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The UEFA Champions League is one of the biggest tournaments in the history of football and every player dreams of winning it once in their career. Only some elite clubs in Europe have achieved this milestone.
UEFA introduced another European competition, the UEFA Cup in 1971. It is a second-tier competition. Although one cannot take this casually as many elite clubs like- Chelsea and Atletico Madrid have won it in recent years. So, the level of competition is very high in both competitions. Earlier it was known as UEFA Cup, but since the 2009-10 season it was renamed the UEFA Europa League.
Every year eight teams switched to the UEFA Europa League after their third-place finish in the UEFA Champions League group stage.
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Here, in the slideshow, we will look at all the teams who got eliminated from the UEFA Champions League and won the UEFA Europa League in the same year.
#8 Galatasaray
The Turkish side is the first club to win the UEFA Europa League (at that time known as UEFA Cup) in 1999-2000. After being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League. Galatasaray were dropped into the UEFA Cup after a third-place finish in the UEFA Champions League group stage. They defeated Arsenal in the final. Galatasaray won 4-1 on penalties, and it was the first ever European honour for the Turkish club.
They won the treble in 1999-2000 season, having won the Turkish League and Turkish Cup. They are one of the most successful clubs from Turkey. Hakan Sukur was their top scorer with 25 goals across all competition.
#7 Feyenoord
In the 2001-2002 season, the Dutch club won the UEFA Cup by beating Borussia Dortmund (Germany) in the final. With just one win and 6 points in 5 UEFA Champions League games, they finished 3rd in their group and got transferred to the UEFA Cup. However, they ended up as the champions of UEFA Cup beating Borussia Dortmund in the final by 3-2. Van Hooijdonk scored the brace and Tomasson was the other scorer for Feyenoord.
During the 2001-02 season, Feyenoord finished 3rd in the Dutch League and got knocked out in the quarterfinals of Dutch Cup. Pierre Van Hooijdonk was the top scorer in UEFA Cup with 8 goals out of which 2 came in the final.
#6 CSKA Moscow
The Russian club won the UEFA Cup 2005 by beating Portuguese club Sporting CP in the final. CSKA Moscow finished third in the UEFA Champions League group stage and was shifted to the UEFA Cup.
They won the UEFA Cup by beating Sporting CP in the final by 3-1. A. Berezutskiy, Zhirkov and Vanger Love were the goal scorers for CSKA Moscow. This was their first ever European trophy. Later they lost to Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup.
The Russian club won the treble in 2004-05 season winning the Russian Premier League, Russian Cup and 2004-05 UEFA Cup. Daniel Carvalho was their top scorer with 15 goals across all competitions.
#5 Shakhtar Donetsk
In 2009 Shakhtar Donetsk became the first Ukrainian club to win the UEFA Cup. They defeated Germany's Werder Bremen in the final. They switched to UEFA Cup after finishing third in their group stages of UEFA Champions League.
In UEFA Cup the Ukrainian club reached the final and triumphed over Wender Bremen by 2-1. Jadson Rodriguez De Silva scored the winning goal in the 97th minute. This was the first and only European honour for the club.
In the 2009-10 season, they finished second in the Ukrainian Premier League with 64 points, 15 less than champions Dynamo Kiev. Moreover, they lost to Vorskla Poltava in the final of the Ukrainian Cup final.
#4 Atletico Madrid
In the year 2010, the name of UEFA Cup was changed to UEFA Europa League. The Spanish giant won their first UEFA Europa League in 2010. This was their second major European title the first one was "European Cup Winners' Cup" in 1961-62. They finished third in the group stage of UEFA Champions League and were dropped to the UEFA Europa League last 32.
Atletico Madrid won the 2010 UEFA Europa League. They defeated Fulham by 2-1 in the final. Diego Forlan scored the brace including an extra-time winner in the 116th minute.
In the 2009-10 season, they finished 9th in La Liga, reached the final of Copa Del Rey, where they lost to Sevilla by 2-0. Diego Forlan was their top scorer with 28 goals in all competitions. The noteworthy performer for Atletico Madrid was their goalkeeper David De Gea who is currently playing for Manchester United. The 2009-10 season was a breakthrough for De Gea's career.
#3 Chelsea
Chelsea became the first team to hold both UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League in 2013 when they defeated Benfica in the final by 2-1 thanks to Ivanovic 90th minute winner. Chelsea failed to qualify for the knock out round of UEFA Champions League as they finished third in their group with 10 points equal to second-placed Shakhtar Donetsk. Shakhtar Donetsk qualified because of a better goal difference. Chelsea was shifted to UEFA Europa League.
The London club finished 3rd in the Premier League, reached FA Cup and League Cup semi-finals and ended as the runner-up of UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup. Fernando Torres was their top scorer with 23 goals across all competitions.
#2 Sevilla
After finishing third in the UEFA Champions League group stage, Sevilla was transferred to the UEFA Europa League. Sevilla completed their hat-trick of UEFA Europa league title with a 3-1 victory over Liverpool in 2016 final. Coke scored a brace and Gamerio was the other goalscorer for Sevilla. This was their 5th UEFA Europa League title, and Sevilla is the most successful club in UEFA Europa League history.
In the 2015-16 season, Sevilla finished 7th in La Liga and lost to Barcelona in the Copa Del Ray final. Kevin Gamerio scored 24 goals across all competitions and was the top scorer for the club.
#1 Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid won their third UEFA Europa League title in 2018 when they defeated Marseille by 3-0 in the final. Antonio Greizmann scored a brace and Gabi was the other goalscorer for them. This was their 3rd UEFA Europa League title. Atletico Madrid failed to qualify for the knock out round of UEFA Champions League, and due to their third-place finish in the group, they were shifted to UEFA Europa League.
In the 2017-18 season, they finished 2nd in La Liga and reached the quarterfinals of Copa Del Ray. Antonio Griezmann was their top scorer with 29 goals across all competitions.
Sources:-
https://us.soccerway.com/international/europe/uefa-cup/
https://us.soccerway.com/international/europe/uefa-cup/
https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/history/
