The group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 32, mexico shirt 2025-26 where they were joined by the eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage. With this triumph, they became the only Champions League holders to win the Europa League (no other team did so prior to 2024, when amended regulations meant this was no longer a possibility). However, every team except for the title-holder (until the 2014-15 season) and the highest-ranked (the cup winner or the best Europa League-qualified) from the top (six from 2012 to 2015, 12 since the 2015-16 season) associations had to play at least one qualification round. He debuted in the third round of Coppa Italia and conceded twice in a 1-2 loss to Pescara. The draw for the round of 16 was held on 16 December 2013, immediately after the round of 32 draw. On 14 August 2013, Metalist Kharkiv were disqualified from all 2013-14 UEFA club competitions because of previous match-fixing.
As the winners, Sevilla earned the right to play against 2013-14 UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid in the 2014 UEFA Super Cup. Former Dutch international Patrick Kluivert, who won the UEFA Champions League with Ajax, was appointed as the official ambassador for the final. Previous appearances include back-to-back victories in the 1961 and 1962 European Cup finals (3-2 over Barcelona and 5-3 over Real Madrid, respectively) and unsuccessful presences in five other European Cup finals – 1963 (1-2 to Milan), 1965 (0-1 to Inter Milan), 1968 (1-4 to Manchester United), 1988 (0-0, 5-6 on penalties to PSV Eindhoven) and 1990 (0-1 to Milan) – and one UEFA Cup final in 1983 (1-2 on aggregate to Anderlecht). Milan in the 1990 European Cup final. Former Poland international goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, was named the ambassador for the final. As winners, Sevilla earned the right to play against the winners of the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League, Barcelona, in the 2015 UEFA Super Cup.
As title holders, Sevilla qualified for the group stage automatically, and were placed in Group G with Feyenoord, Rijeka and Standard Liège. However, one fewer loser would be transferred since the Champions League title holders already qualified for the group stage via their domestic league. They also qualified for the group stage of the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League, as Real Madrid also qualified for the group stage through domestic performance, that meant the berth reserved for the Champions League title holders was not used and passed to the Europa League title holders. Furthermore, United had failed to defeat or eliminate fellow English side in Europe since beating Chelsea 1-0 and 2-1 (3-1 on aggregate) in the 2010-11 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. Friends Arena, located in Solna municipality of the Stockholm urban area, was announced as the final venue on 30 June 2015, following the decision of the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Prague, Czech Republic.
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. Nõmme Kalju played their home match at A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, instead of their regular stadium Kadriorg Stadium, Tallinn, as it did not meet UEFA requirements. The home stadium of Ajax since 1996, it staged the 1998 UEFA Champions League final, where Real Madrid beat Juventus 1-0 for their seventh title, and was also one of the UEFA Euro 2000 venues, hosting five games including a semi-final. Madrid was in contention for both the La Liga title and the UEFA Champions League until the very end but ultimately came up short, finishing with 92 points in the league, soccer kits two behind treble-winning Barcelona and losing their Champions League crown to Juventus 2-3 on aggregate in the Champions League semi-finals. Manchester United qualified for the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League as the title holders of Europa League. Prior to the draws, UEFA may form “groups” in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, but they were purely for convenience of the draw and for ensuring that teams from the same association were not drawn against each other, and did not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition.