UEFA Europa League

The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup. The competition was the idea of FIFA vice-president and executive committee member Ernst Thommen, Italian Football Federation president and FIFA executive committee member Ottorino Barassi, and the English Football Association general secretary and president of FIFA from 1961 to 1974, Stanley Rous. As the name suggests, the competition was set up to promote international trade fairs. Friendly games were regularly held between teams from cities holding trade fairs and it was from these games that the competition evolved. The competition was initially only open to teams from cities that hosted trade fairs and where these teams finished in their national league had no relevance. Early competitions also featured a one city, one team rule. After 1964, it was sometimes referred to as the Runners-up Cup, with teams now qualifying based on league position. The winning team received the Noel Beard Trophy, named for the cutler who designed it.

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposite team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing side. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is considered the world's most popular sport.

The first Inter-Cities Fairs Cup took place over three seasons from 1955 to 1958. The competition began with a group stage with each team playing home and away against each other. Due to the competition rules which stated only one side from each city was allowed to compete, many cities with several football clubs picked the best players from those teams to create a city representative side. One of these, the London XI, went on to reach the final where they were beaten over two legs by the Barcelona XI.

Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has played its home games at Anfield since its formation.

Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach, Mönchengladbach or Gladbach, is a professional football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany that plays in the Bundesliga, the top flight of German football. Nicknamed Die Fohlen [diː ˈfoːlən], the club has won five league titles, three DFB-Pokals and two UEFA Europa League titles.

Feyenoord Rotterdam is a Dutch professional association football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its neighbourhood in 1912 as SC Feijenoord, updated in 1974 to SC Feyenoord, and then to Feyenoord in 1978, when it split from the amateur club under its wing, SC Feyenoord. Since 1937, Feyenoord's home ground has been the Stadion Feijenoord, nicknamed De Kuip, the second largest stadium in The Netherlands.

Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging, known simply as Club Brugge, is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062. They play in, and are the reigning champions of Belgian First Division A, the top domestic league in Belgian football.

Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg, commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the only club in the Nordic countries that has won one of the main UEFA competitions, having won the UEFA Cup in both 1982 and 1987. IFK is affiliated with Göteborgs Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Gamla Ullevi. The club colours are blue and white, colours shared both with the sports society which the club originated from, Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, and with the coat of arms of the city of Gothenburg. The team colours have influenced the historical nickname Blåvitt. The blue and white are in stripes, with blue shorts and socks.

Diego Armando Maradona was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award.

Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax, also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the Eredivisiecode: nld promoted to code: nl , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax is the most successful club in the Netherlands, with 36 Eredivisie titlescode: nld promoted to code: nl and 20 KNVB Cups. It has continuously played in the Eredivisiecode: nld promoted to code: nl , since the league's inception in 1956 and, along with Feyenoordcode: nld promoted to code: nl and PSV Eindhovencode: nld promoted to code: nl , it is one of the country's "big three" clubs that have dominated that competition.

A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals are often given out either as the trophy or along with more traditional trophies.

The 2009–10 UEFA Europa League was the first season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The competition was previously known as the UEFA Cup, which had been in existence for 38 years.

The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.

Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The colors of its bands range from black to almost every color. Commonly, specimens of onyx contain bands of black and/or white. Onyx, as a descriptive term, has also been applied to parallel banded varieties of alabaster, marble, calcite, obsidian and opal, and misleadingly to materials with contorted banding, such as "Cave Onyx" and "Mexican Onyx".

The Paris Opera is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra, and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the Académie Royale de Musique, but continued to be known more simply as the Opéra. Classical ballet as it is known today arose within the Paris Opera as the Paris Opera Ballet and has remained an integral and important part of the company. Currently called the Opéra national de Paris, it mainly produces operas at its modern 2,723-seat theatre Opéra Bastille which opened in 1989, and ballets and some classical operas at the older 1,979-seat Palais Garnier which opened in 1875. Small scale and contemporary works are also staged in the 500-seat Amphitheatre under the Opéra Bastille.

The Grimaldi Forum in Monaco is a conference and congress centre located on the seafront of Monaco's eastern beach quartier, Larvotto. Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra regularly perform there. This is also the venue of the EVER Monaco exhibition held in March annually.

The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League was the 45th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the seventh season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.

The 2018–19 UEFA Europa League was the 48th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 10th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.

The UEFA Europa Conference League is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. It is the third tier of active European club football competitions, after the Champions League and the Europa League.

The Andorran Football Federation is the governing body of football in Andorra. It was founded in 1994 and joined as a member of FIFA and UEFA in 1996. It organizes the football league, Andorran First Division, the Andorran Cup and Andorran Supercup, and the Andorra national football team. It is based in Escaldes-Engordany.

The San Marino Football Federation (FSGC) is the governing body of football in San Marino. It organises the San Marino football league, a national cup, a super cup and the San Marino national football team. It is based in the city of San Marino. As of December 10, 2020, the FIFA committee recognizes San Marino as the lowest-ranking team according to the FIFA World Rankings.

The Gibraltar Football Association or also Gibraltar FA (GFA) is the governing body for Gibraltarian football and futsal. It was formed as the Gibraltar Civilian Football Association in 1895, changing to its current name in later years. It is one of the oldest football associations in the world. From October 2012, the GFA were provisional members of UEFA and the Gibraltar national futsal team, under-19 and under-17 representative teams participated in the 2013/14 UEFA season competitions. At the XXXVII UEFA Congress held in London on 24 May 2013, Gibraltar was accepted as a full member of UEFA. Gibraltar were admitted to FIFA as a full member on 13 May 2016 at the 66th FIFA Congress in Mexico.

The Liechtenstein Football Association (LFV) is the governing body of football in Liechtenstein. It was established on 28 April 1934, and became affiliated to UEFA on 22 May 1974. The association organizes the Liechtenstein national football team and the Liechtenstein Football Cup. Because Liechtenstein has fewer than 8 active teams, it is the only UEFA member without its own national league. This means the Liechtensteiner teams play in the Swiss Football League system. The LFV is based in Schaan.

The UEFA Champions League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competition winners through a round robin group stage to qualify for a double-legged knockout format, and a single leg final. It is one of the most prestigious football tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in European football, played by the national league champions of their national associations.

The Coupe de la Ligue, known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France, was only open to professional clubs in France which play in country's top three football divisions, though the third is not fully professional.

The 1997–98 UEFA Cup was won by Internazionale in an all-Italian final against Lazio. It was their third title in eight years in the competition.

Albania, officially the Republic of Albania, is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is situated in the Balkans, and is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east, and Greece to the south. The country displays varied climatic, geological, hydrological, and morphological conditions, in an area of 28,748 km2 (11,100 sq mi). The landscape ranges from the snow-capped mountains in the Albanian Alps and the Korab, Skanderbeg, Pindus, and Ceraunian Mountains, to the hot and sunny coasts of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas along the Mediterranean. Tirana is its capital and largest city, followed by Durrës, Vlorë, and Shkodër.

Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the west, and Iran to the south. Baku is the capital and largest city.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, abbreviated BiH (БиХ) or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeastern Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and Herzegovina borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north and southwest. In the south it has a narrow coast on the Adriatic Sea within the Mediterranean, which is about 20 kilometres long and surrounds the town of Neum. Bosnia, which is the inland region of the country, has a moderate continental climate with hot summers and cold, snowy winters. In the central and eastern regions of the country, the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and in the northeast it is predominantly flat. Herzegovina, which is the smaller, southern region of the country, has a Mediterranean climate and is mostly mountainous. Sarajevo is the capital and the largest city of the country followed by Banja Luka, Tuzla and Zenica.

France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. It also includes overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Its eighteen integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi) and had a total population of over 68 million as of January 2023. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre; other major urban areas include Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux, and Nice.

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's second-largest country by total area, with the world's longest coastline. It is characterized by a wide range of both meteorologic and geological regions. The country is sparsely inhabited, with most residing south of the 55th parallel in urban areas. Canada's capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

This page details statistics of the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League. Unless notified these statistics concern all seasons since inception of the UEFA Cup in the 1971–72 season, including qualifying rounds. The UEFA Cup replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in the 1971–72 season, so the Fairs Cup is not considered a UEFA competition, and hence clubs' records in the Fairs Cup are not considered part of their European record.

The 1997 UEFA Cup Final was a two-legged football match contested between Schalke 04 of Germany and Inter Milan of Italy. The tie was a tight affair, with each leg being won 1–0 by the home-team. After 210 minutes of football, the tie was eventually settled on penalties, with Schalke winning 4–1 at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. It was to be the last UEFA Cup final to be played over two legs, future finals being one-off games at a neutral ground.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has played its home matches in the 62,850-capacity Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since April 2019, replacing their former home of White Hart Lane, which had been demolished to make way for the new stadium on the same site.

London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and retains its medieval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which since 1965 has largely comprised Greater London, which is governed by 33 local authorities and the Greater London Authority.

Feyenoord Rotterdam is a Dutch professional association football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its neighbourhood in 1912 as SC Feijenoord, updated in 1974 to SC Feyenoord, and then to Feyenoord in 1978, when it split from the amateur club under its wing, SC Feyenoord. Since 1937, Feyenoord's home ground has been the Stadion Feijenoord, nicknamed De Kuip, the second largest stadium in The Netherlands.

Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund, BVB, or simply Dortmund, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional football team, which plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The club have won eight league championships, five DFB-Pokals, one UEFA Champions League, one Intercontinental Cup, and one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

Stadion Feijenoord, more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip, is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same name.

Rotterdam is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the "New Meuse" inland shipping channel, dug to connect to the Meuse first, but now to the Rhine instead.

Professional Football Club CSKA , commonly referred to as CSKA Moscow or CSKA Moskva outside of Russia, or simply as CSKA, is a Russian professional football club. It is based in Moscow, playing its home matches at the 30,000-capacity VEB Arena. It plays in red and blue colours, with various plain and striped patterns having been used.

Lisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits with a population of around 2.7 million people, being the 11th-most populous urban area in the European Union. About 3 million people live in the Lisbon metropolitan area, making it the third largest metropolitan area in the Iberian Peninsula, after Madrid and Barcelona. It represents approximately 27% of the country's population. It is mainland Europe's westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. Lisbon lies in the western Iberian Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean and the River Tagus. The westernmost portions of its metro area, the Portuguese Riviera, form the westernmost point of Continental Europe, culminating at Cabo da Roca.

The 2005 UEFA Cup Final was the final match of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup, the 34th season of the UEFA Cup, UEFA's second-tier club football tournament. The match was contested by Sporting CP and CSKA Moscow; CSKA won the match 3–1. Sporting CP opened the scoring in the first half from full-back Rogério, before Aleksei Berezutskiy equalised in the second half. Yuri Zhirkov would give the Russian side the lead nine minutes after CSKA's equalising goal, and the Moscow outfit would close out the scoring 15 minutes from the end after a quick CSKA counterattack saw Vágner Love become the youngest player to score in a UEFA Cup final at the age of 20 years, 341 days, firing the ball past Sporting goalkeeper Ricardo to give the Russian side a first UEFA Cup trophy.

The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.

France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. It also includes overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Its eighteen integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi) and had a total population of over 68 million as of January 2023. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre; other major urban areas include Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux, and Nice.

The 2017–18 UEFA Europa League was the 47th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 9th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.

Antoine Griezmann is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the France national team. A versatile player, he is known for his attacking, passing and supportive defence, and has played as an attacking midfielder, winger, and striker in his career.

Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D., known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home games at the Metropolitano, which has a capacity of 68,456.

The 2018–19 UEFA Europa League was the 48th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 10th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,528 km2 (11,787 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of 376/km2 (970/sq mi). Belgium is part of an area known as the Low Countries, historically a somewhat larger region than the Benelux group of states, as it also included parts of northern France. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.

Eden Michael Walter Hazard is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Known for his creativity, dribbling, passing and vision, Hazard is considered one of the best players of his generation.

Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. They won their first major honour, the League championship, in 1955. The club won the FA Cup for the first time in 1970, their first European honour, the Cup Winners' Cup, in 1971, and became the third English club to win the Club World Cup in 2022.

The 2019–20 UEFA Europa League was the 49th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.

The Italian Football Federation, known colloquially as Federcalcio, is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence.