Ranking the best Europa League/UEFA Cup finals of all time

The Champions League final is the creme de la creme. It’s the big one. The pinnacle fixture of club football. But the Europa League has a prestige of its own, and this year, it might just steal the global spotlight.

Real Madrid will face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final but, this year, perhaps the Europa League final is the one to watch, with Bayer Leverkusen’s incredible unbeaten season approaching its final hour: the Bundesliga title has been swept up with ease; second-tier Kaiserslautern await in the DFB-Pokal final; and indeed a gripping finale against Atalanta awaits.

Atalanta are no pushovers, though, having bulldozed past Sporting CP, Liverpool and Marseille to reach the last stage of the tournament. It’s going to be a cracker.

But will it live up to the hype? Will the European outfits produce a snoozefest? Or will we find controversy and contention at the Dublin Arena?

We all want to find out, but in the interim, here is our list of the best Europa League and UEFA Cup finals ever contested to get you ready for next week’s awaited fixture.

10

2010: Atletico Madrid 2-1 Fulham (aet)

Fulham’s continental conquest ended by Forlan’s final touch

Fulham’s Europa League campaign of 2009/10 was a thing to behold. After finishing second in Group E behind AS Roma, Roy Hodgson’s Cottagers defeated Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, Wolfsburg and Hamburg en route to the final, with their victory over the Old Lady particularly special, overturning a 3-1 defeat in the first leg to win 4-1 against their nine-man opposition.

Atletico Madrid had battled tooth and nail toward the final themselves, winning on away goals on two occasions before winning in extra time against Liverpool in the semi-finals.

Atleti boasted the European pedigree, and sadly for the Craven Cottage faithful, that prevailed in Hamburg at the Volksparkstadion, with Diego Forlan finishing coolly either side of Simon Davies’ strike, the latter of which came in the 116th minute, with the tie appearing destined for penalties.

Forlan, tormentor of Liverpool in the semis, had previously failed to impress on English shores with Manchester United but proved his elite attacking sharpness on the biggest night in Fulham’s 21st-century history.

9

2019: Chelsea 4-1 Arsenal

Hazard inspires Chelsea to stylish second-half romp over the Gunners

Chelsea’s Europa League triumph over London rivals Arsenal in an ominously empty Olympic Stadium in Baku proved to be a watershed moment for one Eden Hazard, who scored a brilliant brace before completing a transfer to Real Madrid for a fee rising to £150m.

The now-retired Belgian fell heavily by the wayside in Spain’s capital, but he engineered yet more trophy-laden success for Stamford Bridge on his final appearance, with Olivier Giroud and Pedro also getting involved in the second-half goalfest.

To bolster what proved to be a highly entertaining final after a lacklustre opening, Alex Iwobi scored one of the finest consolation strikes you will ever see, launching a terrific ranged strike beyond Kepa Arrizabalaga’s goal.

8

2016: Liverpool 1-3 Sevilla

Sturridge wonder goal fails to prevent brutal second-half collapse against Sevilla

Jurgen Klopp’s illustrious Liverpool tenure has seen the biggest prizes in football restore the club’s status as one of the major players in Europe, but the Europa League is the one accolade that has evaded the German.

Daniel Sturridge’s wonder goal handed the Premier League outfit a slender lead heading into the break, but Kevin Gameiro turned in a whipped delivery moments after action resumed to level the play before Coke’s double condemned Liverpool and Klopp to agony.

Klopp’s Merseyside project might have been in its fledgling phases, but he won six of his other eight finals, and Sevilla’s remarkable powers of recovery bespeak the Andalusian club’s perennial status in the Europa League.

7

2021: Villarreal 1-1 Man Utd (11-10 pens)

De Gea misses as Villarreal win marathon penalty battle to clinch first-ever major trophy

Unai Emery loves a Europa League final: he’s won a record four titles. The architect of Sevilla’s three-peat, the current Aston Villa manager triumphed with his previous outfit, Villarreal, defeating Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s Manchester United in a frenetic penalty shootout.

The match itself wasn’t exactly a barnstormer, with three shots on target shared out between the finalists across 120 minutes, before all 21 players hit the back of the net in the shootout until Red Devils goalkeeper David de Gea was unable to breach Geronimo Rulli’s goal – the Yellow Submarines shot-stopper had just converted himself to secure heroic status in Castellón​​​​.

Moreover, Villarreal had never won a major trophy before that fateful day – further evidence of Emery’s Midas touch on the biggest stage.

6

2013: Benfica 1-2 Chelsea

Ivanovic rises highest to send Blues into injury-time ecstasy

Chelsea just know how to win. Sure, the west London giants are languishing below their best at the moment, but before you know it, they will be back competing for honours at the highest level of European competition.

This was a frenzied affair that saw Fernando Torres open the scoring on the hour mark before Oscar Cardozo evened things up with a penalty ten minutes later. Branislav Ivanovic scored in the final minute of stoppage time after meeting Juan Mata’s cross, enriching Chelsea’s European pedigree in the most dramatic of circumstances.

Petr Cech had made a stunning save before Frank Lampard leathered the crossbar with a near-perfect shot, but it was indeed Chelsea who prevailed to win their first-ever Europa League title, a year on from winning the Champions League.

5

1972: Wolves 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur (agg.)

Spurs defeat Old Gold in the inaugural UEFA Cup final

This one deserves a place on the list, with Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers meeting in the UEFA Cup’s inaugural final to produce an exciting two-legged clash.

England forward Martin Chivers bagged an emphatic brace in the first leg to hand the Lilywhites a 2-1 advantage heading into the return fixture at White Hart Lane.

Drawing 1-1, Tottenham were crowned the first winners of a tournament that continues to dazzle all these years later.

4

1988: Espanyol 3-3 Bayer Leverkusen (2-3 pens)

Leverkusen fashion epic European comeback in two-legged showdown

Bayer Leverkusen are the team of the term. At present, Xabi Alonso’s indomitable machine has shredded through German Bundesliga opposition to record a stunning invincible title triumph, ending over a decade of Bayern Munich dominance.

Still hoping to complete an unprecedented unbeaten treble with victory in the DFB-Pokal and this year’s Europa League final, Die Werkself also have previous in the continental competition.

In 1988, Espanyol had stormed into a commanding 3-0 lead after the first leg in Spain, and while Leverkusen took almost an hour to find the back of the net on home turf once Tita turned home, a blitzing half-hour swung the pendulum and saw Erich Ribbeck’s team win their first major European trophy.

3

2003: Celtic 2-3 Porto (aet)

The Special One shines as Porto crush Celtic’s European dream

We couldn’t possibly compile a list of the greatest Europa League and UEFA Cup finals without paying homage to Jose Mourinho’s triumph with Porto.

Celtic fought with drive and determination against an oiled Porto side and restored parity on two occasions but ultimately succumbed in extra time as Derlei scored his second of the game after 115 minutes to become the first Portuguese side to win the UEFA Cup.

Mourinho clearly liked the taste of continental triumph, for the Dragões would assuredly defeat Monaco 3-0 in the Champions League final one year later.

2

2007: Espanyol 2-2 Sevilla (1-3 pens)

Espanyol fail to exorcise demons as Sevilla set the tone

Espanyol were back in the final, 19 years on from letting a three-goal lead slip, and had the trophy in sight.

But Sevilla were about to become the unrivalled wrecking ball of the competition, and this ingrained belief they have mustered on the continent started as Juande Ramos’ side’s ability to hold their nerve against Espanyol braided this present sense of inevitability.

The Europa League kings prevailed in a shootout after throwing away their lead twice to win successive trophies – something only Real Madrid had achieved before.

1

2001 – Liverpool 5-4 Alaves (aet)

Gerard Houllier’s Reds edge underdogs in crazy nine-goal thriller

Liverpool on a historic European night? Never them. Gerard Houllier won three trophies during an incredible 2000/01 campaign but outpunching Deportivo Alavés in Germany tops the lot.

But the match itself simply cannot be topped, with a nine-goal thriller settled by a golden goal, with two red cards, a trophy-deciding own goal and a comeback all prominent on a stunning night.

The Redmen took an early two-goal lead courtesy of a lively Markus Babbel and a certain Steven Gerrard, with the Anfield stars finding themselves 3-1 up at half-time only to ship twice right after the break. Robbie Fowler fired Liverpool into the lead after 72 minutes but Jordi Cruyff salvaged parity in the dying embers of normal time.

Spanish right-back Delfí Geli’s luckless headed clearance after 116 minutes sent Houllier and his men into rapture to drape the curtain on a breathtaking, matchless finale.