The UEFA Europa League (UEL) is considered the second most important international competition for European clubs, after the UEFA Champions League (UCL). Clubs qualify for the Europa League based on their performance in their respective leagues and cup competitions. It has been organized since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). It was known as the UEFA Cup at that time and Tottenham Hotspur won the inaugural competition.

In 2008, UEFA decided to change the name to UEFA Europe League from the 2009/10 season. The competition changed the format from knockout matches to a group stage in the first phase and a knock-out stage would succeed.

They also added that the third-placed teams in the group stage of UCL would be participating in the knock-out stage of the UEL. The winners of the UCL and UEL then face each other for the UEFA Super Cup title. The UEFA Europa League 2023-24 is currently going on so it's time, we look at the UEFA Europa League Winners List.

Read Also: UEFA Europa League 2023-24 semi-finals fixture and schedule

Who won the first UEFA Europa League?

**Atletico Madrid were the champions of the inaugural edition of the UEFA Europa League | Image: UEFA**

If the UEFA Cup editions are excluded then Spanish giants, Atletico Madrid were the champions of the Inaugural edition after defeating Fulham in the 2009/10 Final. Diego Forlan scored both goals for ATM and lifted the title. Werder Bremen striker Claudio Pizarro ( 9 goals & 5 assists) finished as the top scorer of the inaugural edition.

Who have won the most Europa League titles?

**Sevilla won their maiden UEL title in the 2013/14 season | Image: X**

Sevilla lead the UEFA Europa League Winners List with five titles. The Los Rojiblancos won their maiden UEL title in the 2013-14 season after beating Portuguese side Benfica by 4-2 on penalties. Since then, they have ruled the completion just like the Spanish Giants, Real Madrid have done in the UCL over the years.

Sevilla did the three-peat by winning the 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-16 season. Sevilla would still top the list with seven titles if the UEFA Cup is included.

**Most Europa League titles**
Club	Titles
Sevilla	5
Atlético Madrid	3
Chelsea	2
Porto	1
Manchester United	1
Villareal	1
Eintracht Frankfurt	1

Read Also: UEFA Champions League 2023-24 semi-finals fixture and schedule

UEFA Europa League all-time top scorers

**Aubameyang is the all-time leading goal scorer of the UEFA Europa League | Image: Getty**

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Dortmund, Arsenal, Barcelona, Marseille) | 34 goals
Radamel Falcao (Porto, Atlético de Madrid) | 30 goals
Romelu Lukaku (Anderlecht, Everton, Inter, Roma) | 27 goals
Aritz Aduriz (Athletic Club) | 26 goals
Munas Dabbur (Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Salzburg, Sevilla, Hoffenheim) | 24 goals
Kevin Gameiro (Sevilla, Atlético de Madrid, Valencia) | 22 goals
Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon, Arsenal) | 22 goals
Edin Džeko (Wolfsburg, Manchester City, Roma) | 21 goals
Óscar Cardozo (Benfica, Olympiacos) | 20 goals
Bruno Fernandes (Sporting CP, Man United) | 20 goals

UEFA Europa League Winners List

UEFA Europa League winners since 1972 - sportzpoint.com

**Europa League Winners since the rebranding (source: top-end sports)**
Season	Winners	Score	Runners-up
2023-24	Atalanta (Italy)	3-0	Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
2022-23	Sevilla (Spain)	1-1 (a.e.t.) penalties 4-1	Roma (Italy)
2021-22	Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)	1–1 (a.e.t.) penalties 5-4	Rangers (Scotland)
2020-21	Villarreal (Spain)	1–1 (a.e.t.) penalties 11-10	Manchester United (England)
2019-20	Sevilla (Spain)	3-2	Inter Milan (Italy)
2018-19	Chelsea (England)	4-1	Arsenal (England)
2017-18	Atltico Madrid (Spain)	3-0	Marseille (France)
2016-17	Manchester United	2-0	Ajax
2015-16	Sevilla	3-1	Liverpool
2014-15	Sevilla	3-2	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
2013-14	Sevilla	0-0	Benfica
2012-13	Chelsea	2-1	Benfica
2011-12	Atletico Madrid	3-0	Athletic Bilbao
2010-11	Porto	1-0	Braga
2009-10	Atletico Madrid	2-1	Fulham

UEFA Cup and Europa League winners
Season	Winners	Score	Runners-up
2023-24	Atalanta (Italy)	3-0	Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
2022-23	Sevilla (Spain)	1-1 (a.e.t.) penalties 4-1	Roma (Italy)
2021-22	Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)	1–1 (a.e.t.) penalties 5-4	Rangers (Scotland)
2020-21	Villarreal (Spain)	1–1 (a.e.t.) penalties 11-10	Manchester United (England)
2019-20	Sevilla (Spain)	3-2	Inter Milan (Italy)
2018-19	Chelsea (England)	4-1	Arsenal (England)
2017-18	Atltico Madrid (Spain)	3-0	Marseille (France)
2016-17	Manchester United	2-0	Ajax
2015-16	Sevilla	3-1	Liverpool
2014-15	Sevilla	3-2	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
2013-14	Sevilla	0-0	Benfica
2012-13	Chelsea	2-1	Benfica
2011-12	Atletico Madrid	3-0	Athletic Bilbao
2010-11	Porto	1-0	Braga
2009-10	Atletico Madrid	2-1	Fulham
2008-09	Shakhtar Donetsk	2-1	Werder Bremen
2007-08	Zenit Saint Petersburg	2-0	Rangers
2006-07	Sevilla	2-2	Espanyol
2005-06	Sevilla	4-0	Middlesbrough
2004-05	CSKA Moscow	3-1	Sporting CP
2003-04	Valencia	2-0	Marseille
2002-03	Porto	3-2	Celtic
2001-02	Feyenoord	3-2	Borussia Dortmund
2000-01	Liverpool	5-4	Deportivo Alavs
1999-2000	Galatasaray	0-0	Arsenal
1998-99	Parma	3-0	Marseille
1997-98	Inter Milan	3-0	Lazio
1996–97	Schalke 04 (Germany)	1–0, 0–1	Inter Milan (Italy)
1995–96	Bayern Munich (Germany)	2–0, 3–1	Bordeaux (France)
1994–95	Parma (Italy)	1–0, 1–1	Juventus (Italy)
1993–94	Inter Milan (Italy)	1–0, 1–0	Austria Salzburg (Austria)
1992–93	Juventus (Italy)	3–1, 3–0	Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
1991–92	Ajax ( Netherlands)	2–2, 0–0	Torino (Italy)
1990–91	Inter Milan (Italy)	2–0, 0–1	Roma (Italy)
1989–90	Juventus (Italy)	3–1, 0–0	Fiorentina (Italy)
1988–89	Napoli (Italy)	2–1, 3–3	VfB Stuttgart (West Germany)
1987–88	Bayer Leverkusen (West Germany)	0–3, 3–0	Espanyol (Spain)
1986–87	IFK Göteborg (Sweden)	1–0, 1–1	Dundee United (Scotland)
1985–86	Real Madrid (Spain)	5–1, 0–2	1. FC Köln (West Germany)
1984–85	Real Madrid (Spain)	3–0, 0–1	Videoton (Hungary)
1983–84	Tottenham Hotspur (England)	1–1, 1–1	Anderlecht (Belgium)
1982–83	Anderlecht (Belgium)	1–0, 1–1	Benfica (Portugal)
1981–82	IFK Göteborg (Sweden)	1–0, 3–0	Hamburger SV (West Germany)
1980–81	Ipswich Town (England)	3–0, 2–4	AZ (Netherlands)
1979–80	Eintracht Frankfurt (West Germany)	2–3, 1–0	Borussia Mönchengladbach (West Germany)
1978–79	Borussia Mönchengladbach (West Germany)	1–1, 1–0	Red Star Belgrade (Yugoslavia)
1977–78	PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)	0–0, 3–0	Bastia (France)
1976–77	Juventus (Italy)	1–0, 1–2	Athletic Bilbao (Spain)
1975–76	Liverpool (England)	3–2, 1–1	Club Brugge (Belgium)
1974–75	Borussia Mönchengladbach (West Germany)	0–0, 5–1	Twente (Netherlands)
1973–74	Feyenoord ( Netherlands)	2–2, 2–0	Tottenham Hotspur (England)
1972–73	Liverpool (England)	3–0, 0–2	Borussia Mönchengladbach (West Germany)
1971–72	Tottenham Hotspur (England)	2–1, 1–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers

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