The UEFA Europa League is an annual football club competition organized by UEFA since 1971. It is the second-tier competition of European club football after the UEFA Champions League. Previously known as the UEFA Cup, it is one of the most popular and prestigious tournaments in the world. Teams from all over Europe compete in two stages, the group stage and the knockout phase, with the winner qualifying for the UEFA Champions League in the following season. The group stage consists of a total of twelve groups with four teams each and has been held since the 2009–10 season. Each team plays home and away against the four teams within its group, and the two teams with the highest amount of points qualify for the knockout phase. A total of 48 teams participate in the knockout phase, in a single-elimination format. The round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are all held as one-leg ties.The UEFA Europa League has a rich history of exciting games and historic moments. It has seen some of the best players in the world play for its teams, including world stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Eden Hazard and Luis Suárez, as well as legends like Steven Gerrard, Andriy Shevchenko and Dennis Bergkamp. Over the years, we have seen teams like Sevilla, Atletico Madrid, Ajax and Inter Milan dominate the competition and lift the trophy, with four-time UEFA Cup/Europa League champions Sevilla being the all-time record holders.The UEFA Europa League has become popular for its high-stakes matches and thrilling comebacks, with many teams going on to turn their fortunes around and win the competition despite being on the brink of elimination. In fact, it was the Europa League which saw some of the most memorable games and episodes in European football history, including Liverpool’s miraculous come-from-behind victory against AC Milan in 2005 and Atletico Madrid’s stunning upset victory over Chelsea in 2013. The UEFA Europa League is truly in a league of its own, with its long standing tradition of premier European football and its determination to produce the most EPIC moments in the world of sports.