The summer of 2019 will mark the tenth anniversary of the UEFA Cup’s rebranding as the Europa League.
With six group matches and no ‘rest round’ for any team, it is as close to a Champions League experience as most ‘non-elite’ teams can hope for.
The additional knockout round after the group stage also makes it a test of stamina like no other, leading some teams to be caught unawares.
As such, the last nine editions of the Europa League’s knockout stages have not disappointed in the shocks department, so we’re going to take a trip through time and remember some of the results of consequence that stunned us all.
Early Years: English Clubs Involved In Giant-Killing (2009-12)
It was not until the fourth year of the Europa League era that an English team would lift the trophy, with a number of shocks preceding Chelsea’s triumph of 2013.
Few, for instance, few can forget Braga’s elimination of current Premier League title favourites Liverpool in 2010/11, or Manchester United's decisive 3-2 home defeat to Athletic Bilbao a year later.
However, perhaps the greatest Europa League shock involving an English team was one that favoured it.
Three years before Chelsea’s maiden Europa League win, it was very nearly the white quadrant of West London that blazed a trail for English clubs in the newly rebranded competition.
As of 2019, Fulham remain the only English club to reach the final after entering the competition prior to the group stage. Under Roy Hodgson, the Cottagers reached the final after mounting one of the greatest comebacks ever.
After losing 3-1 at Juventus in the round of 16 first leg, all hope seemed lost, and that feeling continued when David Trezeguet gave Juventus an early lead in the second leg clash at Craven Cottage.
However, the tide soon turned, with Bobby Zamora equalising before Fabio Cannavaro saw red to make Fulham’s still-mountainous task slightly easier.
Zoltan Gera then netted twice either side of half-time to level the tie before American star Clint Dempsey beat Juve keeper Antonio Chimenti with a Hollywood-style chip eight minutes from time.
They lost the final against Atletico Madrid, but the memories will endure.
Shocks Go International (2013-15)
There are also some standout examples of Europa League shocks that had nothing to do with English teams, and the middle years of the competition’s first decade kept the trend for shocks going:
Round of 32: Atletico Madrid 1-2 Rubin Kazan (2012/13)
Atletico have made the Europa League competition their own, winning it three times, but the 2012/13 season brought European shame and misery crashing down upon them.
Rubin Kazan took the early initiative in the Spanish capital with a sixth-minute strike from Gokdeniz Karadeniz. Kazan captain Roman Sharonov then saw red, and that was the cue for Kazan to drop deep and defend like lions.
As expected, Atletico were pouring forward in the dying minutes, but were hit on the counter by Pablo Orbaiz for 2-0. There was no response, and though Atletico won the return leg 1-0, this was only ever Kazan’s tie.
Round Of 32: Lazio 3-4 Ludogorets Razgrad (2013/14)
There can be no doubt that Ludogorets have put Bulgarian clubs back on the proverbial map of Europe, and this shock win over Lazio was a major development in that regard.
Roman Bezjak was the match-winning hero of the first leg, striking the only goal of the evening at the Stadio Olimpico by hitting a peach of a 25-yard strike past a helpless Etrit Berisha.
Oddly, Lazio gave Ludogorets much more of a game in the return leg, and the Bulgarians repelled wave after wave of pressure to proceed.
They came back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to get a 3-3 draw, with Juninho Quixada’s equaliser two minutes from time preventing his side from going out on away goals.
Round Of 16: Dnipro (a) 2-2 Ajax (2014/15)
In 2015, Ukrainian outfit Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk beat Dutch giants Ajax 1-0 in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie.
Roman Zozulya scored on the half-hour mark, and the Ukrainians held out to win the tie. They would lose the second leg 1-0 in normal time, but exchanged goals in extra time to proceed on the away goals rule.
Narrow aggregate victories over Club Brugge and Napoli saw Dnipro go all the way to the final, where they lost 3-2 to Sevilla.
Tottenham Hotspur Stunned (2016/17)
Under Mauricio Pochettino, it’s been all about the Champions League for Tottenham. The north London side currently stand at just 25/1 to lift the trophy in 2019.
As such, few could blame the North Londoners for focusing more readily on a top-four finish than a Europa League triumph, even though the club desperately needs a trophy to cement its status as a true English giant.
Regardless, Tottenham have twice felt the vicious burn of a shock defeat in their last two Europa League campaigns.
First came a 3-0 humbling at Westfalenstadion in 2015/16, as a Borussia Dortmund side still adapting to life after Jurgen Klopp proved unplayable in the Round of 16.
Marco Reus pulled the strings, netting a double after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s opener to make the second leg a formality. With Tottenham still gunning for the Premier League title at that point, the defeat was more disappointment than disaster.
The following year, Chelsea were runaway title winners, so there was a greater expectation of an increased effort from Tottenham as they once more approached the Europa League knockouts.
Instead, though, the Lilywhites were beaten 1-0 at the unfancied Gent in the first leg. On paper, Tottenham would stroll the home leg, but after Christian Eriksen's tenth-minute opener, Harry Kane put through his own net.
Tottenham never got the requisite comeback brace, with Dele Alli seeing red and Victor Wanyama’s lead-restoring strike on the hour cancelled out ten minutes from time – another year, another failure for Pochettino to grasp silverware.
Salzburg's Star Turn (2018/19)
Before 2018, Austrian teams were not known for progressing very far in UEFA competitions, but after a 2-1 aggregate win over Borussia Dortmund in the 2017/18 round of 16, Salzburg (currently 20/1 to win the Europa League final in 2018/19) faced Lazio in the quarter-finals.
After falling to a 4-2 defeat at Stadio Olimpico, many believed the Austrian club’s journey to be at a long-overdue end. Those beliefs were reinforced when Lazio’s Ciro Immobile broke the deadlock on 55 minutes in the second leg to put the Italians 5-2 up on aggregate.
What followed was the greatest display of guts and determination ever seen from Salzburg, with Moanes Dabour equalising just one minute later to send the stadium into raptures.
After that, it was one-way traffic. Massadio Haidara smashied home from thirty yards in the 72nd minute before Hwang Hee-chan latched onto a long ball and fired home to put Salzburg ahead two minutes later.
Another two minutes on, and Stefan Lainer scored the goal that finally slew Lazio and set up a semi-final with Marseille.
Salzburg’s charmed life in the competition ended, but not before a 2-1 win in the home leg, which ensured that the Austrian club bowed out with an unbeaten home record in that season’s competition.
