# 2014–15 UEFA Europa League
The 2014–15 [UEFA Europa League](https://www.edgepedia.org/uefa-europa-league) was the sixth season of UEFA's second-tier club competition under its Europa League name, running from the qualifying-round draws on 23 June 2014 to the final at the [National Stadium](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-stadium) in Warsaw on Wednesday 27 May 2015.[1](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0253-0d7f49a4da6e-eefc39d036ea-1000--2014-15-uefa-europa-league-list-of-participants/) [Sevilla FC](https://www.edgepedia.org/sevilla-fc) beat FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3–2 in the final to win a record fourth UEFA Cup/Europa League title, becoming the first club to go beyond three triumphs in the competition.[2](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90e6fca8ef-a1811c0e7d3d-1000--sevilla-defeat-dnipro-to-land-record-fourth-title/) • [3](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0253-0d7ff5dda974-9741c4dd8fb5-1000--2014-15-europa-league-review/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying draws on 23 June 2014 in Nyon, Switzerland; final on 27 May 2015 at the National Stadium, Warsaw[1](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0253-0d7f49a4da6e-eefc39d036ea-1000--2014-15-uefa-europa-league-list-of-participants/) |
| Champion | Sevilla FC, beating FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3–2 for a record fourth UEFA Cup/Europa League crown[2](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90e6fca8ef-a1811c0e7d3d-1000--sevilla-defeat-dnipro-to-land-record-fourth-title/) |
| New prize | The winners earned a UEFA Champions League place, at minimum entering the 2015/16 play-offs[4](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0257-0def7f60e195-fd6dc0500321-1000--new-approach-broadens-europa-league-appeal/) |
| Scale | 548 goals in 205 matches from group stage to final, a 2.67 goals-per-game average, the third highest in the competition's six seasons[5](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90ebe04f1b-30d24f8b71be-1000--uefa-europa-league-final-facts-and-figures/) |
| Top scorers | Alan (FC Salzburg) and Romelu Lukaku (Everton FC), 8 goals each, sharing the prize for the first time[6](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90f4565a57-d5dc5a22595c-1000--uefa-europa-league-season-by-numbers/) |
| Attendance record | 67,553 for FC Dynamo Kyiv's round-of-16 second leg against Everton, a competition record; six of the all-time top ten attendances were set this season[3](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0253-0d7ff5dda974-9741c4dd8fb5-1000--2014-15-europa-league-review/) • [6](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90f4565a57-d5dc5a22595c-1000--uefa-europa-league-season-by-numbers/) |
| Rights revenue | €253 million from broadcasters and commercial partners, a 4% increase on 2013/14's €243.3 million[7](https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/OfficialDocument/uefaorg/Finance/02/33/53/52/2335352_DOWNLOAD.pdf) |
## Format changes
The 2014/15 season introduced changes designed to raise the competition's standing. The most significant was a bonus prize: the team that won the final in Warsaw on 27 May 2015 would gain a [UEFA Champions League](https://www.edgepedia.org/uefa-champions-league) place, at minimum entering the play-offs, and would enter the group stage if the Champions League winners qualified automatically for the 2015/16 group stage through their domestic league.[4](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0257-0def7f60e195-fd6dc0500321-1000--new-approach-broadens-europa-league-appeal/)
The basic structure continued, with three qualifying rounds followed by the play-offs, group stage, and knockout stage, but the number of clubs entering at each stage changed. Seven teams qualified automatically for the group stage.[1](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0253-0d7f49a4da6e-eefc39d036ea-1000--2014-15-uefa-europa-league-list-of-participants/) National cup runners-up could still qualify for the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League when the cup winners had already booked a Champions League spot; from 2015–16, the place passed instead to the highest-ranked club in that league not already qualified for the Europa League.[4](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0257-0def7f60e195-fd6dc0500321-1000--new-approach-broadens-europa-league-appeal/) The maximum number of clubs from one association in the Champions League rose to five.[4](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0257-0def7f60e195-fd6dc0500321-1000--new-approach-broadens-europa-league-appeal/)
## The final
Holders Sevilla faced FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, managed by Myron Markevych, whose side had completed a 19-game European run in which even home matches were played some 400 km away in Kyiv because of the situation in Dnipropetrovsk.[3](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0253-0d7ff5dda974-9741c4dd8fb5-1000--2014-15-europa-league-review/) Dnipro went ahead after seven minutes when Nikola Kalinić flicked on a long ball and headed in Matheus's first-time cross.[2](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90e6fca8ef-a1811c0e7d3d-1000--sevilla-defeat-dnipro-to-land-record-fourth-title/)
Sevilla turned the match around before half-time. Poland midfielder [Grzegorz Krychowiak](https://www.edgepedia.org/grzegorz-krychowiak) equalised from a corner in his home country, and [Carlos Bacca](https://www.edgepedia.org/carlos-bacca) rounded goalkeeper Denys Boyko after latching onto [José Antonio Reyes](https://www.edgepedia.org/jose-antonio-reyes)'s pass to make it 2–1. Ruslan Rotan curled a free-kick beyond Sergio Rico on the stroke of half-time to level the score at 2–2.[2](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90e6fca8ef-a1811c0e7d3d-1000--sevilla-defeat-dnipro-to-land-record-fourth-title/) Bacca struck the winner 17 minutes from time, played in by Vitolo with an outside-of-the-boot pass, and Boyko later denied him the first Europa League final hat-trick.[2](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90e6fca8ef-a1811c0e7d3d-1000--sevilla-defeat-dnipro-to-land-record-fourth-title/) • [3](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0253-0d7ff5dda974-9741c4dd8fb5-1000--2014-15-europa-league-review/)
The five goals in Warsaw lifted the goals-per-game average for the competition's showpiece from 2.0 to 2.5.[5](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90ebe04f1b-30d24f8b71be-1000--uefa-europa-league-final-facts-and-figures/) For Dnipro the defeat cost more than silverware: the new bonus prize of a 2015/16 Champions League place went to the winner.[3](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0253-0d7ff5dda974-9741c4dd8fb5-1000--2014-15-europa-league-review/)
## Records and statistics
**Scoring and speed.** The season produced 548 goals in 205 matches from group stage to final, an average of 2.67 per game, the third highest in the competition's six seasons.[5](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90ebe04f1b-30d24f8b71be-1000--uefa-europa-league-final-facts-and-figures/) FC Steaua Bucureşti's Claudiu Keşerü set a competition record with the fastest-ever hat-trick, 11 minutes, against Aalborg BK on matchday one, and Sevilla's Vitolo scored the quickest goal in Europa League history, 13.21 seconds into the round-of-16 first leg against [Villarreal CF](https://www.edgepedia.org/villarreal-cf).[3](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0253-0d7ff5dda974-9741c4dd8fb5-1000--2014-15-europa-league-review/)
**Top scorers.** Alan of FC Salzburg and Everton's Romelu Lukaku finished as joint-top scorers with 8 goals each, the top scorer prize shared for the first time, and the second successive season in which an FC Salzburg player took the award, Alan following [Jonathan Soriano](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-soriano).[6](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90f4565a57-d5dc5a22595c-1000--uefa-europa-league-season-by-numbers/) • [5](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90ebe04f1b-30d24f8b71be-1000--uefa-europa-league-final-facts-and-figures/) Sevilla's final tally of 29 goals was seven more than they managed in winning the trophy the previous season.[5](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90ebe04f1b-30d24f8b71be-1000--uefa-europa-league-final-facts-and-figures/)
**Crowds and national records.** A competition-record 67,553 crowd watched [FC Dynamo Kyiv](https://www.edgepedia.org/fc-dynamo-kyiv)'s 5–2 comeback against Everton in the round of 16 second leg at the NSK Olimpiyskyi, and four of the six biggest attendances in Europa League history arrived in 2014/15.[6](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90f4565a57-d5dc5a22595c-1000--uefa-europa-league-season-by-numbers/) • [8](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e9116722dbf-b11046f72cd9-1000--pick-of-the-uefa-europa-league-season/) Italy made history by providing a record five last-16 participants, as [ACF Fiorentina](https://www.edgepedia.org/acf-fiorentina), FC Internazionale Milano, SSC Napoli, AS Roma, and Torino FC all progressed after a clean sweep in the round of 32.[6](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90f4565a57-d5dc5a22595c-1000--uefa-europa-league-season-by-numbers/) FC Dinamo Moskva became just the sixth side to navigate the group stage with a 100% record before falling to Napoli in the round of 16.[3](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0253-0d7ff5dda974-9741c4dd8fb5-1000--2014-15-europa-league-review/)
**Club milestones.** Sevilla's victory was the ninth Spanish success in the UEFA Cup/Europa League, drawing Spain level with Italy at the top of the all-time national rankings, and made Sevilla the most successful club in the competition's history, ahead of FC Internazionale Milano, Juventus, and Liverpool FC on three each.[3](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0253-0d7ff5dda974-9741c4dd8fb5-1000--2014-15-europa-league-review/) Sevilla ended the season on a run of ten successive Europa League matches without defeat, five short of Atlético's record from November 2011 to October 2012 and one shy of the single-campaign record set that term by [Club Brugge KV](https://www.edgepedia.org/club-brugge-kv).[5](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90ebe04f1b-30d24f8b71be-1000--uefa-europa-league-final-facts-and-figures/)
## Finance
UEFA's 2014/15 Financial Report records 205 Europa League matches staged across Europe, including the Warsaw final. Total rights revenue from broadcasters and commercial partners reached €253 million, up 4% from €243.3 million in 2013/14. Because the competition's total revenue exceeded the amount anticipated when distribution amounts were fixed, a surplus of €30.8 million was available at the end of the season, and €10 million was again assigned to increase the cross-subsidy in favor of the Europa League, bringing it to €50 million.[7](https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/OfficialDocument/uefaorg/Finance/02/33/53/52/2335352_DOWNLOAD.pdf) The distribution to the Europa League winner, Sevilla FC, was €19.1 million, up from €15.4 million the previous season.[7](https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/OfficialDocument/uefaorg/Finance/02/33/53/52/2335352_DOWNLOAD.pdf)
## Aftermath
The title-holder's Champions League access proved durable: the regulations for the 2015–18 cycle gave the Europa League title holder direct access to the Champions League, a change given special attention by UEFA's Executive Committee after the 2014/15 season.[9](https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/022a-0f842b565bc9-af27b7f4dbdc-1000/2014_15_report_of_the_president_and_executive_committee_-_uefa_administration_report.pdf) Sevilla went on to win the competition again in 2015/16, and the club's 2014/15 triumph stands as the fourth of its seven titles to date (2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2023).[10](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0252-0ce430367606-35094e8eef73-1000--europa-league-final-records-biggest-wins-oldest-scorers-youn/)
## References
1. [2014/15 UEFA Europa League list of participants, UEFA.com](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0253-0d7f49a4da6e-eefc39d036ea-1000--2014-15-uefa-europa-league-list-of-participants/)
2. [Sevilla defeat Dnipro to land record fourth title, UEFA.com](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90e6fca8ef-a1811c0e7d3d-1000--sevilla-defeat-dnipro-to-land-record-fourth-title/)
3. [2014/15: Sevilla's historic fourth triumph, UEFA.com](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0253-0d7ff5dda974-9741c4dd8fb5-1000--2014-15-europa-league-review/)
4. [New approach broadens Europa League appeal, UEFA.com](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0257-0def7f60e195-fd6dc0500321-1000--new-approach-broadens-europa-league-appeal/)
5. [UEFA Europa League final facts and figures, UEFA.com](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90ebe04f1b-30d24f8b71be-1000--uefa-europa-league-final-facts-and-figures/)
6. [UEFA Europa League season by numbers, UEFA.com](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e90f4565a57-d5dc5a22595c-1000--uefa-europa-league-season-by-numbers/)
7. [2014/15 UEFA Financial Report, UEFA](https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/OfficialDocument/uefaorg/Finance/02/33/53/52/2335352_DOWNLOAD.pdf)
8. [Pick of the UEFA Europa League season, UEFA.com](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0221-0e9116722dbf-b11046f72cd9-1000--pick-of-the-uefa-europa-league-season/)
9. [2014/15 Report of the President and Executive Committee, UEFA](https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/022a-0f842b565bc9-af27b7f4dbdc-1000/2014_15_report_of_the_president_and_executive_committee_-_uefa_administration_report.pdf)
10. [Europa League final records, UEFA.com](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0252-0ce430367606-35094e8eef73-1000--europa-league-final-records-biggest-wins-oldest-scorers-youn/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football competitions and records › Competitions and recurring events › UEFA competitions › UEFA club competitions › UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license