The UEFA Europa League is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the second-tier competition of European club football, ranking below the UEFA Champions League and above the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V., commonly known as Hamburger SV or Hamburg, is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three earlier clubs, it traces its origins to 29 September 1887 when the first of the predecessors, SC Germania, was founded. Up until the 2017–18 Bundesliga season, which found the team relegated for the first time in history, HSV's football team had the distinction of being the only team that had played continuously in the top tier of the German football league system since the founding of the club at the end of World War I. It was subsequently the only team that had played in every season of the Bundesliga since its foundation in 1963.
The UEFA Intertoto Cup, originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was discontinued after the 2008 tournament. Teams who would have originally entered the Intertoto Cup before its discontinuation were entered into the qualifying stages of the UEFA Europa League.
The DFB-Pokal is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered the second-most important club title in German football after the Bundesliga championship. Taking place from August until May, the winner qualifies for the DFL-Supercup and the UEFA Europa League unless the winner already qualifies for the UEFA Champions League in the Bundesliga.
The Bundesliga, sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga or 1. Bundesliga, is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary football competition. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga. Seasons run from August to May. Games are played on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. All of the Bundesliga clubs take part in the DFB-Pokal cup competition. The winner of the Bundesliga qualifies for the DFL-Supercup.
Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a Spanish professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, that plays in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.
Fotbal Club Dacia Chișinău, commonly known as Dacia Chișinău or simply Dacia, was a Moldovan football club based in Chișinău, which last played in the village of Speia, Anenii Noi. They participated in the Divizia Națională, the top division in Moldovan football.
The 2005–06 UEFA Champions League was the 51st season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League and the 14th since it was rebranded from the European Cup in 1992. 74 teams from 50 football associations took part, starting with the first qualifying round played on 12 July 2005.
The 2003–04 UEFA Champions League was the 12th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since its rebranding from the European Cup in 1992, and the 49th tournament overall. This was the first UEFA Champions League edition to feature a new format with a 16-team knockout round instead of a second group stage.
The 2001–02 UEFA Champions League was the 47th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier club football tournament, and the 10th since its rebranding from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The tournament was won by Real Madrid, who beat Bayer Leverkusen in the final to claim their ninth European Cup title. The final's winning goal was scored by Zinedine Zidane, with a left-footed volley from the edge of the penalty area into the top left corner.
The 2004–05 UEFA Cup was the 34th edition of the UEFA Cup. The format of the competition had changed from previous seasons, replacing that from the previous one after the abolition of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1999; an extra qualifying round was introduced, as was a group phase after the first round. The group stage operated in a single round-robin format consisting of eight groups of five teams, each team plays two games at home and two away and the top three finishers of each group progress to the knock-out round, joining the eight third-placed teams from the UEFA Champions League group stage.
2004 in Russian football was marked with Lokomotiv's second championship, Terek's cup victory, and national team playing at Euro 2004.
Football clubs from La Liga (Spain) have won a record 70 continental and worldwide titles. Real Madrid, the most successful of them, have won the European Cup on 14 separate occasions and claimed 29 trophies in total. Barcelona have won twenty continental and worldwide titles, while Atlético Madrid have claimed eight. Sevilla have won eight and Valencia have won seven trophies to their name. Additionally, Deportivo La Coruña have been regulars in the UEFA Champions League, while Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol, Alavés, Zaragoza and Mallorca have all contested major finals in second-tier competitions and below. Smaller La Liga clubs, like Villarreal, Celta Vigo and Málaga have also found success in Europe, reaching the latter stages of the Champions League and winning the Europa League, as is the case with Villarreal.
The 2008–09 UEFA Cup was the 38th season of the UEFA Cup football tournament. The final was played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, home ground of Fenerbahçe, in Istanbul on 20 May 2009. This season was the final one to use the UEFA Cup format; starting in 2009, the competition was known as the UEFA Europa League. Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk beat Werder Bremen 2–1 after extra time to win their first European title. Zenit Saint Petersburg were the defending champions but were eliminated by Udinese in the Round of 16.
Nogometni klub Maribor, also simply known as NK Maribor, is a Slovenian professional football club based in Maribor. The club have participated in 40 editions of the club competitions governed by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the chief authority for football across Europe. These include 16 seasons in the UEFA Champions League, 16 seasons in the UEFA Cup and Europa League, three seasons in the UEFA Europa Conference League, two seasons in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and three seasons in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Counting all of the 181 games the side have played in European competitions since their first entry into the Mitropa Cup in the 1970–71 season, the team's record stands at 65 wins, 45 draws, and 71 defeats as of match played 20 July 2023. The club's most recent participation in a continental competition was in the 2023–24 season, when they played in the qualifying rounds of the 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League.
Villarreal CF, a Spanish football club, has played in European football since 2002, in the Intertoto Cup, UEFA Cup, Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League and UEFA Super Cup. The club won their first Europa League title in 2021.
