2015–16 UEFA Europa League play-off round

The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League play-off round began on 20 August and ended on 27 August 2015. A total of 44 teams competed in the play-off round to decide 22 of the 48 places in the group stage of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.[1]

All times were CEST (UTC+2).

Round and draw dates

All draws were held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[2]

Round Draw date and time First leg Second leg
Play-off round 7 August 2015, 13:00[3] 20 August 2015 27 August 2015

Matches could also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts.

Format

In the qualifying phase and play-off round, each tie was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e., the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then thirty minutes of extra time was played, divided into two fifteen-minutes halves. The away goals rule was again applied after extra time, i.e., if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team advanced by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the tie was decided by penalty shoot-out.[1]

In the draws for each round, teams were seeded based on their UEFA club coefficients at the beginning of the season, with the teams divided into seeded and unseeded pots. A seeded team was drawn against an unseeded team, with the order of legs in each tie decided by draw. Due to the limited time between matches, the draws for the second and third qualifying rounds took place before the results of the previous round were known. For these draws (or in any cases where the result of a tie in the previous round was not known at the time of the draw), the seeding was carried out under the assumption that the team with the higher coefficient of an undecided tie advanced to this round, which means if the team with the lower coefficient was to advance, it simply took the seeding of its defeated opponent. Prior to the draws, UEFA formed "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, but they were purely for convenience of the draw and for ensuring that teams from the same association were not drawn against each other, and did not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition.[1]

Seeding

A total of 44 teams played in the play-off round: the 29 winners of the third qualifying round, and the 15 losers of the Champions League third qualifying round.[3] The draw was held on 7 August 2015.[4][5] Teams were pre-assigned numbers by UEFA so that the draw could be held in one run for all groups with 10 teams and another run for all groups with 12 teams.

Group 1 Group 2
Seeded Unseeded Seeded Unseeded

Athletic Bilbao[†] (1)
Viktoria Plzeň[CL] (2)
Steaua București[CL] (3)
Legia Warsaw[†] (4)
Belenenses[†] (5)

Rosenborg[†] (6)
Zorya Luhansk[†] (7)
Žilina[†] (8)
Vojvodina[†] (9)
Rheindorf Altach[†] (10)

Ajax[CL] (1)
PAOK[†] (2)
Young Boys[CL] (3)
Standard Liège[†] (4)
Saint-Étienne[†] (5)

Qarabağ[CL] (6)
Molde[CL] (7)
Jablonec[†] (8)
Brøndby[†] (9)
Milsami Orhei[CL] (10)

Group 3 Group 4
Seeded Unseeded Seeded Unseeded

Rubin Kazan[†] (1)
Red Bull Salzburg[CL] (2)
Fenerbahçe[CL] (3)
Bordeaux[†] (4)
Lech Poznań[CL] (5)
Slovan Liberec[†] (6)

Hajduk Split[†] (7)
Atromitos[†] (8)
Dinamo Minsk[†] (9)
Videoton[CL] (10)
Rabotnicki[†] (11)
Kairat[†] (12)

Borussia Dortmund[†] (1)
AZ[†] (2)
Sparta Prague[CL] (3)
Panathinaikos[CL] (4)
Southampton[†] (5)
Krasnodar[†] (6)

HJK[CL] (7)
Thun[†] (8)
Astra Giurgiu[†] (9)
Midtjylland[CL] (10)
Odd[†] (11)
Gabala[†] (12)

Notes
  1. Winners of the third qualifying round.

Summary

The first legs were played on 20 August, and the second legs were played on 27 August 2015.

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Rheindorf Altach 0–1 Belenenses0–10–0
Žilina 3–3 (a) Athletic Bilbao3–20–1
Steaua București 1–3 Rosenborg0–31–0
Zorya Luhansk 2–4 Legia Warsaw0–12–3
Viktoria Plzeň 5–0 Vojvodina3–02–0
Milsami Orhei 1–2 Saint-Étienne1–10–1
Ajax 1–0[a] Jablonec1–00–0
Young Boys 0–4 Qarabağ0–10–3
Molde 3–3 (a) Standard Liège2–01–3
PAOK 6–1 Brøndby5–01–1
Bordeaux 2–2 (a) Kairat1–01–2
Lech Poznań 4–0 Videoton3–01–0
Dinamo Minsk 2–2 (3–2 p) Red Bull Salzburg2–00–2 (a.e.t.)
Rabotnicki 1–2 Rubin Kazan1–10–1
Slovan Liberec 2–0 Hajduk Split1–01–0
Atromitos 0–4 Fenerbahçe0–10–3
Gabala 2–2 (a)[a] Panathinaikos0–02–2
Southampton 1–2 Midtjylland1–10–1
Astra Giurgiu 3–4 AZ3–20–2
Odd 5–11 Borussia Dortmund3–42–7
Krasnodar 5–1 HJK5–10–0
Sparta Prague 6–4[a] Thun3–13–3
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Matches

Rheindorf Altach 0–1 Belenenses
Report
  • Caeiro 13'
Belenenses 0–0 Rheindorf Altach
Report

Belenenses won 1–0 on aggregate.


Žilina 3–2 Athletic Bilbao
Report
Athletic Bilbao 1–0 Žilina
Report
Attendance: 38,688[6]

3–3 on aggregate; Athletic Bilbao won on away goals.


Steaua București 0–3 Rosenborg
Report
Attendance: 21,204[6]
Referee: Luca Banti (Italy)
Rosenborg 0–1 Steaua București
Report

Rosenborg won 3–1 on aggregate.


Zorya Luhansk 0–1 Legia Warsaw
Report
Legia Warsaw 3–2 Zorya Luhansk
Report
Attendance: 23,163[6]
Referee: Tobias Welz (Germany)

Legia Warsaw won 4–2 on aggregate.


Viktoria Plzeň 3–0 Vojvodina
Report
Vojvodina 0–2 Viktoria Plzeň
Report

Viktoria Plzeň won 5–0 on aggregate.


Milsami Orhei 1–1 Saint-Étienne
Report
Saint-Étienne 1–0 Milsami Orhei
Report

Saint-Étienne won 2–1 on aggregate.


Ajax 1–0 Jablonec
Report
Attendance: 30,898[6]
Referee: Tony Chapron (France)
Jablonec 0–0 Ajax
Report

Ajax won 1–0 on aggregate.


Young Boys 0–1 Qarabağ
Report
Qarabağ 3–0 Young Boys
Report

Qarabağ won 4–0 on aggregate.


Molde 2–0 Standard Liège
Report
Attendance: 3,940[6]
Standard Liège 3–1 Molde
Report

3–3 on aggregate; Molde won on away goals.


PAOK 5–0 Brøndby
Report
Brøndby 1–1 PAOK
Report

PAOK won 6–1 on aggregate.


Bordeaux 1–0 Kairat
Report
Kairat 2–1 Bordeaux
Report
Attendance: 23,800[6]

2–2 on aggregate; Bordeaux won on away goals.


Lech Poznań 3–0 Videoton
Report
Attendance: 14,133[6]
Videoton 0–1 Lech Poznań
Report

Lech Poznań won 4–0 on aggregate.


Dinamo Minsk 2–0 Red Bull Salzburg
Report
Red Bull Salzburg 2–0 (a.e.t.) Dinamo Minsk
Report
Penalties
2–3

2–2 on aggregate; Dinamo Minsk won 3–2 on penalties.


Rabotnicki 1–1 Rubin Kazan
Report
Attendance: 10,000[6]
Referee: István Vad (Hungary)
Rubin Kazan 1–0 Rabotnicki
Report

Rubin Kazan won 2–1 on aggregate.


Slovan Liberec 1–0 Hajduk Split
Report
Hajduk Split 0–1 Slovan Liberec
Report
Attendance: 33,000[6]

Slovan Liberec won 2–0 on aggregate.


Atromitos 0–1 Fenerbahçe
Report
Fenerbahçe 3–0 Atromitos
Report

Fenerbahçe won 4–0 on aggregate.


Gabala 0–0 Panathinaikos
Report
Panathinaikos 2–2 Gabala
Report

2–2 on aggregate; Gabala won on away goals.


Southampton 1–1 Midtjylland
Report
Midtjylland 1–0 Southampton
Report
Attendance: 9,481[6]
Referee: Liran Liany (Israel)

Midtjylland won 2–1 on aggregate.


Astra Giurgiu 3–2 AZ
Report
AZ 2–0 Astra Giurgiu
Report

AZ won 4–3 on aggregate.


Odd 3–4 Borussia Dortmund
Report
Attendance: 12,436[6]
Borussia Dortmund 7–2 Odd
Report

Borussia Dortmund won 11–5 on aggregate.


Krasnodar 5–1 HJK
Report
Attendance: 15,425[6]
HJK 0–0 Krasnodar
Report
Attendance: 2,953[6]

Krasnodar won 5–1 on aggregate.


Sparta Prague 3–1 Thun
Report
Attendance: 12,448[6]
Thun 3–3 Sparta Prague
Report
Attendance: 6,024[6]
Referee: Ruddy Buquet (France)

Sparta Prague won 6–4 on aggregate.

Notes

  1. ^ Rheindorf Altach played their home match at Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck, instead of their regular stadium Cashpoint-Arena, Altach.
  2. ^ Zorya Luhansk played their home match at Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv, instead of their regular stadium Avanhard Stadium, Luhansk, due to war in Eastern Ukraine.
  3. ^ Milsami Orhei played their home match at Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău, instead of their regular stadium CSR Orhei, Orhei.
  4. ^ Dinamo Minsk played their home match at OSK Brestskiy, Brest, instead of their temporary stadium Traktor Stadium, Minsk.
  5. ^ Rubin Kazan played their home match at Central Stadium, Kazan, instead of their regular stadium Kazan Arena, Kazan, which was hosting the 2015 World Aquatics Championships.
  6. ^ Gabala played their home match at Bakcell Arena, Baku, instead of their regular stadium City Stadium, Qabala.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Regulations of the UEFA Europa League 2015/16 Season" (PDF). UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Match and draw calendar 2015/16". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b "UEFA Europa League play-off draw lineup". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Draws – Play-off round". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  5. ^ "UEFA Europa League play-off draw results". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar "Summary UEFA Europa League - Play-off". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 August 2015.