The aim of the Group Stage draw is to divide the 48 teams who have qualified into 12 groups of 4 teams. The teams will play mini-leagues, home and away. The top two teams from each group, along with the 8 third-placed UEFA Champions League 2011/12 Group Stage teams, will progress to the Round of 32 knock-out phase, which will see two-legged ties up until the one-match Final, which this season takes place on 9th May 2012, at Stadionul Național, Bucharest, Romania.
The Group Stage of the Europa League is a major event for football clubs across Europe – this season’s competition will see 144 matches take place at a rate of 24 matches per day, over the six match days. Two matches per group will take place on 5 Thursdays and 1 Wednesday evening, with kick-off times fixed for either 19:00 CET or 21:05 CET.
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Conditions of the UEFA Europa League 2011/12 Draw
- Teams from the same association can not be drawn in the same group;
- A maximum of two clubs per group may experience “extreme winter conditions” for scheduling purposes;
- All teams must complete two matches at 19:00 CET and two matches at 21:05 CET;
UEFA Europa League 2011/12 Draw – Seedings
The draw was made from four “pots” based on UEFA club co-efficients, which rank teams based upon past European performances. The teams are placed in order of ranking, with the top 12 teams placed into Pot 1, the next 12 placed into Pot 2 and so on, down to the bottom ranked club, Shamrock Rovers, the League of Ireland side which made it through the Play-Off round to feature in their first ever Europa Group Stage. A team from each pot is placed into each group.
The seedings for the 2011/12 Europa League Group Stages were as follows:
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG) | Fulham FC (ENG) | FC Salzburg (AUT) | FC Vorskla Poltava (UKR) |
| PSV Eindhoven (NED) | Beşiktaş JK (TUR) | Maccabi Haifa FC (ISR) | Wisła Kraków (POL) |
| Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) | FC Zürich (SUI) | FC Vaslui (ROU) |
| Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR) | FC Metalist Kharkiv (UKR) | Odense BK (DEN) | FC Sion (SUI) |
| SC Braga (POR) | R. Standard de Liège (BEL) | FC Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS) | SK Sturm Graz (AUT) |
| FC Schalke 04 (GER) | FC Rubin Kazan (RUS) | PAOK FC (GRE) | Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) |
| FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) | Club Brugge KV (BEL) | Birmingham City FC (ENG) | ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK) |
| Paris Saint-Germain FC (FRA) | AEK Athens FC (GRE) | Stoke City FC (ENG) | Legia Warszawa (POL) |
| FC København (DEN) | FC Steaua Bucureşti (ROU) | Stade Rennais FC (FRA) | NK Maribor (SVN) |
| AZ Alkmaar (NED) | Udinese Calcio (ITA) | FK Austria Wien (AUT) | AEK Larnaca FC (CYP) |
| RSC Anderlecht (BEL) | Athletic Club (ESP) | FC Rapid Bucureşti (ROU) | Malmö FF (SWE) |
| FC Twente (NED) | S.S. Lazio (ITA) | Hannover 96 (GER) | Shamrock Rovers FC (IRL) |
The 2011/12 UEFA Europa League Group Stages
The draw for the 2011/12 produced the following groups:
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| Tottenham Hotspur |
FC Copenhagen |
PSV Eindhoven |
Sporting |
| FC Rubin Kazan |
Standard Liege |
Hapoel Tel-Aviv |
Lazio |
| PAOK |
Hannover 96 |
Rapid Bucharest |
FC Zurich |
| Shamrock Rovers |
Vorskla Oltava |
Legia Warsaw |
Vaslui |
| Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H |
| Dynamo Kiev |
Paris SG |
AZ Alkmaar |
Braga |
| Besiktas |
Athletic Bilbao |
FC Metalist Kharkiv |
Club Brugge |
| Stoke City |
FC Salzburg |
Austria Wien |
Birmingham City |
| Maccabi Tel-Aviv |
Slovan Bratislava |
Malmo |
Marnibor |
| Group I | Group J | Group K | Group L |
| Atletico Madrid |
Shalke 04 |
FC Twente |
Anderlecht |
| Udinese |
Steaua Bucharest |
Fulham FC |
AEK Athens |
| Rennes |
Maccabi Haifa |
Odense |
Lokomotiv Moscow |
| FC Sion |
AEK Lanarca |
Wisla Krakow |
Sturm Graz |
