The 2008-09 UEFA Cup was the last season of the competition. It was replaced by the UEFA Europa League in 2009/10. Over the course of the season, nearly 160 teams from 53 UEFA member associations participated in the 2008-09 UEFA Cup.
Qualifying[]
The UEFA Cup had 3 qualification rounds to reach the group stage.
New non-Intertoto or UCL teams | Teams in UEFA Cup |
New teams from Intertoto or UCL | |
---|---|---|---|
1st Qualifying |
74 teams >>> | 74 teams | |
2nd Qualifying |
16 teams >>> |
37 winners from 1st Q 16 new teams 11 Intertoto Cup teams -—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-— 64 teams |
<<< 11 Intertoto Cup 3rd Round winners |
1st Round | 32 teams >>> |
32 winners from 2nd Q 32 new teams 16 UCL teams -—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-— 80 teams |
<<< 16 losing teams from 3rd Qualifying Round |
Group Stage | 40 winners from 1st Round | ||
Knockout Stage | 8 Group Stage winners 8 Group Stage runners-up 8 Group Stage third place 8 UCL teams -—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-— 32 teams |
<<< 8 third place Group Stage teams |
Group Stage[]
The 40 teams form 8 groups of 5 teams, playing 2 home and 2 away matches.
Knockout Stage[]
The top 3 teams from each group are joined by the 8 third-place finishers (indicated by ³) from each group of the UEFA Champions League to form a 32 team knockout stage. Each team play two matches against each other on a home-and-away basis.
³ Third place finishers in UEFA Champions League Group Stage
Final[]
The final this season was played at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Istanbul where Shakhtar Donetsk defeated Werder Bremen.