The 2023–24 UEFA Europa League group stage began on 21 September 2023 and ended on 14 December 2023. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide 16 of the 24 places in the knockout phase of the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League.
Aris Limassol, Brighton & Hove Albion, BK Häcken, Raków Częstochowa, Servette and TSC made their debut appearances in the group stage. All six clubs also made their debut appearances in a UEFA competition group stage. Furthermore, Brighton & Hove Albion qualified for European football for the first time in their history. A total of 21 national associations were represented in the group stage.
This was the final season with the group stage format, which was replaced by the league phase format starting from the next season.[1]
Draw
The draw for the group stage was held on 1 September 2023, 13:00 CEST, in Monaco. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots, each of eight teams, based on their 2023 UEFA club coefficients.[2] Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group. Prior to the draw, UEFA formed pairings of teams from the same association, including those playing in the Europa Conference League group stage (one pairing for associations with two or three teams, two pairings for associations with four or five teams), based on television audiences, where one team was drawn into Groups A–D and another team was drawn into Groups E–H, so that the two teams would have different kick-off times. The following pairings were announced by UEFA after the group stage teams were confirmed (the second team in a pairing marked by UECL played in the Europa Conference League group stage):[3]
Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams were tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (see Article 16 Equality of points – group stage, Regulations of the UEFA Europa League):[4]
Points in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
Goal difference in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Away goals scored in all group matches;
Wins in all group matches;
Away wins in all group matches;
Disciplinary points (direct red card = 3 points; double yellow card = 3 points; single yellow card = 1 point);
The fixtures were announced on 2 September 2023, the day after the draw. The matches were played on 21 September, 5 October, 26 October, 9 November, 30 November and 14 December 2023. The scheduled kick-off times were 18:45 and 21:00 CET/CEST.
Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
^CEST (UTC+2) for dates up to 26 October 2023 (matchdays 1–3), and CET (UTC+1) for date thereafter (matchdays 4–6).
^ abcRaków Częstochowa played their home matches at the Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy, in Sosnowiec, instead of their regular stadium, the Miejski Stadion Piłkarski "Raków", in Częstochowa, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^The Union Saint-Gilloise v Toulouse match, originally scheduled to be played at 18:45, was postponed to 18:55 due to traffic encountered by both teams before getting to the stadium.
^ abcUnion Saint-Gilloise played their home matches at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, in Brussels, instead of their regular stadium, Joseph Marien Stadium, in Brussels, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^Panathinaikos played their first home match at the Olympic Stadium, in Athens, instead of their regular stadium, the Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, in Athens.[127]
^ abDue to the Israel–Hamas war, Maccabi Haifa played their last two home matches at a neutral venue.[138]
^The Villarreal v Maccabi Haifa match, originally scheduled to be played on 26 October 2023, was rescheduled to 6 December 2023.[138]
^ abcBK Häcken played their home matches at the Ullevi, in Gothenburg, instead of their regular stadium, the Bravida Arena, in Gothenburg, which did not meet UEFA requirements.[183]
Note: Between the 1999–2000 and 2008–09 seasons, the competition was still known as the UEFA Cup. All seasons are included following the competition's absorption of the Cup Winners' Cup.
