The 2017–18 UEFA Europa League group stage began on 14 September and ended on 7 December 2017.[1] A total of 48 teams competed in the group stage to decide 24 of the 32 places in the knockout phase of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League.[2]
Draw
The draw for the group stage was held on 25 August 2017, 13:00 CEST, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.[3]
The 48 teams were drawn into twelve groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on their 2017 UEFA club coefficients.[4]
On 17 July 2014, the UEFA emergency panel ruled that Ukrainian and Russian clubs would not be drawn against each other "until further notice" due to the political unrest between the countries.[5]
Moreover, the draw was controlled for teams from the same association in order to split the teams evenly into the two sets of four groups (A–F, G–L) for maximum television coverage. On each matchday, one set of six groups played their matches at 19:00 CEST/CET, while the other set of six groups played their matches at 21:05 CEST/CET, with the two sets of groups alternating between each matchday.
The fixtures were decided after the draw, using a computer draw not shown to public, with the following match sequence (Regulations Article 15.02):[2]
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.
There were certain scheduling restrictions: for example, teams from the same city in general were not scheduled to play at home on the same matchday (to avoid teams from the same city playing at home on the same day, due to logistics and crowd control), and teams in certain countries (e.g., Russia) were not scheduled to play at home on the last matchday (due to cold weather and simultaneous kick-off times).
Teams
Below were the participating teams (with their 2017 UEFA club coefficients),[4] grouped by their seeding pot. They included 16 teams which entered in this stage, the 22 winners of the play-off round, and the 10 losers of the Champions League play-off round (5 in Champions Route, 5 in League Route).
- Notes
Format
In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 32, where they were joined by the eight third-placed teams of the Champions League group stage.
Tiebreakers
Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Articles 16.01):[2]
- 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
The matchdays were 14 September, 28 September, 19 October, 2 November, 23 November, and 7 December 2017.[1] The match kickoff times were 19:00 and 21:05 CEST/CET in general, except for certain matches for geographical reasons.[6]
Times up to 28 October 2017 (matchdays 1–3) were CEST (UTC+2), thereafter (matchdays 4–6) times were CET (UTC+1).
Group A
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Group B
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Group C
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Group D
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Group E
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Group F
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
- ^ a b Head-to-head results: Sheriff Tiraspol 0–0 Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2–0 Sheriff Tiraspol.
Group G
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Group H
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Group I
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Group J
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
- ^ a b Head-to-head results: Östersund 2–2 Athletic Bilbao, Athletic Bilbao 1–0 Östersund.
Group K
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Group L
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes
- ^ a b c Maccabi Tel Aviv played their home matches at Netanya Stadium, Netanya, instead of their regular stadium Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, due to renovation.
- ^ The Partizan v Dynamo Kyiv match was played behind closed doors due to punishment by UEFA.[22]
- ^ a b c Skënderbeu played their home matches at Elbasan Arena, Elbasan, instead of their regular stadium Skënderbeu Stadium, Korçë, which did not meet UEFA requirements.[23]
- ^ The Skënderbeu Korçë v Dynamo Kyiv match was played behind closed doors due to punishment by UEFA.[30]
- ^ a b c Austria Wien played their home matches at Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, instead of their regular stadium Franz Horr Stadium, Vienna, due to reconstruction.
- ^ a b c Atalanta played their home matches at Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore, Reggio Emilia, instead of their regular stadium Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, Bergamo, which wasn’t given a UEFA licence to hold games.[58]
- ^ a b c Apollon Limassol played their home matches at GSP Stadium, Nicosia, instead of their regular stadium Tsirio Stadium, Limassol.
- ^ a b c Fastav Zlín played their home matches at Andrův stadion, Olomouc, instead of their regular stadium Letná Stadion, Zlín.
- ^ a b c Lugano played their home matches at Swissporarena, Lucerne, instead of their regular stadium Cornaredo Stadium, Lugano.
- ^ The Arsenal v 1. FC Köln match, originally scheduled for 21:05 CEST, was delayed to 22:05 CEST due to crowd safety concerns.[96]
- ^ a b c Zorya Luhansk played their home matches at Arena Lviv, lviv, instead of their regular stadium Avanhard Stadium, Luhansk, due to the war conditions in Eastern Ukraine.
- ^ The Lazio v Zulte Waregem match was played behind closed doors due to punishment by UEFA.[135]
References
External links
- UEFA Europa League (official website)
- UEFA Europa League history: 2017/18
