Manchester United are a club steeped in European history and some of their finest moments have come in the Europa League.
While the Red Devils prefer to play in the Champions League – a competition they’ve won three times – Europe’s secondary club competition has its perks and has provided United fans with some wonderful memories over the years.
It’s a trophy Erik ten Hag is looking to add to his United collection which began with the Carabao Cup triumph, so here is a look at how many times they have won it and their other records in the Europa League.
Unlike most competitions in football, Manchester United have only won the Europa League once. It was the only major trophy that the club was yet to win, although the introduction of the Europa Conference League means they are now missing one more.
The success came in the 2016/17 season under Jose Mourinho when the team also managed to win the Community Shield and the Carabao Cup. United entered the tournament in the group stage rather than dropping down from the Champions League, like in 2022/23.
They were drawn in a group containing Fenerbahce, Feyenoord and Zorya Luhansk. Interestingly, they actually finished second in the group behind Fenerbahce. The round of 32 saw United face Saint-Etienne who they beat 3-0 with a Zlatan Ibrahimovic hat-trick at Old Trafford and then 1-0 in France.
The round of 16 tie was against Russian side Rostov and after a 1-1 draw in Russia, it took Juan Mata’s 70th-minute winner at Old Trafford to secure safe passage into the quarter-final. That’s where Anderlecht were waiting and United needed a Marcus Rashford goal in extra time at Old Trafford to win 3-2 on aggregate.
A dramatic semi-final against Celta Vigo was next. Rashford’s free-kick meant it was 1-0 in Spain and United were 1-0 up at Old Trafford until the 85th minute when Celta scored. The last five minutes were incredibly nervy as one more Celta goal would have seen them progress on away goals.
There was much less drama in the final as goals in either half from Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan at the Friends Arena meant United beat Ajax 2-0.
Man Utd’s Europa League final record
|
Date |
Venue |
Scoreline |
|---|---|---|
|
2016/17 |
Friends Arena, Stockholm |
Ajax 0-2 Man Utd |
|
2020/21 |
Polsat Plus Arena, Gdansk |
Villarreal 1-1 Man Utd (Villarreal 11-10 on pens) |
Manchester United have more often than not across their history been in the European Cup or Champions…
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