Why aren’t Liverpool playing in the Europa League?
The Europa League returns on Thursday for the knockout stages of the 2023/24 edition. It may be UEFA’s second-tier club com Pet ition but there are always a number of big-name teams in the mix, including eight teams who drop down from the Champions League after failing to progress from their group. This week sees sixteen teams battle it out in two-legged ties to progress to the Europa League’s Round of 16, but there are some notable absences. Liverpool, for example, cruised through the group stage but have no Europa League fixture this week. Why? Because the fixtures played across the 15 and 22 February are playoff Game s , conducted between the teams who finished second in their Europa League groups and teams who finished third in their Champions League groups . As one of the eight first-placed teams in the Europa League group stage, Liverpool receive a bye and will not be involved until the Round of 16 stage in March. Which teams have a bye in the Europa League? There are eight si...