The title holders were Benfica, who defeated Red Bull Salzburg 6–0 in the previous season's final.

Benfica were eliminated in the group stage, while AZ won their first European title by beating Hajduk Split 5–0 in the final.

The season saw a sensational campaign by Croatian side Hajduk Split, which managed to knock out sides like Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan to qualify for the final, which took place in Stade de Genève due to the interest by the fans.

Apolonia, Ashdod, Borac Banja Luka, Coleraine, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hibernian, Jelgava, Nantes, Omonia, Pobeda, Pyunik, Racing Union, Rukh Lviv, Shamrock Rovers, Trenčín and Zagłębie Lubin made their tournament debuts.

[1] The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).

For the Domestic Champions Path, the 32 teams were drawn into two rounds of two-legged home-and-away ties.