The third round of the Europa League qualifying begins this week with a hefty chunk of the matches scheduled to be played on Thursday.

With the preliminaries, the first as well as the second round all over, the business end of the 2020/2021 UEFA Europa League is swiftly beckoning. Last week, a number of teams advanced to the third round of the qualification phase, sealing their inclusion in the upcoming match-ups scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

A few sides have also joined in after losing their respective games in the Champions League qualifying round. Overall, 70 teams will be participating in the upcoming round. The likes of Tottenham Hotspur, AC Milan, Sporting Lisbon, Rangers and Celtic are all ready to make a claim for a spot in the group stage of the competition.

Spurs, for instance, secured a hard-fought win over Lokomotiv Plovdiv to book an away clash with Macedonia's Shkëndija on September 24. Relatively, Milan will taking on Bodo/Glimt following their 2:0 win in Ireland over Shamrock Rovers. Scottish pair Rangers and Celtic will play against Willem II Tilburg and Riga FC respectively.

Here is all you need to know ahead of the second qualifying round:

When does the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round begin?

The third qualifying round of the 2020/2021 Europa League season will be played on Wednesday, September 24 and Thursday, September 25.

How many teams are competing in the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round?

A total of 70 teams will contest at this stage of the competition via the "Main Path" and the "Champions Path". The two sets will play against losing teams from the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round.

What are the key UEFA Europa League second qualifying round matches?

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

  • Apollon Limassol vs Lech Poznań

Thursday, September 24, 2020

  • Riga vs Celtic

  • Sporting Lisbon vs Aberdeen

  • Shkendija vs Tottenham Hotspur

  • Willem II vs Rangers

  • VfL Wolfsburg vs Desna Chernihiv

  • AC Milan vs Bodø/Glimt

  • Basel vs Anorthosis Famagusta.

UEFA Europa League second qualifying round schedule

Here is the schedule for the upcoming round of fixtures: