In terms of qualifying rounds, the UEFA Europa League will have a new format that starts with a total of 3 qualifying rounds. After that, the teams that survived all three rounds will proceed to the Playoff round which will also see the introduction of the first group of teams eliminated from the UEFA Champions League qualifiers. These teams will then play against each other to get a place in the Group Stage where there will be 12 groups of 4 teams each. The winners and runners-up from each of the 12 groups will then advance to the Final Phase where they are joined by another 8 teams that failed to go further in the UEFA Champions League.

The dates on which the various rounds and stages will be held are as follows (subject to change where necessary):
Qualifying Round 1 – 2 and 9 July 2009
Qualifying Round 2 – 16 and 23 July 2009
Qualifying Round 3 – 30 July 2009 and 6 August 2009
Playoff Round – 20 and 27 August 2009
Group Stage – 17 September 2009 to 17 December 2009
Knockout Round – 18 February 2010 – 18 March 2010
Final Phase – 1 April 2010 – 29 April 2010
UEFA Europa League Final – 12 May 2010

Qualifying Round 1 Matches (2 and 9 July 2009)
Sutjeska Nikši? vs MTZ-RIPO
Lahti vs Dinamo Tirana
Grevenmacher vs V?tra
NSÍ Runavík vs Rosenborg Live
Szombathelyi Haladás vs Irtysh
Sligo Rovers vs Vllaznia
Olimpi Rustavi vs B36 Tórshavn
Anorthosis vs Käerjéng
Slaven Belupo vs Birkirkara
Zimbru Chi?in?u vs Okzhetpes
Lisburn Distillery vs Zestaponi
Helsingborg vs MIKA
Valletta vs Keflavík
Dinaburg vs Nõmme Kalju
Budu?nost vs Polonia Warsaw
Narva Trans vs Rudar Velenje
Motherwell vs Llanelli
Banants vs Široki Brijeg
Spartak Trnava vs Inter Baku
Dinamo Minsk vs Renova
Randers vs Linfield
Simurq Zaqatala vs Bnei Yehuda
Fram vs The New Saints

Qualifying Round 2 Matches (14-16 July and 21-23 July 2009)
Sliema vs M. Netanya
Crusaders vs Rabotnicki
Zestafoni vs Helsingborg
Milano vs Slaven Koprivnica
Naftan vs AA Gent
Flamurtari vs Motherwell
Žilina vs Dacia Chi?in?u
Dinamo Minsk vs Tromsø
FC Zimbru Chi?in?u vs Paços de Ferreira
Liep?jas Metalurgs vs Dinamo Tbilisi
Sevojno vs Kaunas
Honka vs Bangor
Bnei Yehuda vs Dinaburg
Donetsk vs MTZ-RIPO
Skonto vs Derry
Sigma vs Fram
S?duva vs Randers
Elfsborg vs Haladás
Rosenborg vs Qaraba?
Anorthosis vs FK Petrovac
V?tra vs HJK
Cherno More vs Iskra-Stali
Rapid Wien vs Vllaznia
Sturm vs Široki Brijeg
AaB vs Slavija
Basel vs FC Santa Coloma
Steaua vs Újpest
Omonia vs HB
Tobol vs Galatasaray
Legia vs Olimpi
Gorica vs Lahti
Rudar Velenje vs Crvena Zvezda
Differdange vs Rijeka
Brøndby vs Flora
Sarajevo vs Spartak Trnava
Juvenes/Dogana vs Polonia Warszawa
Falkirk vs Vaduz
St Patrick’s vs Valletta
NAC vs Gandzasar
KR vs Larissa

Qualifying Round 3 Matches (28-30 July and 4-6 August 2009)
Bnei Yehuda vs Paços de Ferreira
Vaslui vs Omonia
Dinamo Tbilisi vs Crvena Zvezda
FK Petrovac vs Sturm
Honka vs Qaraba?
Rabotnicki vs OB Odense
M. Netanya vs Galatasaray
Fredrikstad vs Lech Poznan
Göteborg vs Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Tromsø vs Slaven Koprivnica
Vojvodina vs Austria Wien
CSKA Sofia vs Derry
Brøndby vs Legia Warsaw
Donetsk vs IB Ljubljana
Vålerenga vs PAOK
V?tra vs Fulham
Rapid Wien vs APOP
Vaduz vs Liberec
Žilina vs Hajduk
Steaua vs Motherwell
Polonia Warszawa vs NAC Breda
Slavija vs Košice
Club Brugge vs Lahti
Randers vs Hamburger SV
Aberdeen vs Sigma
St Patrick’s vs Krylya Sovetov
PSV vs Cherno More
Sevojno vs Lille
Fenerbahçe vs Honvéd
Helsingborg vs Sarajevo
Roma vs AA Gent
Rijeka vs Metalist
KR vs Basel
Athletic vs Young Boys
Braga vs Elfsborg

Play-Offs (20-27 August 2009)
Sivasspor vs FC Shakhtar Donetsk
MFK Košice vs AS Roma
FK Bak? vs FC Basel 1893
FK Teplice vs Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC
FC BATE Borisov vs PFC Litex Lovech
Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv FC vs PSV Eindhoven
EA Guingamp vs Hamburger SV
Trabzonspor vs Toulouse FC
PFC CSKA Sofia vs FC Dinamo Moskva
PAOK FC vs SC Heerenveen
NAC Breda vs Villarreal CF
FC Metallurh Donetsk vs FK Austria Wien
SK Sturm Graz vs FC Metalist Kharkiv
SK Rapid Wien vs Aston Villa FC
FC Dinamo 1948 Bucure?ti vs FC Slovan Liberec
FC Steaua Bucure?ti vs Saint Patrick’s Athletic FC
FC Twente vs FK Karabakh
SC Vaslui vs AEK Athens FC
SK Slavia Praha vs FK Crvena Zvezda
FK Sarajevo vs CFR 1907 Cluj
FK Partizan vs MŠK Žilina
Brøndby IF vs Hertha BSC Berlin
FC Sion vs Fenerbahçe SK
KKS Lech Pozna? vs Club Brugge KV
AFC Ajax vs ŠK Slovan Bratislava
KRC Genk vs LOSC Lille Métropole
S.S. Lazio vs IF Elfsborg
NK Maribor vs AC Sparta Praha
Galatasaray A? vs FC Levadia Tallinn
Genoa CFC vs Odense BK
SL Benfica vs FC Vorskla Poltava
Werder Bremen vs FK Aktobe
Everton FC vs SK Sigma Olomouc
Fulham FC vs FC Amkar Perm
NK Dinamo Zagreb vs Heart of Midlothian FC
Stabæk IF vs Valencia CF
CD Nacional vs FC Zenit St. Petersburg
Athletic Club Bilbao vs Tromsø IL

Group Stages (17 September – 17 December 2009)

9/17/2009
Ajax Amsterdam vs FC Timisoara
Dinamo Zagreb vs Anderlecht
Genoa vs Slavia Prague
Lille vs Valencia
Hapoel Tel-Aviv vs Celtic
Rapid Vienna vs Hamburg SV
Heerenveen vs Sporting Lisbon
Hertha Berlin vs FK Ventspils
CSKA Sofia vs Fulham
FC Basel vs AS Roma
Panathinaikos vs Galatasaray
SK Sturm Graz vs Dinamo Bucuresti
Lazio vs SV Salzburg
Villarreal vs Levski Sofia
Fenerbahce vs Twente Enschede
Steaua Bucuresti vs Sheriff Tiraspol
Benfica vs BATE Borisov
Everton vs AEK Athens
Club Brugge vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Partizan Belgrade vs Toulouse
CFR Cluj-Napoca vs FC Copenhagen
Sparta Prague vs PSV Eindhoven
Athletic Bilbao vs Austria Vienna
CD Nacional de Madeira vs Werder Bremen

10/1/2009
Red Bull Salzburg vs Villarreal
Levski Sofia vs Lazio
AEK Athens vs Benfica
BATE Borisov vs Everton
Toulouse vs Club Brugge
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Partizan Belgrade
FC Copenhagen vs Sparta Prague
PSV Eindhoven vs CFR Cluj Napoca
Werder Bremen vs Athletic Bilbao
Austria Wien vs CD Nacional de Madeira
Anderlecht vs Ajax Amsterdam
FC Timisoara vs Dinamo Zagreb
Slavia Prague vs Lille
Valencia vs Genoa
Celtic vs Rapid Wien
Hamburg SV vs Hapoel Tel Aviv
Sporting Lisbon vs Hertha Berlin
FK Ventspils vs SC Heerenveen
Fulham vs FC Basel
AS Roma vs CSKA Sofia
Dinamo Bucharest vs Panathinaikos
Galatasaray vs Sturm Graz
Twente Enschede vs Steaua Bucharest
Sheriff Tiraspol vs Fenerbahce

Matches for other qualifying rounds to be decided and updated based on results of first round qualifiers.

The clubs that qualify from each European league is decided using a very complicated system that differs from one league to another based on standing, ranking and reputation. Every club bar the current champions of the UEFA Europa League will have to go through the qualifying rounds at least once. However, since Shakhtar Donetsk will be participating in the Champions League for 2009/2010, every club for the first edition of the Europa League will go through at least one qualifier. The best leagues in Europe rated by UEFA will have two to three teams in the competition, plus their domestic Cup winners. The rest of the league will have only up to two teams qualifying each plus their domestic Cup winners. The weakest leagues in Europe, namely that of San Marino, Liechtenstein and Andorra, will only be allowed to have their domestic Cup winners taking part. To make up the batch of teams involved in the Europa League, the Fair Play winners will also be invited.

As with previous seasons, the clubs that fail to make it past the UEFA Champions League qualifiers at certain stages will be moved to enter the UEFA Europa League also at different stages. There will be a total of 28 such teams and they are given a second bite of the cherry to try to win something in Europe. It is also a continued move by UEFA to put some attention on the tournament and to keep interest high. All in all, it is a dizzying qualifying phase and group stage before the competition enters into its last knockout stages where the interest will probably peak as the best clubs make their way out of a very deep mix of teams from all over Europe.

While the UEFA Europa League will now debut in 2009, its forebearers, the UEFA Cup and Inter-Cities Fair Cup actually had their beginnings in 1971. Another competition known as the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup was also removed and came together with the UEFA Cup, thus making it the biggest club football competition in the world in terms of the number of participants involved. As more European leagues sought to join, the Intertoto Cup had to be introduced as a form of qualifying exercise in the month or two before the UEFA Cup was to officially begin together with most European league calenders. The UEFA Europa League will also now include the Intertoto Cup in its restructuring and rebranding.

As the UEFA Europa League begins in July 2009, the current champions Shakhtar Donetsk will not take part despite winning it in May. This is because the club has qualified for the UEFA Champions League 2009/10. There will be no club taking its place and UEFA will accommodate the change.

As with previous seasons, the UEFA Europa League will, at one stage, include the eliminated teams from the UEFA Champions League. There will be slight changes to the qualifying structure while the final group stages will also see some modifications in order to take in more teams as well as raise the profile of the brand, which took a hit in recent seasons. Many clubs in recent seasons have fielded weakened teams as they focus more on their domestic league fortunes, in particular the English Premiership sides that were actually involved in relegation battles at home. UEFA was evidently displeased with this but in fairness have made the effort on their part to spruce up the image of the competition. Whether that will see greater interest and dedication from the major European leagues and their clubs remains to be seen.