The 2018–19 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round began on 26 June and ended on 30 August 2018.
The Main Path included all cup winners and league non-champions which did not qualify directly for the group stage, and consisted of the following rounds: Below are the participating teams (with their 2018 UEFA club coefficients),[4] grouped by their starting rounds.
Afterwards, the remaining teams from the non-empty pot were drawn against each other, with the order of legs in each tie decided by draw.
As the identity of the winners of the previous round was not known at the time of the draws, the seeding was carried out under the assumption that the team with the higher coefficient of an undecided tie would advance to this round, which meant that if the team with the lower coefficient advanced, it simply took the seeding of its opponent.
Prior to the draws, UEFA may form "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, but they are purely for convenience of the draw and do not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition.
After the draws, the order of legs of a tie may be reversed by UEFA due to scheduling or venue conflicts.
[1] Matches may also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts.
Notes The draw for the second qualifying round Champions Path was held on 19 June 2018, 16:00 CEST,[7] and the draw for the second qualifying round Main Path was held on 20 June 2018, 14:50 CEST.
[6] A total of 18 teams were involved in the second qualifying round Champions Path draw.
Notes The draw for the third qualifying round Champions Path was held on 23 July 2018, 12:45 CEST, and the draw for the third qualifying round Main Path was held on 23 July 2018, 14:00 CEST.
[8] A total of 20 teams were involved in the third qualifying round Champions Path draw.