UEFA Europa League 2020-21 was the 50th season of Europe’s secondary club football tournament organized by UEFA, and the 12th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
Villarreal triumphed over Manchester United in the final held at Stadion Gdańsk in Gdańsk, Poland, with a 1–1 draw after extra time and an 11–10 victory on penalties, marking their first win in the competition’s history. This victory secured Villarreal a place in the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League group stage and a spot in the 2021 UEFA Super Cup. Originally, the stadium was set to host the 2020 UEFA Europa League Final, but the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the Europa League champions, Sevilla earned a spot in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, though they had already qualified based on their league performance. They couldn’t defend their title as they progressed to the Champions League knockout stage but were eliminated by Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16.
Champions: 
Villarreal (1st title)
Runners-Up: 
Manchester United
Player of the Season: Gerard Moreno
UEFA Europa League 2020-21 Group stage
Group A
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. Qualified 
Roma6 4 1 1 13 5 +8 13
2. Qualified 
Young Boys6 3 1 2 9 7 +2 10
3 
CFR Cluj6 1 2 3 4 10 −6 5
4 
CSKA Sofia6 1 2 3 3 7 −4 5
Note: Head-to-head points: CFR Cluj 4, CSKA Sofia 1.
Group B
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. Qualified Arsenal6 6 0 0 20 5 +15 18
2. Qualified 
Molde6 3 1 2 9 11 −2 10
3 
Rapid Wien6 2 1 3 11 13 −2 7
4 
Dundalk6 0 0 6 8 19 −11 0
Group C
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. Qualified 
Bayer Leverkusen6 5 0 1 21 8 +13 15
2. Qualified 
Slavia Prague6 4 0 2 11 10 +1 12
3 
Hapoel Be'er Sheva6 2 0 4 7 13 −6 6
4 
Nice6 1 0 5 8 16 −8 3
Group D
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. Qualified 
Rangers6 4 2 0 13 7 +6 14
2. Qualified 
Benfica6 3 3 0 18 9 +9 12
3 
Standard Liège6 1 1 4 7 14 −7 4
4 
Lech Poznań6 1 0 5 6 14 −8 3
Group E
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. Qualified 
PSV Eindhoven6 4 0 2 12 9 +3 12
2. Qualified Granada6 3 2 1 6 3 +3 11
3 
PAOK6 1 3 2 8 7 +1 6
4 
Omonia6 1 1 4 5 12 −7 4
Group F
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. Qualified Napoli6 3 2 1 7 4 +3 11
2. Qualified Real Sociedad6 2 3 1 5 4 +1 9
3 
AZ6 2 2 2 7 5 +2 8
4 
Rijeka6 1 1 4 6 12 −6 4
Group G
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. Qualified Leicester City6 4 1 1 14 5 +9 13
2. Qualified Braga6 4 1 1 14 10 +4 13
3 
Zorya Luhansk6 2 0 4 6 11 −5 6
4 AEK Athens6 1 0 5 7 15 −8 3
Note: Head-to-head points: Leicester City 4, Braga 1.
Group H
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. Qualified AC Milan6 4 1 1 12 7 +5 13
2. Qualified Lille6 3 2 1 14 8 +6 11
3 Sparta Prague6 2 0 4 10 12 −2 6
4 Celtic6 1 1 4 10 19 −9 4
Group I
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. Qualified Villarreal6 5 1 0 17 5 +12 16
2. Qualified Maccabi Tel Aviv6 3 2 1 6 7 −1 11
3 
Sivasspor6 2 0 4 9 11 −2 6
4 
Qarabağ6 0 1 5 4 13 −9 1
Note: The Villarreal v Qarabağ match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Villarreal after being cancelled as several players of the Qarabağ squad tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2.
Group J
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. Qualified Tottenham Hotspur6 4 1 1 15 5 +10 13
2. Qualified Antwerp6 4 0 2 8 5 +3 12
3 LASK6 3 1 2 11 12 −1 10
4 Ludogorets Razgrad6 0 0 6 7 19 −12 0
Group K
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. Qualified Dinamo Zagreb6 4 2 0 9 1 +8 14
2. Qualified Wolfsberger AC6 3 1 2 7 6 +1 10
3 Feyenoord6 1 2 3 4 8 −4 5
4 
CSKA Moscow6 0 3 3 3 8 −5 3
Group L
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. Qualified 1899 Hoffenheim6 5 1 0 17 2 +15 16
2. Qualified 
Red Star Belgrade6 3 2 1 9 4 +5 11
3 Slovan Liberec6 2 1 3 4 13 −9 7
4 Gent6 0 0 6 4 15 −11 0
UEFA Europa League 2020-21 Round of 32
Team 1 Aggregate Team 2 1st Leg 2nd Leg
Wolfsberger AC1–8 Tottenham Hotspur1–4 0–4
Dynamo Kyiv2–1 Club Brugge1–1 1–0
Real Sociedad0–4 Manchester United0–4 0–0
Benfica3–4 Arsenal1–1 2–3
Red Star Belgrade3–3 (away goal) AC Milan2–2 1–1
Antwerp5–9 Rangers3–4 2–5
Slavia Prague2–0 Leicester City0–0 2–0
Red Bull Salzburg1–4 Villarreal0–2 1–2
Braga1–5 AS Roma0–2 1–3
Krasnodar2–4 Dinamo Zagreb2–3 0–1
Young Boys6–3 Bayer Leverkusen4–3 2–0
Molde5–3 1899 Hoffenheim3–3 2–0
Granada3–2 Napoli2–0 1–2
Maccabi Tel Aviv0–3 Shakhtar Donetsk0–2 0–1
Lille2–4 Ajax1–2 1–2
Olympiacos5–4 PSV Eindhoven4–2 1–2
UEFA Europa League 2020-21 Round of 16
Team 1 Aggregate Team 2 1st Leg 2nd Leg
Ajax5–0 Young Boys3–0 2–0
Dynamo Kyiv0–4 Villarreal0–2 0–2
AS Roma5–1 Shakhtar Donetsk3–0 2–1
Olympiacos2–3 Arsenal1–3 1–0
Tottenham Hotspur2–3 Dinamo Zagreb2–0 0–3 (a.e.t.)
Manchester United2–1 AC Milan1–1 1–0
Slavia Prague3–1 Rangers1–1 2–0
Granada3–2 Molde2–0 1–2
Note: Order of legs between Tottenham Hotspur and Dinamo Zagreb were reversed after original draw, in order to avoid a scheduling conflict with the Arsenal v Olympiacos second leg in the same city on 18 March, as Arsenal were the domestic cup winners and given higher priority over Tottenham Hotspur.
UEFA Europa League 2020-21 Quarter finals
Team 1 Aggregate Team 2 1st Leg 2nd Leg
Granada0–4 Manchester United0–2 0–2
Arsenal5–1 Slavia Prague1–1 4–0
Ajax2–3 AS Roma1–2 1–1
Dinamo Zagreb1–3 Villarreal0–1 1–2
UEFA Europa League 2020-21 Semi finals
Team 1 Aggregate Team 2 1st Leg 2nd Leg
Manchester United8–5 AS Roma6–2 2–3
Villarreal2–1 Arsenal2–1 0–0
UEFA Europa League 2020-21 Final match
26 May 2021 21:00 CEST, Gdańsk Stadium, Gdańsk
| Villarreal |
1 – 1 (a.e.t.) | Manchester United |
Gerard Moreno  29′ |
Edinson Cavani 55′ |
|
G. Moreno  Raba Alcácer A. Moreno Parejo Gómez Albiol Coquelin Gaspar Torres Rulli |
Penalties 11 – 10 |
Mata Telles Fernandes Rashford Cavani Fred James Shaw Tuanzebe Lindelöf De Gea |
UEFA Europa League 2020-21 top goal scorers
Rank Player Team Goals
1 Pizzi Benfica7
2 Yusuf Yazıcı Lille7
3 Borja Mayoral AS Roma7
4 Gerard Moreno Villarreal7
5 
Edinson Cavani Manchester United6
6 Mu'nas Dabbur 1899 Hoffenheim6
7 
Carlos Vinícius Tottenham Hotspur6
8 Paco Alcácer Villarreal6
9 
Edin Džeko AS Roma6
10 
Nicolas Pépé Arsenal6
11 Mislav Oršić Dinamo Zagreb6
UEFA Europa League 2020-21 most assist provider list
Rank Player Club Assist
1 Galeno Braga5
2 
Samuel Chukwueze Villarreal5
3 Gerard Moreno Villarreal5
4 Joe Willock Arsenal4
5 Lior Refaelov Antwerp4
6 
Alfredo Morelos Rangers4
7 Bruno Fernandes Manchester United4
8 Magnus Wolff Eikrem Molde4
9 
Nicolas Pépé Arsenal4
10 Lovro Majer Dinamo Zagreb4
UEFA Europa League 2020-21 squad of the season
The UEFA technical study group selected the following 23 players as the squad of the tournament.
Position Player Club
Goalkeeper Dominik Livaković Dinamo Zagreb
Goalkeeper Pau López AS Roma
Goalkeeper 
Gerónimo Rulli Villarreal
Defender Raúl Albiol Villarreal
Defender Harry Maguire Manchester United
Defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka Manchester United
Defender Gianluca Mancini AS Roma
Defender Leonardo Spinazzola AS Roma
Defender Alfonso Pedraza Villarreal
Defender Pau Torres Villarreal
Midfielder Bruno Fernandes Manchester United
Midfielder Dani Parejo Villarreal
Midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini AS Roma
Midfielder Paul Pogba Manchester United
Midfielder Étienne Capoue Villarreal
Midfielder Mislav Oršić Dinamo Zagreb
Midfielder Lukáš Provod Slavia Prague
Midfielder Scott McTominay Manchester United
Forward Gerard Moreno Villarreal
Forward Edinson Cavani Manchester United
Forward Dušan Tadić Ajax
Forward Edin Džeko AS Roma
Forward Nicolas Pépé Arsenal
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the following special rules were applicable to the competition
– If there were travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented the away team from entering the home team’s country or returning to their own country, the match could be played at a neutral country or the away team’s country that allowed the match to take place.
– If a team refused to play or was considered responsible for a match not taking place, they were considered to have forfeited the match. If both teams refused to play or were considered responsible for a match not taking place, both teams were disqualified.
– If a team had players and/or officials tested positive for SARS-2 coronavirus preventing them from playing the match before the deadline set by UEFA, they were considered to have forfeited the match.
On 24 September 2020, UEFA announced that starting from the group stage, teams would be allowed five substitutions per match, with a sixth substitution permitted during extra time. However, teams could only stop the game three times to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time. This rule did not count substitutions made at half-time, before extra time, or at half-time in extra time. Consequently, a maximum of twelve players could be listed on the substitute bench.
All qualifying matches were played without spectators. However, following the partial return of fans at the 2020 UEFA Super Cup, UEFA announced on 1 October 2020 that matches from the group stage onward could be played at 30% capacity if local authorities permitted. Although video assistant referees (VAR) were planned to be introduced for the group stage, their use was postponed to the 2021–22 season; they were still used in the knockout phase.
