The final phase of the 2002–03 UEFA Cup began on 26 November 2002 with the first matches of the third round and concluded on 21 May 2003 with the final at the Estadio Olímpico in Seville, Spain. A total of 32 teams competed in this phase of the competition.

Times up to 30 March 2003 (quarter-finals) were CET (UTC+1), and thereafter (semi-finals and final) CEST (UTC+2).

Round and draw dates

The draw for the third round was held in Geneva, while the remaining draws were held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.^[1]

Format

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. For the first time in an international football tournament, the silver goal system was applied, whereby the team who leads the game at the half-time break during the extra time period would be declared the winner. If the scores were still level after the initial 15 minutes of extra time play would continue for a further 15 minutes. 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. If, on completion of the first period of extra time, one of the teams had scored more goals than the other, the silver goal rule was applied, i.e., the match ended and that team was declared the winner. If no decisive goal was scored, the second period of the extra time was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if scores remained tied.^[2]

The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:^[2]

• In the draws 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.

Qualified teams

The final phase involved 32 teams: the 24 teams which qualified from the second round, and the eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage.^[2]

Team	Coeff.	Team	Coeff.	Team	Coeff.	Team	Coeff.
Lazio	106.334	Panathinaikos	57.058	Lens	44.176	Auxerre	32.176
Liverpool	79.729	Stuttgart	53.495	Club Brugge	41.762	Vitesse Arnhem	30.082
Leeds United	76.729	Hertha BSC	52.495	PAOK	41.058	Slovan Liberec	29.312
Celta Vigo	76.233	AEK Athens	52.058	Anderlecht	38.762	Fulham	27.729
Lyon	74.176	Paris Saint-Germain	51.176	Sturm Graz	37.625	Beşiktaş	26.362
Porto	66.124	Real Betis	49.233	Boavista	36.124	Wisła Kraków	21.750
Bordeaux	63.176	Slavia Prague	47.312	Celtic	36.062	Maccabi Haifa	18.666
Dynamo Kyiv	59.979	Schalke 04	46.495	Málaga	34.233	Denizlispor	14.362

Bracket

	Third round						Fourth round						Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Celtic (a)	1	1	2
	Celta Vigo	0	2	2
							Celtic	3	2	5
							Stuttgart	1	3	4
	Club Brugge	1	0	1
	Stuttgart	2	1	3
													Celtic	1	2	3
													Liverpool	1	0	1
	Real Betis	1	0	1
	Auxerre	0	2	2
							Auxerre	0	0	0
							Liverpool	1	2	3
	Vitesse Arnhem	0	0	0
	Liverpool	1	1	2
																			Celtic	1	1	2
																			Boavista	1	0	1
	Málaga	0	2	2
	Leeds United	0	1	1
							Málaga	0	1	1
							AEK Athens	0	0	0
	AEK Athens	4	4	8
	Maccabi Haifa	0	1	1
													Málaga	1	0	1(1)
													Boavista (p)	0	1	1(4)
	Hertha BSC	2	0	2
	Fulham	1	0	1
							Hertha BSC	3	0	3
							Boavista (a)	2	1	3
	Paris Saint-Germain	2	0	2
	Boavista (a)	1	1	2
																									Celtic	2
																									Porto	3
	Porto	3	0	3
	Lens	0	1	1
							Porto	6	2	8
							Denizlispor	1	2	3
	Denizlispor	0	1	1
	Lyon	0	0	0
													Porto	0	2	2
													Panathinaikos	1	0	1
	Slovan Liberec	2	0	2
	Panathinaikos	2	1	3
							Panathinaikos	3	0	3
							Anderlecht	0	2	2
	Bordeaux	0	2	2
	Anderlecht	2	2	4
																			Porto	4	0	4
																			Lazio	1	0	1
	Sturm Graz	1	1	2
	Lazio	3	0	3
							Lazio	3	2	5
							Wisła Kraków	3	1	4
	Wisła Kraków	1	4	5
	Schalke 04	1	1	2
													Lazio	1	2	3
													Beşiktaş	0	1	1
	PAOK	1	0	1
	Slavia Prague	0	4	4
							Slavia Prague	1	2	3
							Beşiktaş	0	4	4
	Beşiktaş	3	0	3
	Dynamo Kyiv	1	0	1

Third round

Seeding

The 32 teams were distributed into two groups of eight teams, each containing four seeded and four unseeded teams. The draw was held on 15 November 2002 in Geneva, Switzerland.^[3]

Matches

The first leg was played on 26 and 28 November, and the second leg was played on 10 and 12 December 2002.