When it comes to picking a Greatest Ever Europa League XI, players from Spanish sides dominate. This is because in the years since it was rebranded from being the UEFA Cup in 2009, Villareal, Athletico Madrid and Sevilla have all won the competition. The latter two have done so on multiple occasions.
Sevilla even won the trophy in three consecutive seasons between 2014 and 2016. This may give some clues to who might be in these rankings.
Eden Hazard did not make a great deal of appearances in the competition, but he is in the line-up for his scintillating performance in the 2019 final. He is joined by former Chelsea team-mate Juan Mata. The World Cup and double Euros winner made 50 appearances in the competition.
Check out the Greatest CI in Europa League history in full below.
Ranking Factors
When assembling this list, the following ranking factors were taken into account:
Achievements – this is the level of achievement a player has made in the competition.
– this is the level of achievement a player has made in the competition. Level of performance – this isn’t about how many games a player played in the competition, but the heights they reached when they did.
– this isn’t about how many games a player played in the competition, but the heights they reached when they did. Legacy – how a player’s performances in the competition will be remembered.
Greatest Europa League 11 in Football History [Ranked] Player Position Relevant club Nationality 1. Yassine Bounou Goalkeeper Sevilla Morocco 2. Jesus Navas Right-back Sevilla Spain 3. Cesar Azpilicueta Left-back Chelsea Spain 4. Diego Godin Centre-back Atletico Madrid Uruguay 5. Daniel Carrico Centre-back Sevilla Portugal 6. Granit Xhaka Midfield Arsenal & Bayer Leverkusen Switzerland 7. Juan Mata Midfield Chelsea & Manchester United Spain 8. Jose Antonio Reyes Right-wing Atletico Madrid & Sevilla Spain 9. Eden Hazard Left-wing Chelsea Belgium 10. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Striker Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal & Marseille Gabon 11. Radamel Falcao Striker Porto & Atletico Madrid Colombia
Yassine Bounou
Goalkeeper
Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou has enjoyed several great nights between the sticks for Sevilla in the Europa League. None were finer for him that the 2023 final against Roma in Budapest. The Spanish side had already overcome Juventus after extra-time in the semi-final.
Then in the final, with the score 1-1, the game went to a penalty shoot-out. Bounou saved spot kicks from Gianluca Mancini and Roger Ibanez to give Sevilla a 4-1 win on penalties. This was the club’s fifth Europa league title and Bounou’s second. The Moroccan was also in goal when Sevilla beat Inter Milan in the 2020 final.
Yassine Bounou Europa League stats Appearances 20 Europa League titles 2020, 2023 (x2)
Jesus Navas
Right-back
The scary thing about Jesus Navas is that despite his hugely successful career, he could have won the Europa League three more times. However, the Spaniard left Sevilla for Manchester City in 2013. He rejoined the Spanish side in 2017. It was after that he won the competition twice, having already won the old UEFA Cup twice with Sevilla.
Navas had the honour of skippering Sevilla in the 2020 and 2023 Europa League Finals, both of which Sevilla won. When you factor in that Navas has made more than 700 appearances for Sevilla, you quickly understand why he is a club and Europa League legend.
Jesus Navas Europa League stats Appearances 36 Goals 1 Titles 2020, 2023 (x2)
Cesar Azpilicueta
Left-back
Cesar Azpilicueta won a great deal with his time at Chelsea and is one of the club’s greatest defenders of all time. He skippered the west London side to victory in the 2021 Champions League final. The Spaniard also enjoyed great success in the Europa League, with two title-winning campaigns six years apart.
He was in the Chelsea side that overcame Benfica in Amsterdam in 2013 with a last minute Branislav Ivanovic goal. Then, in 2019, he was Chelsea captain when his side hammered Arsenal 4-1 in Baku. Although a high profile player, he remains something of an unsung hero, given his contribution to Chelsea in European competition.
Cesar Azpilicueta Europa League stats Appearances 18 Titles 2013, 2019 (x2)
Diego Godin
Centre-Back
Tall and imposing, Diego Godin is rated as one of Uruguay’s greatest ever players. He was also used to lifting trophies. During his career in Spain, he played in seven European finals. Two of those were in the Europa League, both of which he won.
The first came in 2012, when Atletico dismantled fellow countrymen Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in Bucharest. Then in 2018, he helped lead the side to their third final win in the competition. It was another 3-0 victory, this time against Marseille. This means the big Uruguayan had two clean sheets in two finals.
Diego Godin Europa League stats Appearances 37 Goals 3 Titles 2012, 2018 (x2)
Daniel Carrico
Centre-back
Perhaps a man who spent the 2013/14 season with Reading isn’t necessarily everyone’s first choice to be in the greatest ever Europa League XI. But Daniel Carrico is worthy of his selection. Of course, timing is everything and Carrico couldn’t have timed his move to Sevilla any better. It resulted in four Europa League winners’ medals.
Able to play as a centre-back or defensive midfielder, Carrico played the entirety of the 2014, 2015 and 2016 finals. Sevilla won them all, winning the tournament for three consecutive years in finals against Benfica, Dnipro and Liverpool. This achievement makes Carrico an all-time Europa League great.
Daniel Carrico Europa League stats Appearances 73 Goals 4 Titles 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020 (x4)
Granit Xhaka
Midfield
Swiss tough guy Granit Xhaka may not have won the Europa League, but he is in the all-time eleven for making close to 60 appearances in the competition. In the 2023/24 season, he was named in the Europa League team of the season as he reached the competition’s ultimate stage.
Sadly, for Xhaka, it wasn’t enough to win the competition. His Bayer Leverkusen side were well beaten in the final by Serie A’s Atalanta. This was not the first time Xhaka had reached the final and fallen at the last hurdle. He was in the Arsenal midfield that were beaten 4-1 by Chelsea in 2019.
Granit Xhaka Europa League stats Appearances 66 Goals 6
Juan Mata
Midfield
Spanish midfielder Juan Mata’s career was crammed with major finals. He won the World Cup and 2012 Euros with Spain and the Champions League with Chelsea. Despite a very busy career, he still found time to win the Europa League with two different English clubs.
He starred in an attacking midfield role in Chelsea’s 2013 final win over Benfica. Then, as something of the elder statesman under the management of Jose Mourinho, he featured for Manchester United in the 2017 final. There, United beat a talented Ajax side 2-0 – the club’s most recent taste of continental silverware.
Juan Mata Europa League stats Appearances 52 Goals 10 Titles 2013, 2017 (x2)
Jose Antonio Reyes
Right wing
To date, nobody has won the Europa League more times than Jose Antonio Reyes. The late Spanish winger won the competition a staggering five times in his career. Having already been part of the Arsenal side that went unbeaten in 2003/04 Premier League season, Reyes returned to Spain where he won the Europa League with Atletico Madrid in 2010 and 2012.
He then moved back to former club Sevilla. It was there he won the competition three times in a row between 2014 and 2016. He was captain in the 2015 final. Tragically, Reyes died in a car accident in 2019, aged 35.
Jose Antonio Reyes Europa League stats Appearances 46 Goals 7 Titles 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 (x5)
Eden Hazard
Left wing
Eden Hazard played in only three Europa League tournaments, two of which were for Lille when he was still very much learning his trade. Yet his man of the match performance for Chelsea in the 2019 final alone justifies his place in the best ever Europa League XI.
On that night in Baku in the final, Hazard was simply unplayable. Chelsea’s four goals came in a 23-minute period in the second-half. Having created a goal for Pedro and slotted home a penalty, Hazard scored an emphatic fourth Chelsea goal with 18 minutes left. All evening Arsenal had no answer to the Belgian’s brilliance, in perhaps the best individual performance we’ve seen in a Europa Legue final to date.
Eden Hazard Europa League stats Appearances 36 Goals 7 Titles 2019 (x1)
Related Top 10 Goal-Scorers in Europa League History The Europa League has seen some of Europe’s most prolific strikers take centre stage.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Striker
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has had a big impact on the Europa League over the years. In 2024, he overtook Radamel Falcao as the Europa League’s highest ever scorer. He is also in the top five when it comes to most appearances in the competition.
The closest he came to winning it was while at Arsenal, when Chelsea beat them in the 2019 final. This came after Aubameyang had scored a hat-trick in the second leg of the semi-final against Valencia.
Despite not winning the Europa League’s ultimate prize, Aubameyang remains the competition’s greatest marksman. Having signed for Al-Qadsiah earlier this year, his Europa League days sadly appear to have now come to an end.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Europa League stats Appearances 68 Goals 37
Radamel Falcao
Striker
Radamel Falcao was always known as a predatory striker. He enjoyed great success in the Europa League, winning it two seasons in a row for different clubs. In 2011, he finished the tournament as top scorer with 17 goals in 14 games, firing Porto to the title. This included four goals in the first leg of the semi-final against Villarreal. Falcao then scored a winner in the final against Braga.
The following season at Atletico Madrid, Falcao was once again the Europa League top scorer with 12 goals. Having scored two in the semi-final win over Valencia, Falcao netted two first-half goals in the final in a 3-0 win over Bilbao.
Averaging almost one goal per appearance in the competition, few forwards have been as deadly as the Colombian on Europa League nights.
Radamel Falcao Europa League stats Appearances 35 Goals 31 Titles 2011, 2012 (x2)
All stats via Transfermarkt correct as of 25/11/24.