Europa League - 2020/21

bigy

Well-Known Member
I noticed that the 1st round draw is today. We don't enter until the 2nd round with the draw scheduled for 31 August. The 2nd round takes place on 17 September, with the 3rd round on 24 September and play-offs on 1 October.

All games are single leg ties. All games are behind closed doors. And the draw will determine if we play home or away.

We will be seeded in the 2nd and 3rd qualifying rounds - which is an improvement on previous years but does mean we're guaranteed a seeded team if we reach the play-off round (although it could be a one off game at Ibrox).

2nd qualifying round potential opponents
AGF Aarhus * Den >5.800
FC Vaduz * Lie 5.500
FK Kukësi * Alb 5.500
Anorthosis Famagusta Cyp 5.350
Aris Thessaloniki Gre 5.260
OFI Heraklion Gre 5.260
Valletta FC * Mlt 5.250
FK Ventspils * Lat 5.250
Olimpija Ljubljana * Slo 5.250
Lincoln Red Imps *p Gib 5.250
Servette FC Genève * Sui >5.240
Vojvodina Novi Sad Srb 5.100
TSC Backa Topola * Srb 5.100
Universitatea Craiova * Rom 5.000
Kalju Nomme * Est 5.000
NK Osijek Cro 4.975
Shakhtior Saligorsk * Bls 4.750
IFK Göteborg Swe 4.550
Hammarby IF * Swe 4.550
FC Santa Coloma *p And 4.500
FH Hafnarfjardar * Isl 4.500
Bodø/Glimt * Nor 4.350
Viking Stavanger Nor 4.350
Progrès Niederkorn * Lux 4.250
FK Riteriai * Lit 4.250
CSKA Sofia * Bul 4.000
Sutjeska Niksic * Mon 4.000
Honvéd Budapest * Hun 4.000
Maccabi Haifa * Isr 3.925
Beitar Jerusalem * Isr 3.925
Ordabasy Shymkent * Kaz 3.850
Kaysar Kyzylorda Kaz 3.850
Neftchi Baku * Azb 3.750
Shamrock Rovers * Irl 3.750
B36 Torshavn *p Far 3.750
Kesla FK * Azb 3.750

3rd qualifying round potential opponents
FK Rostov Rus 12.000 or Lokomotiva Zagreb Cro 4.975 (Lokomotiva play Rapid Vienna in Champions League qualifying - loser drops in to Europa League at this stage)
NK Rijeka Cro 11.000
FC Fehérvár * Hun 10.500
Rio Ave ** Por 9.889
Dinamo Moscow ** Rus 9.109
Slovan Liberec ** Cze 8.000
Charleroi Bel 7.580
Hajduk Split ** Cro 7.500
Shkendija Tetovo * Mac 7.250
Willem II Tilburg ** Ned 7.150
Kolos Kovalivka ** Ukr >7.020
Desna Chernihiv Ukr >7.020
The New Saints * Wal 7.000
FK Jablonec ** Cze 7.000
Dinamo Minsk * Bls 7.000
Lech Poznan * Pol 7.000
Alanyaspor Tur 6.720
TSV Hartberg ** Aut 6.585
Aberdeen * Sco 6.500
Zrinjski Mostar * Bos 6.250
Alashkert FC * Arm 6.000
Kairat Almaty * Kaz 6.000
Zalgiris Vilnius * Lit 6.000
SønderjyskE Den >5.800
FC Sankt Gallen Sui >5.240

Play-off round potential opponents
Tottenham Hotspur ** Eng 85.000
FC Basel ** Sui >57.500
Sporting CP Lisbon *3 Por 50.000
FC København ** Den >38.000
PSV Eindhoven *3 Ned 37.000
VfL Wolfsburg ** Ger 36.000
Sparta Praha *3 Cze 30.500
APOEL Nicosia * Cyp 27.500
BATE Borisov ** Bls 24.000
Galatasaray ** Tur 23.500
Malmö FF * Swe 22.000
Plus 2 depending on Champions League drop outs (could be Benfica / Dinamo Kiev / Besiktas / Gent / Krasnodor / Rapid Vienna / Viktoria Plzen / Rostov / Partizan Belgrade).
 
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Wikipedia has us seeded for the play off round, along with the teams listed above.

Pretty sure Wiki is wrong. The following teams are also unseeded and are ranked ahead of us - plus there's likely to be 4 other teams not listed who will be seeded ahead (CL qualifying drop outs).

Standard Liège ** Bel 20.500
FCSB * Rom 20.500
Granada CF ** Esp >20.113
AC Milan ** Ita 19.000
AEK Athens *3 Gre 16.500
 
Some interesting wee details on this:

Our seeding is now 16.250 - the next team up from us in the Europa League is AC Milan, who have 19.000.

For us to be seeded in the playoff round, we'd need 8 of the following teams to be eliminated:
Spurs
Basel
Sporting Lisbon
Copenhagen
PSV
Wolfsburg
Sparta Prague
Nicosia
BATE
Galatasaray
Partizan Belgrade
Standard Liege
FCSB (Steaua)
Granada
AC Milan
AEK
3 of the teams that drop out from the CL qualifying, assuming their co-efficients are higher than ours.

So a bit of a long shot to be seeded for that round, but there are only really two teams in there (Wolfsburg and Spurs) that I wouldn't fancy
 
Pretty sure Wiki is wrong. The following teams are also unseeded and are ranked ahead of us - plus there's likely to be 4 other teams not listed who will be seeded ahead (CL qualifying drop outs).

Standard Liège ** Bel 20.500
FCSB * Rom 20.500
Granada CF ** Esp >20.113
AC Milan ** Ita 19.000
AEK Athens *3 Gre 16.500

Think you (and Bert Kassies) are right.
 
What times the draw?

The 1st round draw is today (with Aberdeen and Motherwell in it). Would guess 11.00 or 12.00 - the next Champions League round draw is also today (Celtic drew Reykiavik at home in the 1st round).

The 2nd and 3rd round draws aren't until 31 August and 1 September.
 
The 1st round draw is today (with Aberdeen and Motherwell in it). Would guess 11.00 or 12.00 - the next Champions League round draw is also today (Celtic drew Reykiavik at home in the 1st round).

The 2nd and 3rd round draws aren't until 31 August and 1 September.

1300 CET today I think.
 
12 noon UK time for 1st round

Group 4

Seeded

1 Aberdeen (SCO)
2 Rosenborg (NOR)
3 Motherwell (SCO)

Unseeded
4 Breidablik (ISL)
5 NSÍ Runavík (FRO)/Barry Town United (WAL)
6 Glentoran (NIR)/HB Tórshavn (FRO)

Group 1

Seeded

1 Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN)
2 Maribor (SVN)
3 St Joseph's (GIB)/B36 Tórshavn (FRO)

Unseeded
4 Coleraine (NIR)/La Fiorita (SMR)
5 Víkingur Reykjavík (ISL)
6 Levadia Tallinn (EST)
 
We should sail through rounds 2 and 3.

Play off will be luck of draw. Most teams in it will be difficult but there’s a couple of teams that would be clear favorites to beat us
 
Looking at those sides, both Aberdeen and Motherwell should be winning their ties.

In theory completely agree, but when was the last time a team outwith us or celtic have done anything decent in Europe.
Depsitr our amazing runs over the last 2 years, everyone else has been so useless in out absence that we're still stuck negotiating 3 rounds of qualifying.
 
I still shudder when I see the words Progres Niederkorn, despite putting them out last year.
Braga home and away, hammer Danish champions home and away, and undefeated against Porto and Feyenoord. Can't get a win in Luxembourg...

4th round is the minimum now that we're seeded, but as already said, we could get a really bad draw. I think BCD may benefit us a bit domestically, but Europe will show the importance of our support, in my opinion.
 
The financials at the club won’t agree but I would take getting to the final round then dropping out.

Put all the concentration on the league this year. Playing Saturdays and winning while they play Sundays could have a huge bearing on the title. Especially if we keep racking up wins.

It wouldn't be the worst thing if it happened this year with the lack of revenue generated from the home games

Still rather we were there though, it's refreshing seeing us in Europe against decent sides
 
It wouldn't really as it'd hurt the country co-efficient.

People complain about having to play so many qualifiers, but then are delighted to see the other sides fall at the first hurdle which hurts us as well.
Yeah, co-efficient and all that, but to see them bantered off by Barry Town United would be incredibly funny and I make zero apologies for wanting that.
 
I still shudder when I see the words Progres Niederkorn, despite putting them out last year.
Braga home and away, hammer Danish champions home and away, and undefeated against Porto and Feyenoord. Can't get a win in Luxembourg...

4th round is the minimum now that we're seeded, but as already said, we could get a really bad draw. I think BCD may benefit us a bit domestically, but Europe will show the importance of our support, in my opinion.

Single leg games introduce a significant element of chance into the ties I reckon. Most of the 2nd round teams I agree we should beat but there could be tricky games against sides from Greece, Sweden, Denmark, or Israel.

3rd round there's French, Russian, Dutch Swiss and Belgian sides. Again, I think most of the teams we would be favourites against but there's still the potential for a tough game there.
 
It wouldn't be the worst thing if it happened this year with the lack of revenue generated from the home games

Still rather we were there though, it's refreshing seeing us in Europe against decent sides

Looks to me like the Europa games are starting a lot later than the champions league qualifiers. Might not be behind closed doors if the virus situation continues to stabilise. We also need to keep boosting the club and country coefficient for future seasons in Europe.
 
Single leg games introduce a significant element of chance into the ties I reckon. Most of the 2nd round teams I agree we should beat but there could be tricky games against sides from Greece, Sweden, Denmark, or Israel.

3rd round there's French, Russian, Dutch Swiss and Belgian sides. Again, I think most of the teams we would be favourites against but there's still the potential for a tough game there.
It's going to be much tougher for us to qualify this year, through no fault of our own.
 
Single leg games introduce a significant element of chance into the ties I reckon. Most of the 2nd round teams I agree we should beat but there could be tricky games against sides from Greece, Sweden, Denmark, or Israel.

3rd round there's French, Russian, Dutch Swiss and Belgian sides. Again, I think most of the teams we would be favourites against but there's still the potential for a tough game there.

I assume most of those teams will be seeded.
 
Maribor (SVN) v Coleraine (NIR)/La Fiorita (SMR)

Aberdeen (SCO) v NSÍ Runavík (FRO)/Barry Town United (WAL)

Motherwell (SCO) v Glentoran (NIR)/HB Tórshavn (FRO)

Both Aberdeen and Motherwell should be getting through those ties comfortably
 
It wouldn't be the worst thing if it happened this year with the lack of revenue generated from the home games

Still rather we were there though, it's refreshing seeing us in Europe against decent sides

That's something I hadn't even considered. While the financial hit would obviously matter, it would be much less impactful this year than any other.

I'm torn tbh. I couldn't care less about stopping their tainted 10, I just want us to progress as a club, and a big part of that is getting our own co-efficient to the point where we are seeded throughout these kinds of ties - and that means progressing in Europe as far and as often as possible.

At the same time I'm fairly desperate to see us pick up domestic honours and win something again, and there is little doubt a Europa run is slightly detrimental to that. This year especially has the potential for big fixture pile ups, and I still don't think our squad is deep enough to handle it completely.

I suppose I'll be delighted if we progress but it's not the end of the world if we don't. After the last few seasons of overachieving I don't think it's something we should judge Gerrard too harshly on if we don't make the group stages.
 
Some interesting wee details on this:

Our seeding is now 16.250 - the next team up from us in the Europa League is AC Milan, who have 19.000.

For us to be seeded in the playoff round, we'd need 8 of the following teams to be eliminated:
Spurs
Basel
Sporting Lisbon
Copenhagen
PSV
Wolfsburg
Sparta Prague
Nicosia
BATE
Galatasaray
Partizan Belgrade
Standard Liege
FCSB (Steaua)
Granada
AC Milan
AEK
3 of the teams that drop out from the CL qualifying, assuming their co-efficients are higher than ours.

So a bit of a long shot to be seeded for that round, but there are only really two teams in there (Wolfsburg and Spurs) that I wouldn't fancy

Based on our runs the last couple years, there won't be any teams happy getting drawn against us either...

Its good to be back!
 
These qualifiers are going to be s bit of a lottery with the whole one leg ties scenario. And why is it when we've done well the last two years does the playoff round seem to get tougher year on year.
 
These qualifiers are going to be s bit of a lottery with the whole one leg ties scenario. And why is it when we've done well the last two years does the playoff round seem to get tougher year on year.

I think we've just got a bit lucky with the draw the last two years. Given our performances last year and this most teams would prefer to avoid us.
 
That's something I hadn't even considered. While the financial hit would obviously matter, it would be much less impactful this year than any other.

I'm torn tbh. I couldn't care less about stopping their tainted 10, I just want us to progress as a club, and a big part of that is getting our own co-efficient to the point where we are seeded throughout these kinds of ties - and that means progressing in Europe as far and as often as possible.

At the same time I'm fairly desperate to see us pick up domestic honours and win something again, and there is little doubt a Europa run is slightly detrimental to that. This year especially has the potential for big fixture pile ups, and I still don't think our squad is deep enough to handle it completely.

I suppose I'll be delighted if we progress but it's not the end of the world if we don't. After the last few seasons of overachieving I don't think it's something we should judge Gerrard too harshly on if we don't make the group stages.
I think with our new signings and that the EL fixtures are single-tie should mitigate the fatigue that was obvious last season :))
 
Nah, %^*& them. We as a club can hold our head up high with respect to co-efficient points.

I repeat. %^*& them.

It wouldn't really as it'd hurt the country co-efficient.

People complain about having to play so many qualifiers, but then are delighted to see the other sides fall at the first hurdle which hurts us as well.
 
Single leg games introduce a significant element of chance into the ties I reckon. Most of the 2nd round teams I agree we should beat but there could be tricky games against sides from Greece, Sweden, Denmark, or Israel.

3rd round there's French, Russian, Dutch Swiss and Belgian sides. Again, I think most of the teams we would be favourites against but there's still the potential for a tough game there.

Very true, and perhaps it's the last two seasons sensational European performances that are skewing my expectations.

However, I've never seen a Rangers team as comfortable or capable of playing in Europe. Every faith in them, but as you say, the luck of the draw is sometimes half the battle.
 
Where is it decided the tie is played? Is the home team the seeded team and away goals count? If so, I would fancy our chances qualifying with an away tie rather than a home tie
 
It's just the luck of the draw - they pick a seeded ball and a non-seeded ball, swirl it in a ball and then pull out whichever one was microwaved 2 minutes before the draw.

Seriously though - it is that process so it's random whether seeded or non-seeded get home advantage. But there is no crowd and it's winner takes all (no away goals rule).
 
Where is it decided the tie is played? Is the home team the seeded team and away goals count? If so, I would fancy our chances qualifying with an away tie rather than a home tie

The game will be played depending on the draw

i.e Rangers v Tottenham or Tottenham v Rangers

No away goal count - single tie with extra time and penalties if needed
 
Will there be half the coefficient points available for each round with only one tie?

Not sure how they will work for qualifiers but found this on UEFA's website

UEFA Europa League points system
Preliminary round elimination – 0.5 points
First qualifying round elimination – 1 point
Second qualifying round elimination – 1.5 points
Third qualifying round elimination – 2 points
Play-off elimination – 2.5 points
Group stage win – 2 points
Group stage draw – 1 point

Clubs are guaranteed a minimum of three points if they reach the group stage and are awarded an additional point if they get to the quarter-finals, semi-finals or final.

* Penalty shoot-outs do not affect the calculation system.

2019/20 addendum
For matches originally foreseen to be two legs (home and away) but reduced to a single leg, the calculation of coefficient points per match will be adapted as follows:

▪ Three points for a win (in regular time or extra time)
▪ Two points to each team for a draw (after extra time)
▪ One point for a loss (in regular time or extra time)
 
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