The 2022 UEFA Europa League was the 51st season of Europe’s secondary club football tournament organized by UEFA, and the 13th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The final was played at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in Seville, Spain. The winners of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League, Eintracht Frankfurt, automatically qualified for the 2023 UEFA Champions League group stage, and did also earn the right to play against the winners of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League in the 2023 UEFA Super Cup. You can keep track of the upcoming season and the odds on who will win this year’s Europa League by following europa league predictions today.
All you should know about Europa League 2022
The UEFA Europa League is an annual football club competition organized by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second-tier competition of European club football, ranking below the UEFA Champions League.
Clubs qualify for the Europa League based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. The competition is a knockout tournament with 32 teams entering in the group stage, from which 16 teams progress to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in May. The title has been won by 27 different clubs, 12 of which have won the title more than once.
The most successful club in the competition is Sevilla, with five titles. Spanish clubs have been the most successful, winning 18 titles, followed by Italian clubs with nine titles and English clubs with seven titles.
The semifinal: Frankfurt versus West Ham
The semifinal between Frankfurt and West Ham did not disappoint, as the game turned into a dramatic event, leading to Frankfurt being the matchwinner, continuing on to the Europa League final.
West Ham fell through and did not deliver the way the team usually does, which gave Frankfurt a great opportunity to play a great match.
Coming in from a glorious win over Barcelona, where Frankfurt knocked Barcelona out of the Europa League, Frankfurt was unstoppable. The team managed the details of their game and was convincing in showing that they belonged in the final of Europa League 2022.
Changes to Europa League 2022 due to COVID
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic in Europe, several changes were made to the format of this season’s competition. Most notably, instead of having two qualifying rounds prior to the group stage, there was only one.
In addition, a total of 32 teams (16 from the group stage and 16 from the knockout stage) were competing in a single-leg round of 16 before proceeding to the quarter-finals and semi-finals which was still contested over two legs each. The final also remained as a single match.
