UEFA Europa League 2015/16: in depth

Records
• If Liverpool FC win the trophy they will equal Sevilla FC's record of four UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League victories.
• If Sevilla finish third in their UEFA Champions League group they would have a chance to be the first to lift this trophy three years running.
• If a Spanish side wins it will be only the third time a country has claimed the trophy three times in a row after Italy (1989–1991 and 1993–95).
• Italy and Spain are currently level on nine trophy successes each.
• In final appearances, Italy are on 15, one more than Spain and Germany.
• Victory for Tottenham Hotspur FC or West Ham United would allow London to match Madrid and Seville as a city with four trophy wins. They already have the most final appearances with six.
• Tottenham are through to their eighth UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League group stage, which will equal Club Brugge's record unless the Belgian team make it through qualifying for a ninth appearance.
• Tottenham can be the first side to progress past the group stage seven times, their record of six shared with Sevilla.
• PSV Eindhoven's run as the only ever-presents in the post-2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage is over as they take part in the UEFA Champions League.
• If Club Brugge come through qualifying or either FC Salzburg or FC Steaua București transfer from the UEFA Champions League, they will match PSV's mark of six.
• Salzburg and PSV have both got through the group stage four times; Tottenham, Villarreal CF, SSC Napoli, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Beşiktaş JK could make it four this term.
• FC Augsburg will be the 13th different German club to play in the UEFA Europa League group stage, two clear of Italy and Portugal (who could have their 12th in CF Os Belenenses).
• The two confirmed group debutants take the number of teams to play in the group stage during the competition's seven seasons to 166. In 24 UEFA Champions League campaigns the equivalent number is 132.

Former UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League winners in group stage
Liverpool FC (3)
Tottenham Hotspur FC (2)
RSC Anderlecht (1)
FC Schalke 04 (1)
SSC Napoli (1)

Former UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League winners in qualifying
IFK Göteborg (2)

Other European Cup/UEFA Champions League (UCL) or European Cup Winners' Cup (CWC) winners in group stage
ACF Fiorentina (1 CWC)
Olympique de Marseille (1 UCL)

Liverpool last won in 2001©Getty Images

Other European Cup/UEFA Champions League (UCL) or European Cup Winners' Cup (CWC) winners in qualifying
Aberdeen FC (1 CWC)
Borussia Dortmund (1 UCL, 1 CWC)
FC Dinamo Tbilisi (1 CWC)
FK Crvena zvezda (1 UCL)
UC Sampdoria (1 CWC)
West Ham United FC (1 CWC)

Dnipro return again this season©Getty Images

Clubs returning to group stage from 2014/15
ACF Fiorentina, Beşiktaş JK, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, FC PAOK, SSC Napoli, Tottenham Hotspur FC

Clubs that could return to group stage from 2014/15
Apollon Limassol FC, AS Saint-Étienne, (Asteras Tripolis FC), FC Astra Giurgiu, FC Dinamo Minsk, FC Dinamo Moskva, FC København, FC Krasnodar, FC Zürich, HNK Rijeka, Legia Warsazwa, R. Standard de Liège, Trabzonspor AŞ, Villarreal CF, AC Sparta Praha*, Club Brugge KV*, BSC Young Boys*, HJK Helsinki*, Qarabağ FK, FC Partizan*, FC Salzburg*, Celtic FC*, GNK Dinamo Zagreb*, Panathinaikos FC*, FC Steaua București*

*Playing in UEFA Champions League qualifying

Clubs from 2014/15 group stage in UEFA Champions League group stage
FC Dynamo Kyiv, PSV Eindhoven, Sevilla FC, VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, VfL Wolfsburg

Clubs confirmed as making their group stage debut
FC Augsburg, FC Groningen

Augsburg make their debut in the group stage©Getty Images

Clubs making their European debut
FC Augsburg, SCR Altach, Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC, İstanbul Başakşehir, Wolfsberger AC, Alashkert FC, Balzan FC, FC Botoșani, FC Saxan, FK Olimpic Sarajevo, FK Spartaks Jūrmala, FK Trakai, SJK Seinäjoki, Tskhinval

Second division teams in competition
Go Ahead Eagles, University College Dublin AFC

Nations who have never been represented in the group stage
Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Iceland, FYR Macedonia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Northern Ireland, San Marino, Wales