If you want to be considered in the league of Europe’s football big boys, you’ve got to be successful on the biggest stages. And the Europa League is another possible shot at glory if you are not eligible to compete on the biggest stage – which is the Champions League.
Gone are the days when the Europa League was nothing more than a second fiddle tournament. Right now, it is even considered more significant than many domestic competitions because of the cash prize and opportunities at stake. All of the participating teams embrace the Europa League with a sense of competitiveness and enthusiasm, and this has made the tournament more thrilling than ever.
The Europa League is an alternative route to greatness, and its ever-evolving format ensures that there is always plenty at stake.
The Europa League 2023 final matchup: Sevilla vs Roma
This past year's 2023 UEFA Europa League final took place between Sevilla and Roma at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest on May 31st.
Featuring two massive European clubs, tickets were in high demand. Specialists in this competition, Sevilla once again claimed the Europa League, winning a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw with Jose Mourinho's side.
Europa League History
The UEFA Europa League is a major European competition which was formerly called the UEFA Cup. It was founded in 1955 and 1972 in its current format. In 1999, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was scrapped and merged with the UEFA Cup.
And in the 2004-05 season, a group stage round was added to the competition prior to the knockout phases, thereby producing an enlarged competition format. The competition took up the name “Europa League" for branding purposes.
It is the second most prestigious competition for football clubs in Europe after the Champions League. The competition is designed for teams that didn't qualify for the CL.
The tournament presents a rare opportunity for teams who didn't qualify for the biggest events. The whole idea of the Europa League is to ensure that teams stay relevant in Europe even if they’ve finished slightly below the Champions League places in their domestic standings.
UEFA Europa League Previous Winners
Sevilla FC has the most wins in the competition, winning the trophy for the seventh time after beating Roma in a penalty shoot-out in the 2023 Europa League final.
Other famous clubs with the most Europa League wins are Juventus, Inter Milan, and Liverpool who won three Europa League titles each.
Benfica is regarded as one of the most unfortunate teams in Europa League history with 3 final appearances but the club never managed to lift the desired EL trophy. The club reached the final in 1983, 2013 and 2014, but all finals resulted in losses.
Below, you can see a table with all the winners that won in this tournament.
- 2014-15 Sevilla* 0-0 Benfica Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw
- 2015-16 Sevilla 3-1 Liverpool St. Jakob-Park, Basel
- 2016-17 Man United 2-0 Ajax Friends Arena, Solna
- 2017-18 Atletico Madrid 3-0 Marseille Parc Olympique, Lyon
- 2018-19 Chelsea 4-1 Arsenal Olympic Stadium, Baku
- 2019-20 Sevilla 3-2 Inter Milan Rhein Energie Stadion, Cologne
- 2020-21 Villarreal* 1-1 Man United Stadion Energa Gdansk
- 2021-22 Eintracht Frankfurt* 1-1 Rangers Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Sevilla
- 2022-23 Sevilla * 1-1 Roma, Puskás Aréna, Budapest
| Team | Number of wins: | Won in: |
|---|---|---|
| Sevilla | 7 | 2006,2007,2014,2015,2016,2020,2023 |
| Juventus | 3 | 1977,1990,1993 |
| Inter Milan | 3 | 1991,1994,1998 |
| Liverpool | 3 | 1973,1976,2001 |
| Atletico Madrid | 3 | 2010,2012, 2018 |
| Chelsea | 2 | 2013, 2019 |
| Borussia Monchengladbach | 2 | 1975,1979 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2 | 1972,1984 |
| Feyenoord | 2 | 1974,2002 |
| IFK Goteborg | 2 | 1982,1987 |
| Real Madrid | 2 | 1985,1986 |
| Parma | 2 | 1995,1999 |
| Porto | 2 | 2003,2011 |
| Anderlecht | 1 | 1983 |
| PSV | 1 | 1978 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 1 | 1980 |
| Ipwisch Town | 1 | 1981 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 1 | 1988 |
| Napoli | 1 | 1989 |
| Ajax | 1 | 1992 |
| Bayern Munich | 1 | 1996 |
| Schalke 04 | 1 | 1997 |
| Galatasaray | 1 | 2000 |
| Valencia | 1 | 2004 |
| CSKA Moscow | 1 | 2005 |
| Zenit Saint Petersburg | 1 | 2008 |
| Shakthar Donetsk | 1 | 2009 |
| Manchester United | 1 | 2017 | Villarreal | 1 | 2021 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 1 | 2022 |
UEFA Europa League - How it Works
The current format of the Europa League involves a number of preliminary and qualifying rounds prior to the group stage.
The third qualifying round is followed by a play-off round, and by this time, the total number of teams is then reduced to 32 teams, who are split into groups of four teams. The teams representing the top leagues will automatically qualify for this stage, while others must fight to get this far.
In the Europa League group stage, the four teams play each other twice, home and away, and the team that finishes top advances to the Round of 16. The teams who finish second advance to the newly created knockout round play-offs, which sees these teams play the teams who finish third in their UEFA Champions League groups.
The competition then simply becomes a traditional knock out tournament, including a Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final, all of which are two legs apart from the final, which is a one-off game where a team will be crowned Europa League winners.
The UEFA Europa League final is, without doubt, one of the biggest matches in the football calendar, and interest in Europa League final tickets is therefore, unsurprisingly, very high.
Often, fans of the two teams who get that far will find out that the ticket allocation made available to their team is very low, with UEFA usually reserving a large portion of the overall capacity to neutrals and corporate visitors.
This is where we at SeatPick come in, offering real football fans the chance to see their team in action in one of the biggest nights in the respective club's history.
Europa League eligibility and qualification
The journey to the UEFA Europa League final starts with some qualifying and knockout rounds. The qualifying rounds consist of five rounds (preliminary, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and a playoff round). After the completion of the qualifying rounds, the group stages follow.
The group stages consist of a total of 48 teams separated into 12 groups of 4 teams. All the teams that finish 3rd in the Champions League group stages (8 teams in total), will qualify automatically for the Europa League round of 32, where they will join the 24 teams that have qualified from the Europa League group stages. Finally, the knockout stages and the final will follow.
Europa League Historical Winners
The Europa League trophy has been contested by so many excellent teams of the past generations and has been won by so many exceptional sides too.
One of the most recent dominant forces in the Europa League is Sevilla. The great team from Seville, which boasted quality stars like Ever Banega, Kevin Gameiro, Steve N’Zonzi, and so many others, won three Europa League trophies back-to-back between 2013 and 2016.
Sevilla has won the tournament on seven occasions in total, while clubs like Liverpool, Internazionale, and Juventus have won it three times. From 2009 the tournament name was changed from UEFA Cup to UEFA Europa League. Liverpool has participated in four Europa League finals in total, winning three, while Sevilla has won all of the seven finals they've played in.
Europa League Ticket Prices
There is no fixed Europa League ticket price. This is because of the different participating teams and the different rounds involved. How much you pay for a Europa League match ticket is determined by the team you would like to watch.
Once you are finally ready to catch a Europa League match live, you can check the club’s website to see the ticket prices. Alternatively, you can check out SeatPick for trusted ticket price info, prices tend to start from €35 per ticket on the official sites, and on average range between €75 to €200 on the secondary market depending on the teams that play.
If the English teams are involved, prices tend to be significantly higher.
Europa League Final Tickets
In order to watch the Europa League final live in a major European city; you will need to buy Europa League final tickets. And you can get these tickets here on SeatPick. The Europa League final for the 2024/25 season will take place at the Aviva Stadium in Ireland.
Mere weeks later, many of the finalists will feature at the European Championships in Germany. At SeatPick, we're proud to offer a wide selection of Euro 2024 tickets.
