Uefa change Europa League qualifying, hurting Scottish clubs

Scottish teams face a tougher road to the Europa League after Uefa splits the final qualifying round.

Change

Final qualifying round split into champions and non-champions paths

Start

From next season

Impact

Scotland's representative can't face teams like Iberia 1999, Kairat Almaty, Ararat

Entry

Scottish Cup winners or Premiership runners-up enter in first qualifying round

What happened. Uefa has changed the Europa League qualifying rounds, splitting the final round into separate paths for champions and non-champions, making it harder for Scottish clubs to qualify.

Non-champions path includes stronger teams from Belgium, Turkey, Czech Republic, Greece.
Champions League non-champions can drop into this path, like Olympiakos this season.
Hearts were eliminated by Benfica in the non-champions path this season.

Scottish clubs will need to navigate a stronger non-champions path from next season, reducing their chances.

In this story

UEFA Europa League