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The last champions before the UEFA Cup was renamed to UEFA Europa League were Shakhtar Donetsk, who beat Werder Bremen 2–1 after extra time in the 2009 final. [5] Benfica and Marseille have lost the most finals, with three losses in the competition. The current champions are Sevilla, who defeated Roma 4–1 on penalties in the 2023 final .
- UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (previously known as the UEFA Cup,...
- Uefa European Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship, [1] less formally...
- UEFA
The competition was first held in 2001, and was known as the...
- UEFA Europa League
- Beginnings
- Timeline
- Evolution of The Tournament Format
- List of Participating Nations by First Entry
- Further Reading
- External Links
Early tournaments
The first time when champions of two European leagues met was in what was nicknamed the 1895 World Championship, when English champions Sunderland beat Scottish champions Heart of Midlothian 5–3. Ironically, the Sunderland lineup in the 1895 World Championship consisted entirely of Scottish players – Scottish players who moved to England to play professionally in those days were known as the Scotch Professors. Prior to that, other "Football World Championships" took place, although those were...
Creation of the European Cup
The Campeonato Sudamericano de Campeones, or "South American Championship of Champions", kicked off in 1948 after years of deliberation and organisation and set into motion the antecedent of the Copa Libertadores. French sports journalist Jacques Ferran became fascinated with the 1948 South American idea of a continental club champions league. The UEFA document on the history of the European Cup confirms that Jacques Ferran and Gabriel Hanot, journalists for the French sports newspaper L'Équi...
1955 to 1960 – Real Madrid's early dominance
Real Madrid dominated the first five competitions, with the team led by Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano, Francisco Gento and José Santamaría winning each of the first five competitions relatively comfortably, while this was the case, several other clubs did offer some resistance during the late 1950s, notably from Stade de Reims of France, who reached two finals and several Italian clubs such as Milan and Fiorentina. Hibernian were the first British club to play in the European Cup, reachin...
1961 to 1962 – Benfica success
Real Madrid's domination was ended by their biggest domestic rivals, Barcelona, in the first round of the 1960–61 competition, Barça continued on to the final at the Wankdorf Stadion in Bern, where they were defeated (3–2) in a close game by Benfica. This team, captained by the impressive Mário Coluna, were joined by the legendary Eusébio during the following 1961–62 season, where they defended the trophy after beating Real Madrid 5–3 in the final at the Olympisch Stadionin Amsterdam.
1963 to 1965 – Milanese Mastery
Benfica after winning two European Cups would then go on to reach a third successive final in 1963, but lost to Milan, whose city rivals Inter Milan would win the trophy in both 1964 and 1965, defeating Real Madrid and Benfica, respectively, in the process. This Grande Interperiod is well remembered in Italy with many at the time expecting the club to match the domination of Real throughout the decade.
The format of the competition has evolved substantially over the years, notably with the introduction of a Group Phase beginning in 1991, and multiple national representatives in 1998. The following summarises the evolution of the championship format through the years: 1. 1955–1991: Knockout format; one club per country (the league champion) plus t...
Group stage only
Since the addition of a group phase to the European Cup in the 1991–92 season, the earlier stages of the competition have been classified as qualifying rounds and from the 1994–95 season, all rounds prior to the group stage have been considered qualification rounds. The following nations have had representation at the group stage of the competition:
Radnedge, Keir (2005). 50 Years of the European Cup and Champions League.MacWilliam, Rab (2000). The European Cup: An Illustrated History."50 years of the European Cup" (PDF). UEFA. October 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 September 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
Overall (UEFA Cup/Europa League) 1. 110,000 – Real Madrid 0–0 Ipswich Town, 3 October 1973, First round second leg. 2. 93,000 – Real Madrid 2–1 Torino, 1 April 1992, Semi-finals first leg. 3. 92,000 – Dynamo Kyiv 1–1 Eintracht Braunschweig, 14 September 1977, First round first leg.
May 17, 2022 · The UEFA Cup began life in that 1971/72 season as a two-legged knockout competition, in which teams needed to come through five rounds to reach a two-legged final. Big brother: the UEFA Europa ...
