2020 UEFA Europa League Final

The 2020 UEFA Europa League Final will be the final match of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, the 49th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. It is scheduled to be played at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany on 21 August 2020, between Spanish side Sevilla and Italian side Inter Milan. The match will be held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[1]

2020 UEFA Europa League Final
Event2019–20 UEFA Europa League
Sevilla Inter Milan
Date21 August 2020 (2020-08-21)
VenueRheinEnergieStadion, Cologne
Attendance0[note 1]

The final was originally scheduled to be played on 27 May 2020 at the Stadion Energa Gdańsk in Gdańsk, Poland.[2] However, UEFA announced on 23 March 2020 that the final was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] On 17 June 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee chose to relocate the final to Cologne, as part of a "final-eight tournament" consisting of single-match knockout ties played in four stadiums across Germany.[4]

The winners will earn the right to play against the winners of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League in the 2020 UEFA Super Cup. They will also qualify to enter the group stage of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, since the finalists have already qualified through their league performance, the berth reserved was given to the third-placed team of the 2019–20 Ligue 1 (Rennes), the 5th-ranked association according to next season's access list.[5]

Teams

In the following table, finals until 2009 were in the UEFA Cup era, since 2010 were in the UEFA Europa League era.

Team Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners)
Sevilla 5 (2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016)
Inter Milan 4 (1991, 1994, 1997, 1998)

Venue
For the details on the selection of Gdańsk as the original host for the final, see 2021 UEFA Europa League Final § Host selection.
The stadium will be renamed to "Stadion Köln" for the match.

The UEFA Executive Committee chose RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne as the host at their meeting on 17 June 2020.[4] This is the first UEFA club competition final hosted at the stadium and the first Europa League final held in Germany since 2010. During the two-legged final era, the country hosted either one or both legs 11 times, before hosting the single-legged 2001 UEFA Cup Final in Dortmund and the 2010 final in Hamburg.

The stadium was first opened in 1923 as the Müngersdorfer Stadion and has been the home stadium of German Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln since 1948. It has undergone two major renovations during its lifetime. It hosted the UEFA Euro 1988 as well as the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Background

The match is a record-extending sixth UEFA Cup/Europa League final for Sevilla, the most successful team in competition history. The club won all their prior finals in 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015 and 2016.[6]

Road to the final
Further information: 2019–20 UEFA Europa League and 2019–20 UEFA Champions League

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away; N: neutral).

Sevilla Round Inter Milan
Europa League Champions League
Opponent Result Group stage (EL, CL) Opponent Result
Qarabağ 3–0 (A) Matchday 1 Slavia Prague 1–1 (H)
APOEL 1–0 (H) Matchday 2 Barcelona 1–2 (A)
F91 Dudelange 3–0 (H) Matchday 3 Borussia Dortmund 2–0 (H)
F91 Dudelange 5–2 (A) Matchday 4 Borussia Dortmund 2–3 (A)
Qarabağ 2–0 (H) Matchday 5 Slavia Prague 3–1 (A)
APOEL 0–1 (A) Matchday 6 Barcelona 1–2 (H)
Group A winners
Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Sevilla 6 15
2 APOEL 6 10
3 Qarabağ 6 5
4 F91 Dudelange 6 4
Source: UEFA
 Final standings Group F third place
Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Barcelona 6 14
2 Borussia Dortmund 6 10
3 Inter Milan 6 7
4 Slavia Prague 6 2
Source: UEFA
Europa League
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knockout phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
CFR Cluj 1–1 (a) 1–1 (A) 0–0 (H) Round of 32 Ludogorets Razgrad 4–1 2–0 (A) 2–1 (H)
Roma 2–0 (N) Round of 16 Getafe 2–0 (N)
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–0 (N) Quarter-finals Bayer Leverkusen 2–1 (N)
Manchester United 2–1 (N) Semi-finals Shakhtar Donetsk 5–0 (N)

Pre-match
Original identity of the 2020 UEFA Europa League Final

Identity

The original identity of the 2020 UEFA Europa League Final was unveiled at the group stage draw on 30 August 2019.[7]

Ambassador

The ambassador for the original Gdańsk final is former Polish international Andrzej Buncol,[8] who won the 1987–88 UEFA Cup with Bayer Leverkusen.

Match

Details

The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held on 10 July 2020 (after the quarter-final and semi-final draws), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Sevilla v Inter Milan
Report
Attendance: 0[note 1]

Match rules

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level
  • Twelve named substitutes
  • Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time[note 2]

See also

Notes
  1. The remainder of the competition, held in August 2020, will be played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[1]
  2. Each team will only be given three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time.

References
  1. "Venues for Round of 16 matches confirmed". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  2. "Seville to host 2021 UEFA Europa League final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  3. "UEFA Club Finals postponed". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  4. "UEFA competitions to resume in August". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  5. "Champions League and Europa League changes next season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  6. Stokkermans, Karel (28 February 2019). "UEFA Cup". RSSSF. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  7. "2020 Gdańsk UEFA Europa League final identity unveiled". UEFA.com. 30 August 2019.
  8. "Sorteggi Europa League: la Roma trova il Moenchengladbach, Rennes e Celtic per la Lazio" (in Italian). Corriere dello Sport – Stadio. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
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