UEFA revamps Europa League qualifiers, tightening route for Scottish teams
UEFA will separate the Europa League’s final qualifying round into champions and non-champions paths next season, creating a tougher road for Scotland’s representative.
Starting next season, UEFA will split the Europa League’s final qualifying stage into separate champions and non-champions routes, aligning the competition with the structures used in the Champions and Conference Leagues. This means Scotland’s entrant - the Scottish Cup winner or, when the cup winner also wins the league, the Premiership runner-up - will no longer be able to face clubs that drop from the Champions League champions path, such as Iberia 1999, Kairat Almaty or Ararat.
The non-champions track is expected to be considerably stronger, featuring teams qualifying by league position from nations like Belgium, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Greece, as well as former Champions League qualifiers like Olympiakos, Sparta Prague, Sturm Graz and Union St-Gilloise. Recent seasons saw Hearts eliminated by Benfica and Rangers knocked out by Jagiellonia Bialystok, and a decline in Celtic’s and Rangers’ five-year coefficients could leave them unseeded, leading to tougher draws.
However, if the Scottish league champion drops from the Champions League, they will meet another relegated side, offering a possible advantage. Overall, the reform raises the difficulty for Scottish clubs to reach the Europa League group phase.
Why it matters
The new qualifying format raises the difficulty for Scottish clubs to reach European competition, affecting their revenue and coefficient.
In this story
