After the thrilling conclusion of the Champions League the previous day, the Europa League will take center stage to determine the 24 participants for the knockout stages.
Teams finishing in the top eight will earn a coveted bye straight to the Round of 16, while teams finishing between ninth and 24th in the league stage standings will advance to the knockout playoff round.
So whether it’s a team fighting for a top-eight spot, a playoff round seeding, or just a team fighting to stay in the tournament, there’s something at stake in nearly every game on the final day.
Here’s a summary of how things look from the perspective of the teams that qualified for all the different positions, as well as the teams that were eliminated.
Sporting News is following the final day of the Europa League and will be updating these standings live as the games progress.
more: All teams have qualified for the Champions League final round, including the team that won the Round of 16 bye.
Teams advancing to the Europa League finals: Final standings
The top eight teams in the league phase table qualify directly for the Round of 16, bypassing the play-off round entirely.
This is a highly coveted position, as these teams not only avoid the danger of a playoff matchup, but because they are seeded with a draw in the round of 16, they will be affiliated with opponents who finished lower in the standings.
Europa League league phase live standings
Lyon and Aston Villa are the only teams to secure a spot in the top eight heading into the final round of league phase play. The remaining six spots will be contested depending on the results of the final round.
Advance to round of 16:
1. Lyon
2. Aston Villa
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3. SC Freiburg
4. Central Jurland
5. Braga
6. AS Roma
7. Ferencvaros
8. Real Betis
Advance to knockout stage playoffs:
By the time the final round of league phase play arrived, 11 clubs had mathematically confirmed their place in the knockout rounds, meaning only five of the 16 playoff-round positions were up for grabs.
9. Porto
10. Genk
11. Red Star Belgrade
12. Paok
13. VfB Stuttgart
14. Celta Vigo
15. Bologna
16. Nottingham Forest
17. Viktoria Plzen
18. Fenerbahce
19. Panathinaikos
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20. Dinamo Zagreb
21. Reel
22. Bran
23. BSC Young Boys
24.Celtic
Eliminated from Europa League:
Heading into the final round of league phase play, only six clubs had been eliminated from contention for the knockout stages.
25. Ludogorets
26. Feyenoord
27. Basel
28. RB Salzburg
29.FCSB
30. Go Ahead Eagles
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31. Rangers
32. Sturm Graz
33. It’s wonderful
34. FC Utrecht
35. Malmö FF
36. Maccabi Tel Aviv
Which team made it to the Europa League finals?
After the 7th round of the 2025/26 season, lyon and Aston Villa They were the only team mathematically guaranteed to advance to the round of 16. The remaining six teams will qualify on January 29th.
Teams qualified for the Europa League Round of 16
| position | club | nation |
| 1. | lyon | France |
| 2. | Aston Villa | england |
*Round 16 bye decision
Teams that qualified for the Europa League Knockout Playoffs
The next 16 clubs with the top eight Round of 16 byes or lower will qualify for the Final Round Playoffs.
9th to 16th place will be seeded in the playoff round lottery and will play a priority second leg home match, while 17th to 24th place will be unseeded.
Going into the final round, the teams in the final round of 16 byes also happened to be in the same group of clubs who were mathematically further away from elimination because they had the same point difference.
Teams that qualified for the Europa League knockout play-offs 2025/26
| position | club | nation |
| 9. | Porto* | Portugal |
| 10. | Henk* | Belgium |
| 11. | Red Star Belgrade* | Serbia |
| 12. | Paok* | Greece |
| 13. | Stuttgart* | Germany |
| 14. | Celta Vigo* | Spain |
| 15. | bologna* | Italy |
| 16. | Nottingham Forest* | england |
| 17. | Viktoria Plzen* | czech |
| 18. | Fenerbahce* | turkey |
| 19. | Panathinaikos* | Greece |
* You can qualify for the round of 16 with a bye.
Teams eliminated from Europa League 2025/26
Entering the eighth round, only six teams had completely lost interest in the tournament. This means that 30 out of 36 players will still be in some kind of crisis when the league season ends on January 29th.
Teams eliminated from the Europa League
| position | club | nation |
| twenty five. | ||
| 26. | ||
| 27. | ||
| 28. | ||
| 29. | ||
| 30. | ||
| 31. | rangers | Scotland |
| 32. | Sturm Graz | Austria |
| 33. | nice | France |
| 34. | FC Utrecht | Netherlands |
| 35. | Malmö FF | Sweden |
| 36. | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Israel |
*You can still qualify for the knockout playoff round
When will the Europa League knockout play-offs 2025/26 be held?
The first leg of the play-off matches will be held on Thursday, February 19, 2026.
The return leg is one week later on Thursday, February 26th.
Seeded teams will play the second leg at home, while unseeded teams will play the first leg at home.
When are the Europa League Round of 16 matches 2025/26?
Round of 16 matches will be played on Thursday 12th March (first leg) and Thursday 19th March (second leg).
Teams that receive a bye up to this round will not be required to participate in the final round playoffs and will be excluded from the competition up to this point.
Similar to the Knockout Playoff Round, the seeded team that wins a bye will be the home for the second leg, while the winning team from the Knockout Playoff Round will host the first leg.