 was designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes.

SC Freiburg GermanyvEngland Aston Villa
Report[20]

Statistics

[edit]

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.

Table correct as of 7 May 2026.

Top goalscorers

[edit]
Rank[21] Player Team Goals Minutes played
1 Brazil Igor Jesus England Nottingham Forest 7 797
Serbia Petar Stanić Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad 858
3 Turkey Kerem Aktürkoğlu Turkey Fenerbahçe 6 699
Brazil Antony Spain Real Betis 788
5 Croatia Dion Drena Beljo Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 5 492
Sweden Williot Swedberg Spain Celta Vigo 585
Scotland John McGinn England Aston Villa 626
Morocco Bilal El Khannouss Germany VfB Stuttgart 644
Italy Federico Bernardeschi Italy Bologna 772
England Ollie Watkins England Aston Villa 823
Italy Vincenzo Grifo Germany SC Freiburg 907

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Budapest to host UEFA Champions League Final 2026". Union of European Football Associations. 22 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Regulations of the UEFA Champions League, 2024/25 Season". Nyon: UEFA. 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Association coefficients 2023/24". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  4. ^ "The CFCB First Chamber renders decision on Crystal Palace and Olympique Lyonnais". UEFA. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  5. ^ "Palace lose appeal against demotion from Europa League". BBC Sport. 11 August 2025.
  6. ^ "Why are Forest set to take Palace's place in Europa League?". BBC Sport. BBC News. BBC. 11 July 2025. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
  7. ^ "Ukraine crisis: Fifa and Uefa suspend all Russian clubs and national teams". BBC.co.uk. British Broadcasting Corporation. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  8. ^ "UEFA decisions for upcoming competitions relating to the ongoing suspension of Russian national teams and clubs" (Press release). Nyon: UEFA. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  9. ^ "UEFA club competitions cycle 2024–27 ("Post 2024")". UEFA Circular Letter. No. 36/2023. Union of European Football Associations. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  10. ^ "2025/26 Europa League: Teams, dates, draws, format, final". UEFA. 11 December 2025. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  11. ^ UEFA.com. "UEFA club competition league phase draws to take place in Monaco on 28 and 29 August". UEFA. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  12. ^ "UEFA Club Competitions 2024/25 onwards: new league phase draw procedures explained". UEFA. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  13. ^ "UEFA Documents – Article 16 Draw system – league phase". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  14. ^ "League phase table". UEFA. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  15. ^ "UEFA Europa League knockout phase play-off draw: Where is it, when is it, who is involved?". UEFA. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  16. ^ "2025/26 UEFA Europa League knockout phase play-offs" (PDF). UEFA. 30 January 2026. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
  17. ^ "Round of 16 draw". UEFA. Retrieved 27 February 2026.
  18. ^ "2025/26 UEFA Europa League knockout phase" (PDF). UEFA. 27 February 2026. Retrieved 27 February 2026.
  19. ^ "2025/26 UEFA Europa League knockout phase: Quarter-finals" (PDF). UEFA. 19 March 2026. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  20. ^ "SC Freiburg vs Aston Villa". UEFA. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  21. ^ "UEFA Europa League – Top Scorers". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
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