Greatest Europa League finals

The 2025 Europa League final takes centre stage from the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao on Wednesday evening and it is going to be an all-English affair with Tottenham Hotspur taking on Manchester United in a contest billed as a season saver for both.

These two teams have had campaigns to forget domestically, with Spurs 17th in the Premier League and Manchester United only one place better, but victory for either in Spain would go a long way to providing some solace.

It promises to be a memorable occasion and, with the excitement building, we take a look at five of the greatest Europa League/UEFA Cup finals to have taken place since the competition went to a single match format in 1998.

2001: Liverpool 5-4 Alaves (after extra-time)

Alaves, considered a tiny club in the Basque Country, had a dream first-ever European campaign and they put up a real fight against Premier League powerhouses Liverpool.

The Spanish outfit came back from 2-0, 3-1 and 4-3 down to force extra-time against the FA Cup winners.

However, Alaves became frustrated and tired in extra-time and, having had two players sent off, were undone by Delfi Geli’s gut-wrenching golden own goal from a Gary McAllister corner.

Markus Babbel, Steven Gerrard, McAllister and Robbie Fowler had been on the scoresheet for Gerard Houllier’s side, who were made to work especially hard against the Spanish underdogs.

2003: Celtic 2-3 Porto (after extra-time)

Celtic’s hopes of winning their first European trophy for 36 years were cruelly shattered by Porto, who grabbed a late extra-time winner, with the Bhoys reduced to 10 men after defender Bobo Balde saw red.

Derlei and Dmitri Alenitchev had twice given Jose Mourinho’s Porto the lead, only for Swedish star Henrik Larsson to level matters for Celtic on each occasion.

But Derlei restored Porto's lead with only five minutes of extra-time left and that was the breaking of Celtic, who had beaten Celta Vigo, Stuttgart, Liverpool and Boavista on their way to the final.

Porto went on to win the UEFA Champions League in the following season and that was what kickstarted Mourinho’s way to the top.

2007: Sevilla 2-2 Espanyol (Sevilla won 3-1 on penalties)

Having beaten Middlesbrough 4-0 to take the title the year before, Sevilla were back to defend their crown in an all-La Liga affair with Espanyol.

Hampden Park hosted the first all-Spanish UEFA Cup encounter and Espanyol had high hopes of going one better than when enduring a heartbreaking defeat to Bayer Leverkusen 19 years prior.

Adriano gave Sevilla an 18th-minute lead, only for Espanyol’s Albert Riera to level matters 10 minutes later, and that is how the first period ended.

However, the Catalan side were hit by a 68th-minute red card for Moises Hurtado and had to cling on for extra-time.

A Freddie Kanoute strike looked like being enough to hand Sevilla the trophy in the first half of extra time, but Jonatas struck with five minutes remaining to take the tie to penalties.

In all there were 43 shots during the 120 minutes, including 18 on target, but it came down to the nerves of spot-kicks and Sevilla handled the occasion better.

2016: Liverpool 1-3 Sevilla

Things looked rosy for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool with Daniel Sturridge's first half strike having them ahead at the break and seemingly on their way to a UEFA Champions League return.

However, the Reds collapsed in the second half as Sevilla landed the Europa League prize for a third season in succession, with a Kevin Gameiro strike and a brace from Coke inspiring them to a 3-1 success.

Liverpool have gone from strength to strength since that disappointing night in Basel, however, with two Premier League titles and a UEFA Champions League crown having been secured.

2019: Chelsea 4-1 Arsenal 

The last all-English Europa League final before this year came in Baku in 2019 and Chelsea ran riot against their London rivals Arsenal, winning 4-1.

With only approximately 5,000 fans from both sides able to make it to Azerbaijan, there was an eerie atmosphere, but that didn’t take away from the occasion and it was a thrilling encounter, with Blues talisman Eden Hazard scoring a brace in what proved to be his final game for the club.

It had been goalless at the break but it soon sparked into life in the second period and Chelsea were on a rampage with Olivier Giroud and Pedro also on target.

Alex Iwobi grabbed Arsenal’s goal but it proved Chelsea’s day and Hazard was an inspiration, with him signing off before his move to Real Madrid in style.