What is the Europa League? This is a football tournament that many fans are interested in, although it is only called C2, its appeal is undeniable. Today, 49JILI will help you discover more information about this attractive tournament as well as review the tournament’s huge prize structure.
What is the Europa League? Explore the tournament
The Europa League, organized by UEFA, is an annual event for clubs in Europe. Participating teams are selected based on their performance in their national leagues and cups. This is a second-tier tournament, just after the UEFA Champions League, and is often referred to as the Cup C2.
The UEFA Cup, the predecessor of the Europa League, was founded in 1971 and was renamed in the 2009/2010 season. Both the UEFA Cup and the Cup C2 are considered a single tournament based on their history. Previously, there was another tournament called the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, but it was abolished in 1999 and merged into the Europa League.
History of the Europa League
What is the Europa League? This international football tournament originated from the initiative of three famous figures: Sir Stanley Rous from England, Ernst Thurneysen from Switzerland, and Ottorino Barrasi from Italy. The Inter-City Fairs Cup featured 10 teams from 10 different European cities and lasted from 1955 to 1958. In the 1971-1972 season, the tournament was renamed the UEFA Cup.
According to information from the online football fan community, the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup or Cup C2 has been discontinued since the 1999-2000 season. The champions of national cup competitions will have the opportunity to participate in this tournament.
Tournament Process
So we have learned about where the Europa League originated from as well as its interesting history. Next, we will explore the process of this C2 tournament, which has rounds before welcoming the champion.
The Europa League group stage with 48 teams, and half are eliminated
The Europa League starts with the group stage, where the 48 registered teams are divided into 12 groups of four teams each. During the classification process, UEFA arranges the teams into groups based on seeding and ensures that teams from the same country will not be in the same group.
The group stage takes place from September to December, with matches in a home and away format. Each team will play six matches, facing the remaining three teams at home and away. The top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout stage, while the bottom two teams will be eliminated. From there, 24 teams from the group stage will enter the knockout stage.
Learn about the Europa League trophy and prize money
The prestigious UEFA Cup, also known as the UEFA Cup, is the prize awarded to the winners of the Europa League. Designed and manufactured by Bertoni for the first final in 1972, the trophy weighs 15 kg and is made from silver.
Each winning team receives a replica of the trophy. Teams that win three times in a row or five times in total are awarded an honorary badge. Sevilla FC, from Spain, is the only club to have been awarded the badge since the 2016/2017 season.
The prize money in the Europa League is divided into fixed amounts and varies according to the value of television rights. In the 2019/2020 season, the teams participating in the group stage received a base amount of 2,920,000 euros.
Each win in the group stage is rewarded with 570,000 euros, and each draw is 190,000 euros. The prize money increases with each round, specifically if the team reaches the round of 3,2 it will receive 500k euros, the next round it will be 1.1 million euros, and continues to increase until the championship is 8.5 million euros.