The UEFA Europa League is Europe’s secondary club football competition. Some of the top clubs around Europe have once won the competition, such as Manchester United, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea and Sevilla. Chelsea defeated Arsenal 4-1 to win the 2018/2019 edition of the UEFA Europa League
Here are ten facts about 2019/2020 Europa League
1. The 2019/2020 UEFA Europa League makes it the 49th season of the competition and the 11th season since its name was changed from UEFA Cup to its current name.
2. The group stage matches start on the 19th of September and run every two or three weeks until the 12th of December.
3. The knockout stages will begin on 20th of February while the final match of the 2019/20 Europa League on the 27th of May, 2020 in Stadion Energa Gdansk in Gdansk, Poland.
4. Spain, England, Turkey, Netherlands and Germany have three teams each; Portugal has four teams; Russia, Italy, France, Ukraine, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium have two teams each while Denmark, Cyprus, Scotland, Sweden, Norway, Bulgaria, Serbia, and six other leagues have a team each for the group.
5. Forty-eight teams from Leagues across Europe that are divided into twelve groups will participate in the tournament. 17 teams automatically qualified for the group stage. 21 play-off winners and ten teams eliminated in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round and play-offs completed the 48 teams.
6. Spanish football club Sevilla is the most successful club in the Europa League. They have won it five times, including three in a row. It will be their sixth time if they win it this season
7. A total of 205 matches will be played in the 2019/2020 UEFA Europa League.
8. Twenty-six national association are represented in the group stage. Sporting Lisbon of Portugal is the club with the most appearances (32) in the Europa League this season.
9. Group winners and runners-up advance to the round of 32 and they are joined by eight teams that finish third in the Champions League group stage
10. Six clubs which are Espanyol, Ferencvcaros, LASK, Olexandriya, Wolfsberg AC and Wolverhampton will make their debut in the group stage this season.
