The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The final was played between Ajax and Manchester United at the Friends Arena in Solna, Sweden. Manchester United beat Ajax 2–0 to win their first title. With this victory, they became the fifth club – after Juventus, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Chelsea – to have won all three major European trophies at the time (European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, and the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup).
Manchester United qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid, in the 2017 UEFA Super Cup.
As the title holders, Sevilla qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League. Having won the last three Europa League tournaments, Sevilla were unable to defend their titles as they reached the Champions League knockout stage, where they were eliminated by Leicester City in the round of 16.
Association team allocation A total of 188 teams from 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations were expected to participate in the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League (the exception being Kosovo, whose participation was not accepted in their first attempt as UEFA members). The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association: Associations 1–51 (except Liechtenstein) each had three teams qualify. As the winners of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, Sevilla qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League; the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League berth they would otherwise have earned for finishing 7th in the 2015–16 La Liga was vacated and not passed to another Spanish team. Associations 52–53 each had two teams qualify. Liechtenstein and Gibraltar each had one team qualify (Liechtenstein organises only a domestic cup and no domestic league; Gibraltar as per decision by the UEFA Executive Committee). Moreover, 33 teams eliminated from the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League were transferred to the Europa League.
The UEFA Executive Committee approved in December 2014 changes to the rewards given according to the Respect Fair Play ranking, and starting from the 2016–17 season, the three Fair Play berths were no longer allocated to the Europa League.
Association ranking For the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2015 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2010–11 to 2014–15.
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Europa League, as noted below: – Additional teams transferred from Champions League – Vacated berth due to Europa League title holders playing in Champions League
RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes199.9993280.391379.415470.510561.382652.416750.498845.166940.9791037.2001134.3751232.6001331.9001429.1251526.2991625.6751723.5001822.3001921.500RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes2021.00032120.7502219.8002317.9002417.7252516.7502614.3752713.8752813.6252912.5003011.2503111.0003210.3753310.000349.375358.200368.000377.500RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes386.0001395.8753405.750415.625425.375435.125444.875454.500464.250474.208483.500493.500502.875512.750520.8332530.499540.2501550.0000
Distribution In the default access list, Sevilla enter the third qualifying round (as the seventh-placed team of the 2015–16 La Liga). However, since they qualified for the Champions League as the Europa League title holders, the spot which they qualified for in the Europa League third qualifying round is vacated, and the following changes to the default allocation system are made: The domestic cup winners of association 18 (Cyprus) are promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round. The domestic cup winners of associations 27 (Serbia) and 28 (Slovenia) are promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.
Teams entering in this roundTeams advancing from previous roundTeams transferred from Champions LeagueFirst qualifying round(96 teams)26 domestic cup winners from associations 29–54 35 domestic league runners-up from associations 18–53 (except Liechtenstein) 35 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 16–51 (except Liechtenstein)Second qualifying round(66 teams)10 domestic cup winners from associations 19–28 2 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–17 6 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 10–1548 winners from first qualifying roundThird qualifying round(58 teams)6 domestic cup winners from associations 13–18 9 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–15 5 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 5–9 3 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 4–6 (League Cup winners for France) 2 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 1–3 (League Cup winners for England) (except Europa League title holders)33 winners from second qualifying roundPlay-off round(44 teams)29 winners from third qualifying round15 losers from Champions League third qualifying roundGroup stage(48 teams)12 domestic cup winners from associations 1–12 1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 4 3 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–322 winners from play-off round10 losers from Champions League play-off roundKnockout phase(32 teams)12 group winners from group stage 12 group runners-up from group stage8 third-placed teams from Champions League group stage
Redistribution rules A Europa League place is vacated when a team qualifies for both the Champions League and the Europa League, or qualifies for the Europa League by more than one method. When a place is vacated, it is redistributed within the national association by the following rules (regulations Articles 3.03 and 3.04): When the domestic cup winners (considered as the "highest-placed" qualifier within the national association with the latest starting round) also qualify for the Champions League, their Europa League place is vacated. As a result, the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions qualify for the Europa League, with the Europa League qualifiers which finish above them in the league moved up one "place". When the domestic cup winners also qualify for the Europa League through league position, their place through the league position is vacated. As a result, the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions qualify for the Europa League, with the Europa League qualifiers which finish above them in the league moved up one "place" if possible. For associations where a Europa League place is reserved for the League Cup winners, they always qualify for the Europa League as the "lowest-placed" qualifier. If the League Cup winners have already qualified for European competitions through other methods, this reserved Europa League place is taken by the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions.
Teams The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round: CW: Cup winners 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position LC: League Cup winners RW: Regular season winners PW: End-of-season European competition play-offs winners CL: Transferred from Champions League GS: Third-placed teams from group stage PO: Losers from play-off round Q3: Losers from third qualifying round
Round of 32 Ludogorets Razgrad Borussia Mönchengladbach Tottenham Hotspur Copenhagen Beşiktaş Rostov Legia Warsaw Lyon Group stage Athletic Bilbao Fiorentina Zürich Steaua București Celta Vigo Braga Konyaspor Roma Manchester United Nice Viktoria Plzeň Ajax Southampton Zenit Saint Petersburg Hapoel Be'er Sheva Young Boys Schalke 04 Zorya Luhansk APOEL Villarreal Mainz 05 Feyenoord Dundalk Internazionale Standard Liège Red Bull Salzburg Play-off round Rosenborg Trenčín Red Star Belgrade Shakhtar Donetsk Dinamo Tbilisi Qarabağ Partizani Anderlecht Olympiacos Astra Giurgiu PAOK Fenerbahçe Astana BATE Borisov Sparta Prague Third qualifying round West Ham United Krasnodar Luzern Viitorul Constanța Hertha BSC Spartak Moscow İstanbul Başakşehir Rapid Wien Sassuolo Vorskla Poltava AEK Athens Rijeka Arouca Oleksandriya Panathinaikos Apollon Limassol Rio Ave AZ Mladá Boleslav Lille Heracles Almelo Slovan Liberec Saint-Étienne Gent Pandurii Târgu Jiu Second qualifying round Genk CSM Politehnica Iași Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino Strømsgodset Grasshopper Austria Wien SønderjyskE Partizan Osmanlıspor Hajduk Split Hibernian Maribor PAS Giannina Piast Gliwice BK Häcken Slavia Prague Maccabi Haifa Levski Sofia First qualifying round Admira Wacker Mödling Gabala Radnik Bijeljina Sūduva Lokomotiva Zagreb Kapaz Sloboda Tuzla Jelgava AEK Larnaca Neftçi Široki Brijeg Ventspils Omonia Slovan Bratislava Vaduz Spartaks Jūrmala Zagłębie Lubin Spartak Myjava Shkëndija Hibernians Cracovia Spartak Trnava Sileks Birkirkara Maccabi Tel Aviv Videoton Rabotnicki Balzan Beitar Jerusalem Debrecen Cork City Levadia Tallinn Dinamo Minsk MTK Budapest Shamrock Rovers Nõmme Kalju Shakhtyor Soligorsk Kairat St Patrick's Athletic Infonet Tallinn Midtjylland Aktobe Rudar Pljevlja Víkingur Gøta Brøndby Ordabasy Budućnost Podgorica NSÍ Aberdeen Zaria Bălți Bokelj HB Heart of Midlothian Dacia Chișinău Kukësi Bala Town IFK Göteborg Zimbru Chișinău Partizani Llandudno AIK Samtredia Teuta Connah's Quay Nomads Beroe Stara Zagora Dila Gori Fola Esch Banants Slavia Sofia Chikhura Sachkhere Differdange 03 Shirak Stabæk Mariehamn Jeunesse Esch Pyunik Odd RoPS Glenavon UE Santa Coloma Čukarički HJK Linfield Lusitanos Vojvodina Valur Cliftonville La Fiorita Domžale Breiðablik Trakai Folgore Gorica KR Atlantas Europa
Notably two teams took part in the competition that were not playing in their national top division, Zürich (2nd tier) and Hibernian (2nd tier).
Notes
Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).
PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifyingFirst qualifying round20 June 201630 June 20167 July 2016Second qualifying round14 July 201621 July 2016Third qualifying round15 July 201628 July 20164 August 2016Play-offPlay-off round5 August 201618 August 201625 August 2016Group stageMatchday 126 August 2016(Monaco)15 September 2016Matchday 229 September 2016Matchday 320 October 2016Matchday 43 November 2016Matchday 524 November 2016Matchday 68 December 2016Knockout phaseRound of 3212 December 201616 February 201723 February 2017Round of 1624 February 20179 March 201716 March 2017Quarter-finals17 March 201713 April 201720 April 2017Semi-finals21 April 20174 May 201711 May 2017Final24 May 2017 at Friends Arena, Solna
Matches in the qualifying, play-off, and knockout rounds could also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts.
Qualifying rounds
In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2016 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.
First qualifying round The draws for the first and second qualifying round were held on 20 June 2016.
Second qualifying round
Third qualifying round The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 15 July 2016.
Play-off round
The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 August 2016. The first legs were played on 17 and 18 August, and the second legs were played on 25 August 2016.
Group stage