Football tournament
The UEFA Europa League ( abbreviated as UEL ) is an annual football cabaret competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA ) for eligible european football clubs. It is the second-tier competition of european club football, ranking below the UEFA Champions League and above the UEFA Europa Conference League after being the third-tier rival from 1971 to 1999 before the UEFA Cup Winners ‘ Cup was discontinued. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions.
Reading: UEFA Europa League
Introduced in 1971 as the UEFA Cup, it replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. In 1999, the UEFA Cup Winners ‘ Cup was abolished and merged with the UEFA Cup. [ 3 ] From the 2004–05 season a group stage was added before the smasher phase. The competition has been known as the Europa League since the 2009–10 season, [ 4 ] [ 5 ] following a change in format. [ 6 ] The 2009 re-branding included a blend with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, producing an blown-up competition format, with an expanded group stage and a deepen in qualifying criteria. The winner of the UEFA Europa League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup and, since the 2014–15 season, the following season ‘s UEFA Champions League, entering at the group phase. spanish clubs have the highest number of victories ( thirteen wins ), followed by England and Italy ( nine wins each ). The title has been won by 29 clubs, thirteen of which have won it more than once. The most successful club in the contest is Sevilla, with six titles. Villarreal are the reigning champions, having beaten Manchester United 11–10 on penalties in the 2021 final examination .
history [edit ]
The UEFA Cup was preceded by the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which was a european football contest played between 1955 and 1971. The competition grew from 11 teams during the first edition ( 1955–58 ) to 64 teams by the survive edition which was played in 1970–71, being abolished and replaced by the UEFA Cup, a new seasonal alliance rival which have a different regulation, format and disciplinary committee. [ 7 ] The UEFA Cup was first played in the 1971–72 season, ended with an all-English final of Wolverhampton Wanderers against Tottenham Hotspur, with Spurs taking the beginning honor. The competition gained since then a bigger prestige and sake between the mass media than the Fairs Cup. [ 8 ] The entitle was retained by another English club, Liverpool, in 1973, who defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final. Gladbach would win the competition in 1975 and 1979, and reach the final again in 1980. Feyenoord won the cup in 1974 after defeating Tottenham Hotspur 4–2 on aggregate ( 2–2 in London, 2–0 in Rotterdam ). Liverpool won the competition for the moment time in 1976 after defeating Club Brugge in the concluding. During the 1980s, IFK Göteborg ( 1982 and 1987 ) and veridical Madrid ( 1985 and 1986 ) won the competition twice each, with Anderlecht reaching two straight finals, winning in 1983 and losing to Tottenham Hotspur in 1984. The year 1989 saw the beginning of the italian baseball club ‘ domination, when Diego Maradona ‘s Napoli defeated VfB Stuttgart. The 1990s started with two all-Italian finals, and in 1992, Torino lost the final to Ajax on the away goals dominion. Juventus won the competition for a third base time in 1993 and Internazionale kept the cup in Italy the pursuit year. The year 1995 saw a third gear all-Italian final examination, with Parma proving their consistency, after two consecutive Cup Winners ‘ Cup finals. The entirely final with no Italians during that decade was in 1996. Internazionale reached the final examination the following two years, losing in 1997 to Schalke 04 on penalties, and winning so far another all-Italian final in 1998, taking home the cup for the third gear time in only eight years. Parma won the cup in 1999, which ended the Italian-domination era. By find, it was the last UEFA Cup/Europa League final appearance for any italian baseball club until Internazionale reached the 2020 concluding .
The earned run average of the 2000s began with victory for Galatasaray, the beginning Turkish team to win the trophy. Liverpool won the rival for the third time in 2001. In 2002, Feyenoord became winners for the second time in baseball club history by defeating Borussia Dortmund 3–2 in the final bet in their own stadium, De Kuip in Rotterdam. Porto triumphed in the 2003 and 2011 tournaments, with the latter victory against mate portuguese side Braga. In 2004, the cup returned to Spain with Valencia being victorious, and then Sevilla succeeded on two straight occasions in 2006 and 2007, the latter in a final against chap Spaniards Espanyol. Either side of Sevilla ‘s success, two russian teams, CSKA Moscow in 2005 and Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2008, had their glory and so far another former soviet club, Ukraine ‘s Shakhtar Donetsk, won in 2009, the first ukrainian side to do so. Atlético Madrid would themselves win twice in three seasons, in 2010 and 2012, the latter in another all-Spanish final between them and Athletic Bilbao. In 2013, Chelsea would become the first Champions League holders to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League the come class. In 2014, Sevilla won their third cup in eight years after defeating Benfica on penalties. good one class late, in 2015, Sevilla won their fourth UEFA Cup/Europa League and, in an unprecedented feat, they defended their title a third year in a course beating Liverpool in the 2016 final examination, making them the most successful team in the history of the competition with five titles. They added a further one-sixth victory in 2020, after defeating Inter Milan .The 2019 all London final examination between Chelsea and Arsenal was the first Uefa Cup/Europa League final between two teams from the same city. Since the 2009–10 season, the rival has been known as the UEFA Europa League. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] At the same time, the UEFA Intertoto Cup, UEFA ‘s third-tier rival, was discontinued and merged into the newly Europa League .
trophy [edit ]
The UEFA Cup, besides known as the Coupe UEFA, is the trophy awarded per annum by UEFA to the football club that wins the UEFA Europa League. Before the 2009–10 season, both the competition and the trophy were known as the ‘UEFA Cup ‘. Before the contest was renamed the UEFA Europa League in the 2009–10 temper, the UEFA regulations stated that a club could keep the original trophy for a year before returning it to UEFA. After its recurrence, the cabaret could keep a four-fifths scale replica of the original trophy. Upon their third gear straight acquire or fifth win overall, a golf club could retain the trophy permanently. [ 9 ] however, under the new regulations, the trophy remains in UEFA ‘s keeping at all times. A life-size replica trophy is awarded to each winner of the competition. Furthermore, a club that wins three consecutive times or five times overall will receive a multiple-winner badge. [ 10 ] As of 2016–17, only Sevilla has earned the honor to wear the multiple-winner badge, having achieved both prerequired feats in 2016. [ 11 ] The trophy was designed and crafted by Bertoni for the 1972 UEFA Cup Final. It weighs 15 kilogram ( 33 pound ) and is silver on a yellow marble pedestal. [ 12 ]
anthem [edit ]
A melodious theme for the rival, the Anthem, is played before every Europa League game at a stadium hosting such an event and besides earlier every television receiver broadcast of a Europa League game as a musical component of the competition ‘s hatchway sequence. [ 13 ] The contest ‘s first anthem was composed by Yohann Zveig and recorded by the Paris Opera in early on 2009. The theme for the re-branded UEFA Cup rival was foremost officially unveiled at the Grimaldi Forum on 28 August 2009 before the 2009–10 temper group stage string. A new hymn was composed by Michael Kadelbach and recorded in Berlin and was launched as part of the competition ‘s rebranding at the begin of the 2015–16 temper. [ 14 ] A new anthem created by MassiveMusic was composed for the begin of the 2018–19 season. [ 15 ]
format [edit ]
qualification [edit ]
qualification for the contest is based on UEFA coefficients, with better entrance rounds being offered to the more successful nations. In rehearse, each association has a standard number of three berths, except :
- Nations ranked 52 and 53 (Andorra and San Marino in the 2013–14 season), which have two berths
- The nation ranked 54 (Gibraltar in the 2014–15 season) which has one berth.
- Liechtenstein, which qualifies only the Cup winners
normally, each nation ‘s places are awarded to teams who finish in diverse runner-up places in its top-flight league and the achiever of the main cup competition. typically the teams qualifying via the league are those in the highest places not eligible for the UEFA Champions League ; however, the belgian league awards one plaza via a playoff between First A and First B teams. Before its discontinuance in 2020–21, France offered a plaza to the winners of the Coupe de la Ligue. A team may qualify for european competitions through more than one route. In all cases, if a club is eligible to enter the UEFA Champions League then the Champions League topographic point takes precedence and the cabaret does not enter the UEFA Europa League. The UEFA Europa League station is then granted to another club or vacated if the utmost terminus ad quem of teams qualifying for european competitions is exceeded. If a team qualifies for european competition through both winning a cup and league place, the “ spare ” UEFA Europa League place will go to the highest place league team which has not already qualified for european contest, depending on the rules of the national association, or vacated, if the identify restrict is reached. The peak three ranked associations may qualify for the fourth position if both the Champions League and Europa League champions are from that association and do not qualify for european competition through their domestic performance. In that case, the fourth-placed team in that association will join the Europa League rather of the Champions League, in addition to their other qualifying teams. More recently, clubs that are knocked out of the qualify rung and the group stage of the Champions League can besides join the UEFA Europa League, at different stages ( see below ). once, the reigning champions qualified to defend their style, but since 2015 they qualify for the Champions League. From 1995 to 2015, three leagues gained one extra put via the UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking .
setting [edit ]
UEFA coefficients were introduced in 1980 and, until 1999, they gave a greater number of berths in UEFA Cup to the more successful nations. Three nations had four places, five nations had three places, thirteen nations had two places, and eleven nations only one place. Since 1999, a alike system has been used for the UEFA Champions League. Before 1980, the capture criterion of the last Fairs Cup was used .
historic formats [edit ]
The competition was traditionally a saturated knockout tournament. All ties were two-legged, including the final. Starting with the 1997–98 season, the concluding became a one-off equal, but all other ties remained two-legged. Before the 2004–05 season, the tournament consisted of one qualifying round, followed by a series of knockout rounds. The sixteen non-qualifiers from the final examination modification round of the Champions League entered at the beginning round proper ; later in the tournament, the survivors were joined by third-place finishers from the ( first ) group phase of the Champions League. From the 2004–05 season, the rival started with two smasher qualifying rounds held in July and August. Participants from associations ranked 18 and lower entered the first gear modify round with those from associations ranked 9–18 joining them in the irregular qualify round. In addition, three places in the first stipulate beat were reserved for the UEFA Fair Play ranking winners ( until 2015–16 ), and eleven places in the second modify round for the UEFA Intertoto Cup winners. Winners of the qualifying rounds then joined teams from the associations ranked 1–13 in the first orotund proper. In addition, non-qualifiers in the third qualifying turn of the Champions League besides joined the competition at this point along with the current title-holders ( unless they had qualified for the Champions League via their national league ), for a total of 80 teams in the first round. After the first gear knockout attack, the 40 survivors entered a group phase, with the clubs being drawn into eight groups of five each. Unlike the Champions League group phase, the UEFA Cup group phase was played in a single round-robin format, with each golf club playing two home and two away games. The top three teams in each of the eight groups qualified for the chief hard attack along with the eight third-placed teams in the Champions League group phase. From then on a series of two-legged hard ties were played before a single-legged final, traditionally held on a Wednesday in May, precisely one workweek before the Champions League final examination .
stream format [edit ]
UEFA member nation that has been represented in the group stage
UEFA member country that has not been represented in the group stage Map of UEFA countries whose teams reached the group stage of the UEFA Europa League
Read more: France national football team
In the 2009–10 season, the contest was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League to raise its visibility. [ 4 ] Eight more teams qualified for the group phase, which consisted of 12 groups with four teams each ( in a double round-robin ) ; the clear two teams in each group advanced. The rival was then alike to the former format, with four rounds of two-legged hard rounds and a one-off final hold at a inert footing which met UEFA ‘s Category Four stadium criteria. The final was played in May, on the Wednesday ten days before the Champions League final examination. reservation changed significantly. Associations ranked 7–9 in the UEFA coefficients sent the cup winners and three ( two since the 2015–16 season ) other teams to the UEFA Europa League qualification ; all other nations sent a cup achiever and two other teams, except for Andorra and San Marino ( who sent a cup achiever and a runner-up ) and Liechtenstein ( who sent alone a cup achiever ). Since Gibraltar was accepted as a fully UEFA member at the 24 May 2013 UEFA Congress in London, their cup achiever besides qualified for the Europa League. Although the other teams will be the next-highest-ranked clubs in each domestic league ( after those qualifying for the UEFA Champions League ), France and England will continue to use one spotlight for their league-cup winners. With the abolition of the Intertoto Cup, all participants in the Europa League are qualified through domestic routes. The higher an association is ranked in the UEFA coefficients, the late its clubs broadly begin the qualification. however, every team except for the champion ( until the 2014–15 temper ) and the highest-ranked teams ( normally the cup achiever or the best europa League-qualified team ) from the top ( six from 2012 to 2015, 12 since the 2015–16 season ) associations had to play at least one qualification round. Except for the teams mentioned, all teams eliminated in the Champions League preliminary circle, qualifying rounds and play-off rung are transferred to the Europa League. The 12 winners and the 12 runner-up in the group stage advance to the hard turn with eight third-place teams from the Champions League group stage. The distribution was changed in 2014 to broaden the contest ‘s appeal, giving the Europa League champions a Champions League qualification position ; more teams automatically qualify for the group stage. If cup winners had already qualified for european competition through league operation, their seat in the league is vacated and goes to the best-ranked teams not qualified for european rival ; the cup runner-up is no retentive qualified through the cup position. [ 16 ] These rules became effective for the 2015–16 season .
distribution ( from 2015–16 to 2017–18 ) [edit ]
Teams entering in this round
Teams advancing from previous round
Teams transferred from Champions League
First qualifying round
(104 teams)
- 31 domestic cup winners from associations 24–54
- 35 domestic league runners-up from associations 18–53 (except Liechtenstein)
- 35 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 16–51 (except Liechtenstein)
- 3 teams which qualified via Fair Play ranking
- (this is no longer applicable as of the beginning of the 2015–16 season, see also UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking).
Second qualifying round
(66 teams)
- 6 domestic cup winners from associations 18–23
- 2 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–17
- 6 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 10–15
- 52 winners from first qualifying round
Third qualifying round
(58 teams)
- 5 domestic cup winners from associations 13–17
- 9 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–15
- 5 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 5–9
- 3 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 4–6 (League Cup winners for France)
- 3 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 1–3 (League Cup winners for England)
- 33 winners from second qualifying round
Play-off round
(44 teams)
- 29 winners from third qualifying round
- 15 losers from Champions League third qualifying round
Group stage
(48 teams)
- 12 domestic cup winners from associations 1–12
- 1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 4
- 3 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–3
- 22 winners from play-off round
- 10 losers from Champions League play-off round
Knockout phase
(32 teams)
- 12 group winners from group stage
- 12 group runners-up from group stage
- 8 third-placed teams from Champions League group stage
The access list above is probationary, as changes will need to be made in the follow cases :
- If the Champions League title holders or the Europa League title holders have qualified for the Europa League through domestic performance, their berth in the Europa League is vacated (not replaced by another team from the same association), and cup winners of the highest-ranked associations are moved to a later round accordingly.[17]
- In some cases where changes to the access list of the Champions League are made, the number of losers of the Champions League third qualifying round which are transferred to the Europa League is increased or decreased from the default number of 15, which means changes to the access list of the Europa League will also need to be made.[18]
- Because a maximum of five teams from one association can enter the UEFA Champions League, if both the Champions League title holders and the Europa League title holders are from the same top three ranked association and finish outside the top four of their domestic league, the fourth-placed team of their association will be moved to the Europa League and enter the group stage, which means changes to the access list of the Europa League may also need to be made.[19]
distribution ( from 2018–19 to 2020–21 ) [edit ]
Beginning with the 2018–19 tournament, all domestic champions eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League will transfer to the Europa League, rather than just teams that are eliminated in the third-qualifying and play-off rounds. Europa League qualify will besides provide a separate champions route for these teams, allowing more opportunities for domestic league champions to compete against each other. [ 20 ]
Teams entering in this round
Teams advancing from previous round
Teams transferred from Champions League
Preliminary round
(16 teams)
- 6 domestic cup winners from associations 50–55
- 6 domestic league runners-up from associations 49–54
- 4 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 48–51
First qualifying round
(94 teams)
- 25 domestic cup winners from associations 25–49
- 30 domestic league runners-up from associations 18–48 (except Liechtenstein)
- 31 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 16–47 (except Liechtenstein)
- 8 winners from preliminary round
Second qualifying round
Champions
(20 teams)
- 17 losers from Champions League first qualifying round
- 3 losers from Champions League preliminary round
Non-champions
(74 teams)
- 7 domestic cup winners from associations 18–24
- 2 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–17
- 3 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 13–15
- 9 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 7–15
- 2 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 5–6 (League Cup winners for France)
- 4 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 1–4 (League Cup winners for England)
- 47 winners from first qualifying round
Third qualifying round
Champions
(20 teams)
- 10 winners from second qualifying round for champions
- 10 losers from Champions League second qualifying round for champions
Non-champions
(52 teams)
- 5 domestic cup winners from associations 13–17
- 6 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–12
- 1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 6
- 37 winners from second qualifying round for non-champions
- 3 losers from Champions League second qualifying round for non-champions
Play-off round
Champions
(16 teams)
- 10 winners from third qualifying round for champions
- 6 losers from Champions League third qualifying round for champions
Non-champions
(26 teams)
- 26 winners from third qualifying round for non-champions
Group stage
(48 teams)
- 12 domestic cup winners from associations 1–12
- 1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 5
- 4 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–4
- 21 winners from play-off round
- 6 losers from Champions League play-off round
- 4 losers from Champions League third qualifying round for non-champions
Knockout phase
(32 teams)
- 12 group winners from group stage
- 12 group runners-up from group stage
- 8 third-placed teams from Champions League group stage
distribution ( from 2021–22 to 2023–24 ) [edit ]
The announcement of the UEFA Europa Conference League, a tertiary competition which would serve to split off the lower-ranked teams in the Europa League to give them a greater find to compete, included a text file from UEFA listing their intentions for qualification to the Europa League from 2021 onwards. [ 21 ] With a majority of the former entrants into the Europa League nowadays participating entirely in the UECL, the Europa League itself would have a greatly reduced format which will focus chiefly around its group stage. [ 22 ] There would besides be an extra hard round before the knockout phase proper, allowing for third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage to fall into the Europa League while inactive keeping the hard stage itself at merely 16 teams total. [ 21 ]
Teams entering in this round
Teams advancing from previous round
Teams transferred from Champions League
Qualifying round
Champions
(10 teams)
- 10 losers from Champions League second qualifying round for champions
Non-champions
(6 teams)
- 3 domestic cup winners from associations 13–15
- 3 losers from Champions League second qualifying round for non-champions
Play-off round
(20 teams)
- 6 domestic cup winners from associations 7–12
- 5 winners from qualifying round for champions
- 3 winners from qualifying round for non-champions
- 6 losers from Champions League third qualifying round for champions
Group stage
(32 teams)
- 6 domestic cup winners from associations 1–6
- 1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 5
- 4 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–4
- UEFA Europa Conference League title holders (beginning with the 2022–23 season)
- 10 winners from play-off round
- 4 losers from Champions League play-off round for champions
- 6 losers from Champions League third qualifying round and play-off round for non-champions
Preliminary knockout round
(16 teams)
- 8 group runners-up from group stage
- 8 third-placed teams from Champions League group stage
Knockout phase
(16 teams)
- 8 group winners from group stage
- 8 winners from preliminary knockout round
Prize money [edit ]
similar to the UEFA Champions League, the choice money received by the clubs is divided into fix payments based on participation and results, and varying amounts that depend of the measure of their television receiver grocery store. [ 23 ] For the 2021–22 season, group degree engagement in the Europa League awarded a free-base fee of €3,630,000. A victory in the group pays €630,000 and a draw €210,000. besides, each group achiever earns €1,100,000 and each runner-up €550,000. Reaching the knock-out phase triggers extra bonuses : €500,000 for the round of 32, €1,200,000 for the round of 16, €1,800,000 for the quarter-finals and €2,800,000 for the semi-finals. The lose finalists receive €4,600,000 and the champions receive €8,600,000. [ 24 ]
- Qualified to group stage: €3,630,000
- Match won in group stage: €630,000
- Match drawn in group stage: €210,000
- 1st in group stage: €1,100,000
- 2nd in group stage: €550,000
- Knockout round play-offs: €500,000
- Round of 16: €1,200,000
- Quarter-final: €1,800,000
- Semi-final: €2,800,000
- Runner-up: €4,600,000
- Champion: €8,600,000
The UEFA Europa League is sponsored by seven multinational corporations, which partake the lapp partners with the UEFA Europa Conference League. The tournament ‘s chief sponsors for the 2021–24 hertz are :
Molten is a secondary coil patronize and supplies the official match ball. [ 31 ] Since the origin of Europa League trade name, the tournament has used its own hoardings ( in that year it debuted in the round of 32 ) like UEFA Champions League. LED hoardings made their debut in the 2012–13 final and would appear in 2015–16 temper from the round of 16 ; in the lapp season, from the group degree, teams are not allowed to show their sponsors. [ 32 ] It would appear in the 2018–19 season for selected matches in the group stages and the round of 32. [ 33 ] individual clubs may wear jerseys with advertise, even if such sponsors conflict with those of the Europa League. however, only two sponsorships are permitted per new jersey ( plus that of the manufacturer ), at the breast and the left sleeve. [ 34 ] Exceptions are made for non-profit organisations, which can feature on the presence of the shirt, incorporated with the main patronize, or on the spinal column, either below the police squad number or between the actor name and the apprehension .
Records and statistics [edit ]
The UEFA Cup finals were played over two legs until 1997. The first final was played on 3 May 1972 in Wolverhampton and 17 May 1972 in London. The first leg between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur was won 2–1 by the aside side. The moment leg finished as a 1–1 draw, meaning that Tottenham Hotspur became the first UEFA Cup winners. The one-match finals in pre-selected venues were introduced in 1998. A venue must meet or exceed UEFA Category three standards to host UEFA Cup finals. On two occasions, the final examination was played at a finalist ‘s family grind : Feyenoord defeated Borussia Dortmund at De Kuip, Rotterdam, in 2002, and Sporting CP lost to CSKA Moscow at their own Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, in 2005. The winner of the last UEFA Cup concluding ( before the competition being rebranded as the UEFA Europa League ) was Shakhtar Donetsk on 20 May 2009. The ukrainian team pulsate Werder Bremen of Germany 2–1 at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Istanbul. The first-ever achiever of the rebranded Europa League was Atlético Madrid, beating Premier League english Fulham 2–1 after extra time .
Performances by golf club [edit ]
Performances by nation [edit ]
Performance in finals by nation
Nation
Winners
Runners-up
Total
Spain
13
5
18
England
9
8
17
Italy
9
7
16
Germany[A]
6
8
14
Netherlands
4
3
7
Portugal
2
5
7
Russia
2
0
2
Sweden
2
0
2
Belgium
1
2
3
Ukraine
1
1
2
Turkey
1
0
1
France
0
5
5
Scotland
0
3
3
Austria
0
1
1
Hungary
0
1
1
Yugoslavia[B]
0
1
1
- Notes
Awards [edit ]
Starting from the 2016–17 edition of the rival, UEFA introduced the UEFA Europa League Player of the Season award. The jury is composed of the coaches of the clubs which participate in the group phase of the contest, together with 55 journalists selected by the european Sports Media ( ESM ) group, one from each UEFA penis association .
Winners [edit ]
See besides [edit ]
Notes [edit ]
- ^ 8 clubs join after Champions League group stage : the winners of each group boost to the round of 16, the second-placed teams in each group begin maneuver from the hard play-offs, where they are joined by the eight third-place teams in the Champions League group phase .
References [edit ]
Read more: Sevilla FC