Spanish clubs have won the Europa League (formerly UEFA Cup) on 14 occasions which is a record. Villarreal are hoping to make that 15 this season and they are available at 25/1 according to the latest sports betting odds to extend Spain’s impressive record in the competition by winning the trophy.
Let’s take a look at how many Spanish clubs have won the Europa League and which ones have finished as runners up.
Which Spanish teams have won the Europa League?
Sevilla – Seven times
Sevilla are the team that has won the Europa League the most times. Their success in the competition has been nothing short of extraordinary in the 21st century, picking up the first of their seven titles as recently as 2006.
Juande Ramos’ side successfully defended their trophy the following year and Sevilla went on to complete a hat-trick of Europa League wins under Unai Emery between 2014 and 2016, surpassing the likes of Inter Milan, Liverpool and Juventus to become the most successful team in the history of the competition.
Sevilla’s Europa League love affair was far from over though. They would win the trophy again under Julen Lopetegui in 2020 and against all odds recorded a seventh triumph in 2023 under caretaker boss Jose Luis Mendilibar with a team that had spent much of the season battling relegation from LaLiga.
Atletico Madrid – Three times
Atletico Madrid are the second most successful Spanish club in the Europa League and joint second most successful overall with three victories.
While they’ve mostly competed in the Champions League during the Diego Simeone era, Atleti did win the 2017/18 Europa League having stuttered to a 3rd place finish in their UCL group with Sporting, Arsenal and Marseille defeated en-route to the trophy.
They also won the competition under Simeone in 2012 and Quique Sanchez Flores in 2010, successes that help prove the springboard for an era where Atleti have risen to be genuine challengers to Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain.
Real Madrid – Two times
Real Madrid are a club that’s largely defined by their success in the European Cup/Champions League, but they have won Europe’s secondary continental competition on two occasions.
Those titles came in back-to-back seasons in the mid 1980’s. Finals were two-legged affairs at that time and Los Blancos defeated Hungarian side Videoton 3-1 on aggregate in 1985 and got their hands on the UEFA Cup again in 1986 with a 5-3 triumph over FC Köln of Germany.
Valencia – One time
Valencia’s solitary UEFA Cup triumph came during the 2003/04 season when they also won the league title under Rafa Benitez. They completed a rarely achieved double thanks to an excellent European run that saw them edge out local rivals Villarreal in the Semi-Finals before defeating Marseille 2-0 in Gothenburg in the Final.
Villarreal – One time
Villarreal ensured the Europa League trophy would return to the Valencian region of Spain in 2021 after an epic penalty shootout in the Final against Manchester United. With all ten outfielders on each side scoring, it was left to the goalkeepers and David de Gea’s miss meant the Yellow Submarine won their first ever major trophy as Unai Emery won the competition for the fourth time.
Which Spanish teams have reached the Europa League Final?
Sevilla – Seven times
Spanish clubs dominate the Europa League winners list and that’s largely thanks to an outstanding record when they reach the Final. Teams from LaLiga have a 74% success rate in Finals and that increases further if you don’t include the two all-Spanish Finals.
Sevilla have a 100% record in Europa League Finals and remarkably whenever they’ve reached the last eight, they’ve always gone on to win the competition.
Atletico Madrid – Three times
Atleti have also always done the business whenever they’ve made it through to the Final of the Europa League. That’s in contrast to the Champions League where they’ve lost each of their three Finals.
Real Madrid – Two times
Real Madrid have never played in the competition in the Europa League era, with their last UEFA Cup run ending at the 3rd Round stage against Odense in 1994/95. They’ve played in the competition on nine occasions overall, winning both of their Finals.
Athletic Club – Two times
Athletic Club have twice reached the Final and twice lost. They were defeated by Juventus on away goals in 1977. Meanwhile a brilliant run to the Final in 2012 under Marcelo Bielsa ended in bitter disappointment in the form of a 3-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in Bucharest.
Espanyol – Two times
Espanyol’s Final record also reads played two, lost two. It really should be better than that though given they surrendered a 3-0 1st Leg lead to inexplicably lose the 1988 Final on penalties against Bayer Leverkusen. It was penalty shootout heartbreak again in Glasgow in 2007 against Sevilla.
Valencia – One time
Valencia have had 19 cracks at the competition, but have only made one Final which they did manage to win. They’ve been losing Semi-Finalists on three occasions since winning the trophy in 2004.
Villarreal – One time
Villarreal are also Europa League regulars. They’d suffered three Semi-Final defeats before overcoming Arsenal in 2021 to reach their first ever European Final which they duly won against Manchester United.
Alaves – One time
As far as European debuts go, you’ll struggle to find anything much more impressive or more exciting than Alaves in 2000/01. They were scoring freely and involved in some thrilling ties before sweeping past Kaiserslautern 9-2 on aggregate in the Semi-Finals. The Final was perhaps the best in European history, as Liverpool edged out the Basque club in Extra Time in a 5-4 thriller in Dortmund.
