15 best soccer moments of 2016

11. Sevilla win third successive Europa League title

When the UEFA Cup was reformatted to become the Europa League in 2009, Europe’s second tier club competition seemed to lose some of its attraction. Despite being the same competition it didn’t seem to have the appeal the old UEFA Cup did. This led to many teams, particularly in England, treating the competition as little more than a distraction from the more serious business of league soccer.

In the past few years, however, clubs have started to take the competition more seriously once again, especially now that the winner automatically qualifies for the following year’s Champions League. One club who have certainly been taking it seriously are Spanish side Sevilla. In 2016, the La Liga team won their third consecutive Europa League, beating Liverpool in the final. Sevilla fell behind to a Daniel Sturridge strike but rallied after halftime to win 3-1.

The Spanish club have now been to the final of this competition five times and never lost, which makes them the most successful side in the history of the tournament. They won’t feature in the competition this year, though, as they  managed to progress to the second round of the Champions League, where they’ll face off against English champions Leicester.