Europa league history

The UEFA Europa League (previously called the UEFA Cup) is an annual UEFA-organised football cup competition for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions.

Previously called the UEFA Cup, the competition as of June 2009 for the 2009-10 football season is now the Europa League,[2][3] following a change in format. For UEFA footballing records purposes, the Europa League and UEFA Cup are considered the same competition, with the change of name being simply a rebranding.

The competition began in 1971 and replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. But, for UEFA footballing records purposes, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup is not recognised as the direct predecessor of the UEFA Cup[4]. In 1999, the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup was abolished and merged with the UEFA Cup.[5] For the 2004/05 competition a group stage was added prior to the knock out stage. The 2009 rebranding included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and changed qualifying criteria.

Shakhtar Donetsk are the current champions of the competition, having beaten Werder Bremen in the 2009 final on 20 May 2009, the last time the competition was known as the UEFA Cup.

The most successful clubs in the competition are, in chronological order, Juventus, Internazionale and Liverpool, all with three titles apiece.[6]