2016 UEFA Europa League final

Liverpool's first match in the group stage against Bordeaux ended in a 1–1 draw.

Liverpool were drawn in Group B along with Rubin Kazan of Russia, Bordeaux of France, and Sion of Switzerland. Their first match was away against Bordeaux at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux. Adam Lallana scored for Liverpool in the 65th minute but Bordeaux equalised in the 81st minute when Jussiê to secure a 1–1 draw.[12] Their next match again at their home ground, Anfield against Sion finished by the same scoreline. A fourth minute goal by Lallana was followed by an Ebenezer Assifuah goal for Sion in the 18th minute.[13] Liverpool's next match was against Rubin Kazan at Anfield. Before the match, manager Brendan Rodgers had been sacked and replaced by Jürgen Klopp.[14] Despite being the more attacking of the two teams, Liverpool 35 shots to Kazan's 5, the match finished in another 1–1 draw.[15] Liverpool faced Kazan again in the return match at the Kazan Arena. A goal by Jordan Ibe in the 52nd minute secured their first win of the season in the competition.[16] Liverpool faced Bordeaux at anfield in their next match. they went behind in the 33rd minute when Henri Saivet scored but a Penalty kick by James Milner and a goal by Christian Benteke in first-half stoppage time secured a 2–1 victory which meant Liverpool would progress to the knockout stages of the competition.[17] Their final match in the group stage, away at Sion, finished in a 0–0 draw. The result meant Liverpool finished top of Group B with 10 points.[18]

Liverpool were drawn against Augsburg of Germany in the round of 32.[19] The first leg was held at Augsburg home ground, the Augsburg Arena, finished 0–0 in what Andy Hunter, writing in The Guardian, described as a "tame goalless draw."[20] Liverpool won the second leg at Anfield 1–0 courtesy of a penalty from Milner.[21] Liverpool were drawn against domestic rivals Manchester United in the round of 16. Liverpool went ahead in the first leg at Anfield in the 2oth minute when Daniel Sturridge converted a penalty after Nathaniel Clyne was fouled in the United penalty area by Memphis Depay. Roberto Firmino scored in the 73rd minute to secure a 2–0 victory.[22] The second leg at United's home ground, Old Trafford, saw United go ahead in the 32nd minute when Anthony Martial scored a penalty following a foul by Clyne. Liverpool equalised in the 45th minute when Philippe Coutinho scored and with no further goals, the match ended 1–1 with Liverpool progression to the quarter-finals with a 3–1 aggregate victory. Their next opponents were Borussia Dortmund of Germany, the team Liverpool manager Klopp had managed the season before. The first leg at Dortmund's home ground, the Westfalenstadion, saw Liverpool take the lead in the 36th minute when Divock Origi scored. The lead was shortlived as Mats Hummels equalised for Dortmund in the 38th minute to secure a 1–1 draw.[23] Dortmund scored two early goals in the second leg at Anfield courtesy of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The first half finished with Dortmund two goals up which meant Liverpool needed to score three to progress due to the away goals rule. Liverpool scored early on in the second half when Origi, the lead was shortlived as Marco Reus scored for Dortmund nine minutes later. Once again, Liverpool needed to score three goals to progress. Coutinho scored in the 66th minute and Liverpool levelled the match 11 minutes later when Mamadou Sakho. Still requiring one goal to progress to the semi-finals, Dejan Lovren headed in Milner's cross in stoppage time to win the match 4–3 and the tie 5–4 on aggregate. The match was described by Phil McNulty of BBC Sport, as "one of the most dramatic comebacks Anfield has seen."[24] Liverpool faced Villarreal of Spain in the semi-finals. The first leg at Villarreal's home ground, El Madrigal, was on course to finish goalless until Adrián López scored in the last minute to secure a 1–0 victory for Villarreal. Liverpool went ahead in the seventh minute of the second leg at Anfield when Bruno Soriano scored an own goal. Sturridge extended their lead in the 63rd minute and a goal from Lallana in the 81st minute, following a red card for Víctor Ruiz, secured a 3–0 win and Liverpool's progression to the final.[25]

Note: In the table, the score of the finalist is given first (H = home; A = away).

Liverpool				Round	Sevilla
Europa League					Champions League
Opponent	Result			Group stage (EL, CL)	Opponent	Result
Bordeaux	1–1 (A)			Matchday 1	Borussia Mönchengladbach	3–0 (H)
Sion	1–1 (H)			Matchday 2	Juventus	0–2 (A)
Rubin Kazan	1–1 (H)			Matchday 3	Manchester City	1–2 (A)
Rubin Kazan	1–0 (A)			Matchday 4	Manchester City	1–3 (H)
Bordeaux	2–1 (H)			Matchday 5	Borussia Mönchengladbach	2–4 (A)
Sion	0–0 (A)			Matchday 6	Juventus	1–0 (H)
Group B winners Pos Team Pld Pts 1 Liverpool 6 10 2 Sion 6 9 3 Rubin Kazan 6 6 4 Bordeaux 6 4 Source: Soccerway				Final standings	Group D third place Pos Team Pld Pts 1 Manchester City 6 12 2 Juventus 6 11 3 Sevilla 6 6 4 Borussia Mönchengladbach 6 5 Source: UEFA
					Europa League
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Knockout phase	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Augsburg	1–0	0–0 (A)	1–0 (H)	Round of 32	Molde	3–1	3–0 (H)	0–1 (A)
Manchester United	3–1	2–0 (H)	1–1 (A)	Round of 16	Basel	3–0	0–0 (A)	3–0 (H)
Borussia Dortmund	5–4	1–1 (A)	4–3 (H)	Quarter-finals	Athletic Bilbao	3–3 (5–4 p)	2–1 (A)	1–2 (a.e.t.) (H)
Villarreal	3–1	0–1 (A)	3–0 (H)	Semi-finals	Shakhtar Donetsk	5–3	2–2 (A)	3–1 (H)

Alexander Frei

Former Switzerland and Basel striker Alexander Frei was named the ambassador for the final.[27]

UEFA unveiled the brand identity of the final on 28 August 2015 in Monaco ahead of the group stage draw. The logo features the Basel landmark Marktplatz.[28]

With a stadium capacity of 35,000, a total amount of 27,000 tickets were available to fans and the general public, with the two finalist teams receiving 9,000 tickets each and with 9,000 tickets being available for sale to fans worldwide via UEFA.com from 23 February to 21 March 2016 in four price categories: CHF 180, CHF 120, CHF 90, and CHF 50. The remaining tickets were allocated to the local organising committee, UEFA and national associations, commercial partners and broadcasters, and to serve the corporate hospitality programme.[29]

UEFA was forced to defend the choice of St. Jakob-Park, which is the second smallest venue to host the competition's final, as the final competition venue after Liverpool and Sevilla were confirmed as the finalists.[30] Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, who initially told the supporters to travel to Basel even without a ticket, later backtracked from his suggestion.[31]

In May 2016, Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson was selected to supervise the final. He was joined by fellow Swedish officials Mathias Klasenius and Daniel Wärnmark as assistant referees, Stefan Johannesson and Markus Strömbergsson as additional assistant referees, Mehmet Culum as reserve assistant referee, and Norwegian official Svein Oddvar Moen as fourth official.[2]

The goal-line technology system Hawk-Eye was used for the match. This was the first UEFA competition match to employ goal-line technology, following approval by the UEFA Executive Committee in January 2016.[32][33]

In the 35th minute Daniel Sturridge scored with a shot using the outside of his left foot from out on the left after a pass from Philippe Coutinho. The ref dismissed 3 blantant handball penalties by sevilla players in the first half and Seventeen seconds into the second half Kevin Gameiro made it 1–1 when he scored three yards out after a cross from the right by Mariano who got past Alberto Moreno by putting the ball between his legs.[34]

Sevilla missed two more chances to score before they went in front in the 64th minute when Coke scored with a low right foot shot to the corner of the net from twenty yards. Coke got his second in the 70th minute with a right foot shot from six yards out on the right after the ball broke to him via a deflection off a Liverpool player.[35]

With this defeat, Liverpool became the second English club and fourth overall – after Hamburger SV, Fiorentina and Arsenal – to have been runner-up in all three major European competitions (European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, and the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup).[36]

The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the semi-final draw, which was held on 15 April 2016 at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[37]

18 May 2016 (2016-05-18)

20:45 CEST

Liverpool	1–3	Sevilla
Sturridge 35'	Report	Gameiro 46' Coke 64', 70'

St. Jakob-Park, Basel

Attendance: 34,429[3]

Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)

Liverpool[4]

Sevilla[4]

GK 22 Simon Mignolet RB 2 Nathaniel Clyne  90+4' CB 6 Dejan Lovren  30' CB 4 Kolo Touré  82' LB 18 Alberto Moreno CM 7 James Milner (c) CM 23 Emre Can RW 20 Adam Lallana  73' AM 11 Roberto Firmino  69' LW 10 Philippe Coutinho CF 15 Daniel Sturridge Substitutes: GK 52 Danny Ward DF 37 Martin Škrtel MF 14 Jordan Henderson MF 21 Lucas MF 24 Joe Allen  73' FW 9 Christian Benteke  82' FW 27 Divock Origi  72'  69' Manager: Jürgen Klopp

GK 31 David Soria RB 25 Mariano  84' CB 3 Adil Rami  77'  78' CB 6 Daniel Carriço LB 18 Sergio Escudero CM 4 Grzegorz Krychowiak CM 15 Steven Nzonzi RW 23 Coke (c) AM 19 Éver Banega  57'  90+3' LW 20 Vitolo  56' CF 9 Kevin Gameiro  89' Substitutes: GK 1 Sergio Rico DF 5 Timothée Kolodziejczak  78' DF 21 Nicolás Pareja MF 8 Vicente Iborra  89' MF 14 Sebastián Cristóforo  90+3' MF 22 Yevhen Konoplyanka FW 24 Fernando Llorente Manager: Unai Emery