2015 UEFA Europa League final

As runners-up of the 2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League behind Shakhtar, Dnipro were awarded a spot in the third qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history. They were drawn against Danish runners-up FC Copenhagen, but a draw in the first leg at home, followed by a 2–0 defeat in Denmark, meant they dropped down into the Europa League play-off, where they defeated Hajduk Split to reach the group stage for the third time in a row.

Dnipro were drawn in Group F with Inter Milan, Saint-Étienne, and Qarabağ. The group stage campaign started disastrously for the Ukrainians, who earned only a single point in their first three games with a 0–0 draw away to Saint-Étienne and 1–0 home defeats to both Inter and Qarabağ. On matchday 4, a 2–1 away win over the Azerbaijani team ended a winless run, but Dnipro were again defeated by Inter 2–1 in Milan, despite taking a 1–0 lead through Ruslan Rotan's early goal. Dnipro went into their final group match at home to Saint-Étienne at the bottom of the Group F table and needing a win to stand a chance of qualifying;[15] Artem Fedetskyi scored the only goal of the match midway through the second half to secure a 1–0 win.[16] With Qarabağ only managing a 0–0 draw against group winners Inter, Dnipro finished the group stage in second place with seven points.[17]

As title holders, Sevilla qualified for the group stage automatically, and were placed in Group G with Feyenoord, Rijeka and Standard Liège. They began their campaign with a 2–0 win over Feyenoord, with first-half goals from Grzegorz Krychowiak and Stéphane Mbia. Two weeks later, Mbia earned a 2–2 draw at Rijeka. Sevilla then played Liège twice, a goalless away draw and a 3–1 home victory with goals from Kevin Gameiro, José Antonio Reyes and Carlos Bacca. They then lost 2–0 away to Feyenoord, sending the Dutch side to the knockout stage ahead of Sevilla. The Spanish side secured second place in the final game with a home victory over Rijeka via Denis Suárez's first European goal.[18]

Jerzy Dudek was named as the ambassador for the final.

Former Poland international goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, was named the ambassador for the final.[19]

In May 2015, English referee Martin Atkinson was chosen to oversee the final. He was joined by compatriots Stephen Child and Michael Mullarkey as assistant referees, Andre Marriner and Anthony Taylor as additional assistant referees, Jake Collin as reserve assistant referee, and the Czech Pavel Královec as fourth official.[2]

UEFA unveiled the visual identity of the final on 29 August 2014.[20]

With a stadium capacity of 56,000, a total of 44,000 tickets were made available to fans and the general public, with the two finalist teams receiving 9,500 tickets each and 25,000 tickets sold to fans worldwide via the UEFA website from 26 February to 25 March 2015 in four price categories: €130, €90, €65, and €40.[21]

At the behest of club president José Castro, Sevilla chose to wear their red away kit, featuring their badge rather than the "SFC" monogram which they had previously been sporting.[22]

Carlos Bacca scored twice for Sevilla, including the winning goal

Although Sevilla dominated possession in the early exchanges, Dnipro opened the scoring after seven minutes when Nikola Kalinić headed in a cross from Matheus. In the 28th minute, Dnipro failed to clear from a free kick and Sevilla midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak took possession of the ball, taking a step to evade Léo Matos before shooting an equaliser in his home country. Only three minutes later, the Spanish club took the lead, when captain José Antonio Reyes, in what was reported to be his final match for Sevilla, found Carlos Bacca who rounded Dnipro goalkeeper Denys Boyko. Only two minutes before half time, Dnipro equalised, with Ruslan Rotan dispatching a free kick past Sergio Rico.[23]

In the 58th minute, Sevilla made the game's first substitution: Reyes made way for Coke, who went into his habitual right-back position, pushing Aleix Vidal forward into the right-wing position held by Reyes. Fifteen minutes later, Sevilla scored the winner, Bacca converting after being supplied by Vitolo. Soon after, Dnipro made an attacking change, replacing Kalinić with Yevhen Seleznyov, and Sevilla substituted Bacca for Kevin Gameiro. The two teams then made their last substitutions in the closing stages, Dnipro replaced Jaba Kankava with Yevhen Shakhov and Sevilla took off Éver Banega for Vicente Iborra.[23]

Soon after all changes had been made, Dnipro's Matheus collapsed and was taken off by medical staff. Manager Myron Markevych confirmed that he was treated at hospital for a nasal fracture and a head injury, being discharged in good health hours later to reunite with his teammates.[24]

Sevilla's record fourth title meant that Spain and Italy were tied with the most UEFA Cup/Europa League titles, with both countries having won nine times.[25][26] José Antonio Reyes became the first player to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League four times, as he was also a member of the winning side for Atlético Madrid in 2010 and 2012 (although he missed the latter final) and for Sevilla in 2014.[27] Three players had won the title three times: Ray Clemence, Giuseppe Bergomi, and Nicola Berti.