Times up to 30 March 2002 (third round to quarter-finals) were CET (UTC+1), and thereafter (semi-finals and final) CEST (UTC+2).
Round and draw dates
The schedule for the competition was as follows.[2] The draw for the third round was held at the Noga Hilton Hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, while the remaining draws were held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
Apart from the final, each tie was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e., the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then thirty minutes of extra time (two fifteen-minute periods) was played. The away goals rule was again applied after extra time, i.e., if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team advanced by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the tie was decided by penalty shoot-out.
In the final, which was played as a single match, if scores were level at the end of normal time, extra time was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score was still level.[1]
The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:[1]
In the draws for the third and fourth rounds, teams were seeded and divided into groups containing an equal number of seeded and unseeded teams. In each group, the seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the first team drawn hosting the first leg. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.
In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings and teams from the same association could be drawn against each other.
^"UEFA Cup seedings announced". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 7 December 2001. Archived from the original on 15 December 2001. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
^ ab"Milan clubs kept apart". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 22 March 2002. Archived from the original on 24 March 2002. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
^"4. UEFA Cup Finals"(PDF). UEFA Europa League Statistics Handbook 2012/13. Nyon: Union of European Football Associations. 28 May 2013. p. 71. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 June 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
^"Lineups and referees". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 8 May 2002. Archived from the original on 20 January 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
Note: Between the 1999–2000 and 2008–09 seasons, the competition was still known as the UEFA Cup. All seasons are included following the competition's absorption of the Cup Winners' Cup.