2012–13 UEFA Europa League
The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League was the 42nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 4th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The Amsterdam Arena in Amsterdam hosted the final. | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 3 July – 30 August 2012 (qualifying) 20 September 2012 – 15 May 2013 (competition proper) |
| Teams | 48+8 (competition proper) 161+32 (total) (from 53 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Chelsea (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Benfica |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 205 |
| Goals scored | 521 (2.54 per match) |
| Attendance | 4,174,756 (20,365 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Libor Kozák (Lazio) 8 goals |
The final was played at the Amsterdam Arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was contested on 15 May 2013 between Portuguese club Benfica and English club Chelsea, who entered the competition at the Round of 32 after they finished in third place in the group stage of the 2012–13 Champions League. Chelsea won the final 2–1 for their first Europa League title, making them the fourth club – after Juventus, Ajax and Bayern Munich – and the first English club to have won all three major European trophies (UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and the Cup Winners' Cup).
For the 2012–13 edition, the following changes were made from the 2011–12 edition:
- The cup winners of the six top-ranked associations had direct access to the UEFA Europa League group stage. This allocation of slots has a direct impact on the qualification path, and adaptations were made to the access list in order to accommodate these changes.
- Matchdays 5 and 6 were no longer held on exclusive weeks, but instead were played on the same weeks as Matchdays 5 and 6 of the UEFA Champions League.
Atlético Madrid were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Rubin Kazan in the Round of 32.