The Europa League 2017-2018 will be the 47th edition of the second most important club competition in the Old World. For a long time, the tournament was considered not so important, and the clubs from the Top 4 European championships openly neglected the games of this competition. Now the situation has changed for the better, because the winner of the Europa League receives not only the prestigious cup, but also the opportunity to play in the group stage of the Champions League next season. As a result, the struggle has escalated, and the players spare no effort on the field, realizing that victory in the final match will bring them glory, solid bonuses and new opportunities.

190 clubs from 55 football associations of the Old World will take part in the Europa League 2017-2018, including the qualification. Only 36 teams will reach the group stage of the tournament, some of which are already known. Among them:

• Villarreal (Spain);
• Real Sociedad (Spain);
• "Cologne" (Germany);
• Hertha (Germany);
• Arsenal (England);
• Atalanta (Italy);
• Lazio (Italy);
• Guimarães (Portugal);
• Lyon (France);
• Lokomotiv (Russia);
• Zarya (Ukraine);
• Zulte-Warengem (Belgium);
• "Vitesse" (Holland);
• Konyaspor (Turkey);
• Lugano (Switzerland);
• "Fastav" (Czech Republic).

In the group stage of the Europa League, all qualified teams will be divided into 12 subgroups of 4 football teams. As part of its quartet, each club will have to play 2 matches with opponents - on its own field and at the opponent's stadium. The scoring system remained standard: 3 points are awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw, and the losing squad remains without credit points.

The clubs that take the first two places in the subgroup are entitled to play in the knockout series in the 1/16 finals. This stage will also feature 8 teams from the Champions League, which are in third place in the subgroup. Pairs are formed by drawing lots. To determine the winner at each stage of the playoffs, 2 matches are played (home and away). If after the second match it was not possible to determine the winner, two additional halves of 15 minutes each are assigned, after which a penalty shoot-out. final match will be held on May 16, 2018 at the Olympic Stadium, which is home arena for the French club Lyon.

Third qualifying round

In the final third qualifying round, 25 teams from the strongest football associations of the Old World will play, plus 33 football teams that have made their way through the first and second qualifying stages.

Schedule 3 qualifying round Europa League 2017-2018 is as follows:

The official start time of the games will be determined no later than a week before they are held.

Contenders for victory

Selecting contenders for victory in the Europa League 2017-2018 at stage 3 of the qualifying round is a thankless task. However, let's try to do it. To begin with, let's put forward the most obvious assumption that the winner of the tournament will be the team playing in the Top 5 championships of the Old World (Italy, England, Spain, Germany, France). Over the past six editions, the hegemony of the English and Spanish teams in the LE could not be interrupted by clubs from minor European championships. Based on this, we highlight the most likely contenders for the title:

• "Arsenal";
• "Milan";
• Lyon.

To win the UEFA Europa League 2017-2018 will be a matter of honor. A team with championship ambitions cannot achieve significant results in European competition for more than 10 years. The last success dates back to 2005/06, when the Gunners lost in the Champions League final to Barcelona. Fans blame the players and the head coach of the club, Arsene Wenger, for everything. If the French specialist wants to stay as a helmsman for the next season, then he simply needs to take at least one prestigious trophy. It will be practically impossible to do this, so the Europa League remains, on which the main forces can be concentrated.

At Milan, Chinese investors have started a major restructuring. This summer, 10 new players have already been bought for a total of over 120 million euros, and this is far from the limit. After such an impressive investment, the red-black bosses will want to see at least one trophy. It will be unrealistic to interrupt the hegemony of Juventus, and Paolo Maldini's ward remains to concentrate on the Cup and the Europa League. AC Milan will start playing on the international stage on July 27.

Lyon in recent times there are not enough stars from the sky. A mediocre performance in the French championship and the loss of the main leaders are the main reasons for the frustration of local fans. Top scorer Alexandre Lacazette was sold to London's Arsenal for 60 million euros, while creative midfielder Corentin Tollisso moved to Bayern Munich for 41.5 million euros. The management of the "weavers" has the opportunity to spend this huge amount of money wisely, creating an updated team that is able to fight with dignity both in the domestic championship and at the international level.

Do not forget about the clubs that will get into the LE from the group stage. Surely among them there will be several giants who, annoyed by the failure in the main club competition of the continent, will want to rehabilitate themselves in the eyes of the fans by winning the second most important tournament of the Old World. All this makes the Europa League 2017-2018 even more interesting, spectacular and unpredictable.

The best goals of the Europa League of the season 2016-2017, see the following video: