Europa League 07/08

Dates:

July 2007 - May 2008

Number of Teams:

Location:

Europe

Stadiums:

Final in Manchester, UK

Official website:

Facts

1 Overview
- 1.1 Dates
2 Qualification Process
- 2.1 Qualification Requirements
- 2.2 English Qualifications
3 Competition Format
4 Location and Venues
5 Ticket Availability
6 Official Sponsors
7 Important Links
8 References

Overview

Dates

The UEFA Cup starts in July and ends mid May of the next year.

Qualification Process

Depending on the country and its position in FIFA ranking, usually each Football Association qualifies the National Cup winners and the sides that finished just behind the UCL positions. Also UEFA Intertoto Cup winners and the top three teams in the Fiar-Play rankings can partecipate to the UEFA Cup.

Qualification Requirements

The UEFA Cup currently has two preliminary qualifying rounds, followed by a first round, each round of which has two legs – home and away against the same team.. The next stage for the winners is a place in a group with five total clubs, where each team only plays each other once. The curious thing about the UEFA Cup (and maybe it needs to be changed) is its totally left to chance as to who plays home or away – this is a big determining factor in most competitions, especially the UEFA Champions League. Then, the top three clubs are able to qualify through the groups, where the knock-out stages begin again, but the wildcards are eight losers from the Champions League group stages, the third-placed – adding a bit more excitement.

English Qualifications

Extra club in UEFA Cup An additional English club will compete in the first qualifying round of next season's UEFA Cup after England finished top of the 2007/08 UEFA Fair Play ranking. The extra club, still to be decided, will be added to the three which have already qualify from England - League Cup winner Tottenham, the fifth-place finisher in the Premier League and the winner of the FA Cup final between Portsmouth and Cardiff City.

Competition Format

The UEFA Cup between 2009 and 2012 will feature 48 sides, split into 12 groups of four; the top two teams in each group will qualify for the knockout phase and be joined by the eight clubs that finish the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in third place.

The knockout stage, with 32 sides and four rounds, will lead to the final, played in a single match at a neutral venue. The first knockout round will become part of the qualifying phase.

Only the title-holders will automatically qualify for the UEFA Cup group stage. The qualifying process will consist of four rounds, with 37 additional slots compared to the present rounds, to accommodate sides that currently qualify for the UEFA Intertoto Cup (which is being cancelled completely). Losing teams in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round and third qualifying round will move into the UEFA Cup fourth qualifying round and group phase respectively, just to keep things complicated.

Location and Venues

Each sides play home matches in their won stadium, only the final game is played in a neutral venue determined by the UEFA. This year it will be played at the 'City of Manchester' stadium, in Manchester, England.