Europa League is an international football tournament held every year between clubs from European countries. This is the second most prestigious tournament after the Champions League, which appeared only in 2009, replacing the UEFA Cup. The reason for this was the format of the tournament, which until then had exclusively represented the playoffs for relegation. Since 2009, within the framework of the Europa League, division into groups has begun to be made, followed by a playoff draw. Who won this relatively young tournament? In total, eight draws were held, and the ninth is now in the process. In this article you will find out what the winners of the Europa League have been over the past eight years.
2009 - Shakhtar
The winners of the Europa League during this time were from various countries, but the Ukrainian club was the first. Shakhtar Donetsk and Bremen Werder Bremen got into the finals of the first Europa League draw. Both clubs entered the Europa League after taking third place in their groups in the Champions League. Already in the 25th minute, Luis Adriano opened the score, putting the Ukrainians ahead, but rather quickly Naldo equalized the score. And only in the added time, Jadson decided the outcome in favor of Shakhtar.
2010 - Atletico
The following year, Atletico Madrid, which turned out to be weaker than Chelsea and Porto in the champions group, met in the finals with Fulham, who left the second place from his group, losing only to the Italian Roma. The plot of the match was exactly the same as last year. Diego Forlan opened the score at 32 minutes, and five minutes later Davis equalized him. And only in stoppage time, Forlan scored a double, bringing victory to his club. As you can see, the first winners of the Europa League decided on the same scenario. But then everything became a little more diverse.
2011 - Porto
The third final was the first in which representatives of the same country took part. The Portuguese Braga could not compete in the Champions League, but reached the final of the Europa League, where Porto was waiting for it. In a very tense match, Porto won with a minimum score of 1: 0 thanks to the goal of Radamel Falcao. The UEFA Europa League has begun to gain momentum and is becoming increasingly interesting.
2012 - Atletico
In 2012, the UEFA Europa League acquired the first repeated triumph. Atletico Madrid defeated another Athletic club in the finals 3-0. Two goals were scored by the same Falcao, who brought victory to Porto last year, and the third was scored by the Brazilian Diego.
2013 - Chelsea
In 2013, this tournament was first won by the English club Chelsea. England in recent years began to lose ground in the European arena, so this victory over the Portuguese “Benfica” has become very important. Fernando Torres scored the first goal, which was followed by a quick response by Oscar Cardozo, and when everyone was preparing for the added time, Ivanovich pulled out a victory for Chelsea.
2014-2016 - Seville
Today, the country behind which the strongest football in Europe is listed is Spain. Seville is a club that is one of the clearest evidence of this. The fact is that the last three years, Sevilla won the Europa League, not allowing anyone to take her title.
In 2014, the Portuguese “Benfica” made it to the finals again, but again it was not lucky. The match was incredibly intense, and in the main time not a single goal was scored. In stoppage time, the winner was also not revealed, and only in the penalty shootout did Sevilla defeat the Portuguese opponent by winning its first trophy.
In 2015, in the final, the Spanish club met with another Ukrainian club, Dnipro, which wanted to repeat the story of Shakhtar. And already in the seventh minute, the Ukrainians took the lead thanks to a goal from Kalinich, but in the first half, the goals of Grzegorz Krychowyak and Carlos Bakka allowed Sevilla to get ahead. However, at the end of the first half, Rotan equalized, and the second half actually began with a clean slate. Bakka took his chance, who set the final score on the scoreboard - 3: 2 in favor of the Spanish club, who won the trophy for the second time in a row.
Well, in 2016, in the final of Seville, an even stronger opponent, the English Liverpool, was caught. And the beginning was again promising when Sturridge opened the scoring. The first half ended with the advantage of Liverpool, but in the second half, everything changed. Goal Gameiro and take Coca brought Seville for the third consecutive cup. However, we can safely say that this year the winners of the Europa League will be different, since Sevilla participated in the Champions League and reached the playoffs, where they lost to the English Leicester in the 1/8 finals.