UEFA Split Toughens Europa League Route for Scottish Clubs

UEFA will change the Europa League qualifying system next season, creating a tougher route to the league phase for Scotland’s representative from the domestic cup pathway. BBC Sport reported that the final qualifying round will be divided between champions and non-champions, extending a split that currently applies only in the third qualifying round.

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Under the existing format, teams advancing from both third-round routes are brought together for one seeded draw in the final qualifying stage. The revised system will keep those routes separate through the play-off round, matching the broad approach already used in Champions League and Conference League qualifying.

For Scotland, the change removes the possibility that its cup-route entrant could meet clubs dropping out of the Champions League champions path, such as Iberia 1999, Kairat Almaty or Ararat. Instead, the Scottish side will remain in the non-champions section, which can include league qualifiers from Belgium, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Greece.

Teams eliminated from the non-champions side of Champions League qualifying can also enter that Europa League path. BBC Sport identified Olympiakos, Sparta Prague, Sturm Graz and Union St-Gilloise as examples from the current season. Hearts were eliminated by Benfica in the non-champions route this season, while seeded Rangers went out at the same stage against Jagiellonia Bialystok.

Scotland’s Scottish Cup winners are scheduled to enter the Europa League in the first qualifying round next season. If the cup winners also take the Premiership title, that place passes to the league runners-up. Celtic and Rangers could be unseeded because their five-year club coefficients have fallen amid weak results by Scottish clubs, potentially exposing either team to a stronger opponent from a major league.

There is a separate consequence for Scotland’s champions. A title winner dropping from Champions League qualifying into the Europa League would face another club arriving from the Champions League route. Celtic entered the Champions League at the play-off stage this season and therefore had a Europa League league-phase place guaranteed if eliminated, but Scotland’s lower coefficient position means next season’s champion will begin in the second qualifying round and need to win three ties to reach the Champions League.