The UEFA Europa League is a yearly football competition conducted by UEFA since 1971. Up to the season 2009-10, the contest was known as the UEFA Cup. It is aimed, first of all, at certain European clubs that are qualified for the games in accordance with their performance within the limits of their national leagues and cups. In order to participate in Europa League, footballers have to do their best throughout the year and gain the upper hand in a number of matches. In this article, we will tell you about this important sports event, its features, and the teams that will compete in this year’s season.
How to Become a Participant of Europa League Matches
In order to qualify for this competition, a club should meet a number of certain requirements. For instance, four places to compete in the event are given to the top three teams in the Premier League and its fourth-placed club. The same can be said about the fifth-place team in the Premier League, the holders of the FA Cup and EFL Cup champions.
If the prizewinners of the FA Cup enter the list of five best players of the PL, their UEFA League group stage places will be transmitted to the following highest ranked competitor, which has not been qualified for the contest in the PL matches. If the winners of the UEFA Cup finish within the list of top-five PL clubs, their Cup’s third elimination trials places will be transmitted to the following highest ranked contestant that hasn’t been qualified for this event in the Premier League.
About UEFA Europa League 2017-18
It will be the 47th season of the championship. The final game will be conducted at the Stade de Lyon in Lyon, France. According to the scheme of the tournament, the champions of this year’s matches will be automatically qualified for the 2018-19 Europa League group stage. The title holder of the competition is Manchester United, one of the strongest English clubs based in Old Trafford. The Mans won’t be able to defend their title, as they’ve been qualified for the event’s knockout phase.
The total number of teams that will be qualified for the event is 190. They belong to different UEFA Cup associations and are distributed in the following way:
- Groups 1–51 (aside from Liechtenstein) have typically three qualified teams.
- Groups 52–54 have two qualified clubs.
- Manchester United got through the selection process as the champion of the previous season’s contest.
- Group 55, including Liechtenstein and Kosovo, have one team to fight for UEFA Final and its grand prize. The former organizes a domestic match only, and the latter takes part in the contest as per decision of the event’s Executive Committee.
- 33 clubs that have been eliminated from this season’s matches are restored in the competition again.
- From this year on, there will be two teams from Gibraltar fighting for the right to take part in the UEFA Cup Final
The key dates of the championship are the following:
- 19th June 2017 – the 1st and the 2nd qualifying rounds;
- 04th August 2017 – the play-off draw;
- 25th August 2017 – the group stage match;
- 13th April 2018 – the semi-final and final draw;
- 16th May 2018 – the final game between
Winners Odds and Predictions
Here we’ll discuss some of the most promising players of the season, with their odds and the opportunities to become the champions. Naturally, we don’t need to write about all the players – we are focused on the four best teams that have a real chance to take part in the final match on the 16th of May:
Atletico Madrid. The team hammered Lokomotiv Moscow in the Europa League Round of 16, and it still remains the most evident favorite to gain the upper hand in the final match. Many bookies give it as much as +137, believing that its talented and energetic footballers will adhere to their perfect style of play.
Arsenal. Being the second favorite on the bookies’ list, this club has the price of +300. The Gunners have managed to beat AC Milan by a score of 5-1 and seem to be ready to get the victory in the UEFA Cup Final.
Marseille. This season, the team is almost sure to outplay its Semifinal’s opponent, Salzburg. The thing is that it during its home matches, the club scored 25 goals, and its average goal getting is now 2.50 scores per match.
Salzburg. This is the contest’s “black horse”. It’s almost impossible to predict the behavior of the team during the Semifinal, and many bettors believe that this is the very club that will let them realize a pretty profit.
Well, we’ll see!