The 2022/23 Europa League group stage is nearing its conclusion on Thursday, November 3, and the knockout stage is just around the corner in 2023.
But before the Europa League Round of 16 kicks off, there’s a special playoff round that sees Europa League group runners-up and Champions League third-place finishers go head-to-head for a ticket to the Round of 16.
There are plenty of big names making the drop to the Europa League including Ajax, Barcelona, Sevilla, Sporting CP and Bayer Leverkusen which should make the second-tier competition even more compelling with the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Lazio, and Roma among the other powers still in the fight.
The Sporting News has all the latest on which teams will advance to what stage of the 2022/23 competition, and how the playoff round draw will be conducted.
MORE: All you need to know about the Champions League Round of 16 draw
Europa League playoff knockout teams
The teams that win their group in the Europa League group stage get a ticket straight to the Round of 16. Those teams that finish as group runners-up will have to fight for their spot in the Round of 16 in a separate playoff round.
Their opponents? The third-place finishers from the Champions League group stage who drop down into the Europa League knockout playoff.
It’s a total of 16 teams — eight from the Europa League and eight from the Champions League — fighting for the chance to keep their European cup dreams alive and contend for a spot in next season’s Champions League.
Teams qualifying from Europa League group stage
The following teams have assured themselves a place in the Europa League knockout round with one matchday remaining.
* = Teams will find out on the final day whether they qualify straight to the Round of 16 as first-place finishers, or whether they will head to the playoff round as runners-up.
| Europa League Group |
1st Place (Group Winners) |
2nd Place (Group Runners-up) |
|---|---|---|
| A | Arsenal* | PSV Eindhoven* |
| B | Fenerbahce* | Stade Rennes* |
| C | Real Betis | TBD |
| D | Union Saint-Gilloise | TBD |
| E | Real Sociedad* | Manchester United* |
| F | TBD | TBD |
| G | SC Freiburg | TBD |
| H | Ferencvaros | TBD |
Teams dropping from the Champions League group stage
The following teams are guaranteed to finish third in their Champions League group stage, seeing them drop to the Europa League playoff stage.
If they survive the Europa League playoff round against one of the group runners-up from the Europa League group stage, they will advance to the Round of 16 proper of the competition.
With only one day remaining in the Champions League group stage, there are still three spots to be determined.
| Champions League Group |
3rd Place Finishers |
|---|---|
| A | Ajax (Netherlands) |
| B | Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) |
| C | FC Barcelona (Spain) |
| D | Sporting CP (Portugal) |
| E | TBD (3 teams in play) |
| F | TBD (RB Leipzig or Shakhtar Donetsk) |
| G | Sevilla (Spain) |
| H | TBD (Juventus or Maccabi Haifa) |
Europa League knockout playoffs draw, fixtures and schedule
In the Europa League knockout playoffs, each team advancing as a second-place group stage finisher will be matched up against a third-place finisher from the Champions League group stage.
The winners from this round will advance to the Round of 16 and will be matched up against a group stage winner. All eight Europa League group stage winners earned a bye straight to the Round of 16.
The draw will take place on Monday, November 7, 2022, and the matches will be played in February.
| Match | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg |
|---|---|---|
| TBD (Group runner-up) vs. TBD (Champions League entrant) | Feb 16 | Feb 23 |
| TBD (Group runner-up) vs. TBD (Champions League entrant) | Feb 16 | Feb 23 |
| TBD (Group runner-up) vs. TBD (Champions League entrant) | Feb 16 | Feb 23 |
| TBD (Group runner-up) vs. TBD (Champions League entrant) | Feb 16 | Feb 23 |
| TBD (Group runner-up) vs. TBD (Champions League entrant) | Feb 16 | Feb 23 |
| TBD (Group runner-up) vs. TBD (Champions League entrant) | Feb 16 | Feb 23 |
| TBD (Group runner-up) vs. TBD (Champions League entrant) | Feb 16 | Feb 23 |
| TBD (Group runner-up) vs. TBD (Champions League entrant) | Feb 16 | Feb 23 |
UEFA Europa League live stream, TV in 2022/23
| Country | TV channel | Streaming |
|---|---|---|
| UK | BT Sport 1/BT Sport Ultimate | BT Sport app, BT Sport YouTube |
| USA | CBS, CBSSN, Univision/TUDN | fuboTV, Paramount+, ViX, ViX+ |
| Australia | 9Gem | Stan Sport |
| Canada | — | DAZN |
Europa League schedule 2022/23
Knockout stage schedule
The draw for the 2022/23 Europa League knockout round playoffs will take place on Nov. 7, 2022, and the draw for the Round of 16 will take place on Feb. 24, 2022.
The draw for the rest of the 2022/23 Europa League knockout rounds will take place on March 17, 2023.
The 2023 Europa League final will take place in Budapest, Hungary on May 31, 2023.
| Round | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg |
|---|---|---|
| Knockout Playoffs | Feb. 16, 2023 | Feb. 23, 2023 |
| Round of 16 | Mar. 9, 2023 | Mar. 16, 2023 |
| Quarterfinals | Apr. 13, 2023 | Apr. 20, 2023 |
| Semifinals | May 11, 2023 | May 18, 2023 |
| Final | May 31, 2023 | |
