The UEFA Europa League, in its current form, first started in the season 2009/2010.  It is a annual soccer cup, which was first held in 1971. It is not the most prestigious competition, that would be the Champions League, but still it is a high class competition for which the clubs from Europe qualify on the count of their performance in their national leagues and cup. It was previously called the UEFA Cup, but it changed its name to the Europa League when it changed its format. Still, the Europa League is considered to be the same competition, unlike the Inter – Cities Fairs Cup, which was the predecessor of the UEFA Cup. The new format includes the also the Intertoto Cup.

In total, a 160 clubs from all countries participate. The first, and so far only winner of the Europa League was Atletico Madrid, which beat Fulham from England. The first final of the Europa League was held in the HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg. This was the first title Atletico Madrid won in this competition. The most successful clubs are Juventus, Internazionale and Liverpool, which have all won the UEFA Cup (now the Europa League) three times.

The new format includes some novelties, for instance, after winning the Europa League, the winner gets a full-size replica of the UEFA Cup, also called the Coupe UEFA. But everyone who win the competition three times in a row or five times overall get a special mark of recognition. Before the change to the Europa League, the regulations said the club could keep the original trophy after winning three consecutive times or five times overall. A new anthem for the Europa League was composed by Yohann Zveig, and it is played before the start of every game or television broadcast of the game.

Qualification for the Europa League is based on coefficients, meaning that better performing nations enter the tournament at a more advanced stage. Usually teams that participate in the Europa League have won some runner-up place in their national league or the cup competition. Qualifying can sometimes then become complicated if a team achieves both goals. The Europa League place is then given to another club, usually the finalist in the cup competition or the highest runner-up in the league which has not secured its place in the competition. Clubs that qualify for the Champion League, but do not make it to the knockout stage there, join the Europa League in the knockout stage by winning third place in their group.

The new format of the Europa League allowed more teams to participate. Like the Champions League, the first games played are in a group stage (12 groups of 4 teams) which is followed by a knockout round. The final of the Europa League is held at a neutral stadium. This competition is the first that introduced 6 referees to the game, to help the referees make better decisions. The prize money for the Europa League is similar to the Champions League, where clubs get fixed payments based on their participation and results.