The 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage began on 22 October 2020 and ended on 10 December 2020. A total of 48 teams competed in the group phase to decide 24 of the 32 places in the hard phase of the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Antwerp, Granada, Leicester City, Omonia and Sivasspor made their debut appearances in the group stage .
draw [edit ]
The draw for the group stage was held on 2 October 2020, 13:00 hundred, at the House of european Football in Nyon, Switzerland. [ 3 ]
In the case of associations with two or more representatives, clubs could be paired so that they played with different kick-off times ( 18.55 CET and 21:00 CET ) for the benefit of television receiver audiences. If a pair clubhouse was drawn, for example, in groups A, B, C, D, E or F the other pair club – once drawn – would automatically be assigned to the first available group of G, H, I, J, K or L.
The following pairings were announced by UEFA after the group stage teams were confirmed : [ 4 ]
On each matchday, one set of six groups played their matches at 18:55 CET/CEST, while the other fructify of six groups played their matches at 21:00 CET/CEST, with the two sets of groups alternating between each matchday. The fixtures were decided after the draw, using a calculator draw not shown to public, with the follow match sequence ( Regulations Article 15.02 ) : [ 5 ] Note: Positions for scheduling did not use the seeding pots, e.g. Team 1 was not necessarily the team from Pot 1 in the draw.
Group stage schedule
Matchday
Dates
Matchday 1
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
There were scheduling restrictions : for example, teams from the like city ( e.g. Celtic & Rangers, Arsenal & Tottenham Hotspur, Sparta Prague & Slavia Prague ) in general were not scheduled to play at home on the same matchday ( to avoid them playing at home on the like day, ascribable to logistics and crowd control ), and teams from “ winter countries ” ( e.g. Russia ) were not scheduled to play at home on the final matchday ( due to cold upwind ) .
Teams [edit ]
Below were the participating teams ( with their 2020 UEFA cabaret coefficients ), [ 6 ] grouped by their sow pot. They included :
Key to colours
Group winners and runners-up advance to round of 32
- Notes
- EL-CP Winners of play-off beat ( Champions Path ) .
- EL-MP Winners of play-off round ( Main Path ) .
- CL-CP Losers of Champions League play-off round ( Champions Path ).
Read more: France national football team
- CL-LP Losers of Champions League play-off polish ( League Path ) .
- CL-LQ Losers of Champions League third base qualifying turn ( League Path ) .
format [edit ]
In each group, teams played against each early home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runner-up advanced to the round of 32, where they were joined by the eight third-placed teams of the Champions League group phase .
Tiebreakers [edit ]
Teams were ranked according to points ( 3 points for a winnings, 1 sharpen for a draw, 0 points for a loss ), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the decree given, to determine the rankings ( Regulations Articles 16.01 ) : [ 5 ]
- Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Goals scored in all group matches;
- Away goals scored in all group matches;
- Wins in all group matches;
- Away wins in all group matches;
- Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
- UEFA club coefficient.
Groups [edit ]
The group stage fixtures were confirmed on 2 October 2020. [ 7 ] The matchdays were 22 October, 29 October, 5 November, 26 November, 3 December, and 10 December 2020. The scheduled beginning times were 18:55 and 21:00 CET/CEST. Times are CET / CEST, [ note 1 ] as listed by UEFA ( local anesthetic times, if unlike, are in parentheses ) .
Group A [edit ]
- a b neck and neck points : CFR Cluj 4, CSKA Sofia 1 .
Group B [edit ]
Group C [edit ]
Group D [edit ]
Group E [edit ]
Group F [edit ]
Group G [edit ]
- a b neck and neck points : Leicester City 4, Braga 1.
Read more: Swansea City A.F.C.
Group H [edit ]
Group I [edit ]
- ^ The Villarreal volt Qarabağ match was awarded as a cinch to Villarreal after being cancelled as respective players of the Qarabağ police squad tested convinced for the SARS-CoV-2