The Europa League is usually recognised as the deadbeat sibling of the more famous and exciting Champions League but a few players have made a habit of winning it. Here are three players who have got the most Europa League titles and as you might imagine, Sevilla have a critical role to play in this list.
3. Kevin Gameiro
Kevin Gameiro played at Sevilla for three years and he could not have picked a more fruitful time to do so. In all three seasons, Sevilla got into the Europa League final and successfully defeated all three of its rivals to become the first and only team to win a hat-trick of titles after the tournament’s new format was applied.
Gameiro played a crucial role in all three campaigns, playing in a total of 39 games, scoring 20 goals and handling four assists. He transferred to Atletico Madrid after his third title and won a fourth title with the Madrid side in the recently concluded campaign.
2. Vitolo
Vitolo is another player to have got the advantage from being at the right club at the right time. He was also at Sevilla at the same time with Gameiro when the Spanish club achieved three Europa League titles in a row. He even gave the assist to Carlos Bacca’s match winning goal in the final against their opponent Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, in what was to be his second European crown.
Vitolo also transferred to Atletico Madrid, just like Gameiro, and won his fourth title with the Spanish club. Even though he could only join the new team in January due to a transfer ban on the club, he made six appearances in the league and scored one goal.
1. Jose Antonio Reyes
Jose Antonio Reyes has the most successful title haul when it comes to the Europa League, winning five of them. The former Arsenal and Real Madrid player got the first of his two titles with Atletico Madrid, when he was a member of the team that won them in 2009/10 and 2011/12. He later transferred Sevilla, and was yet another player who was in the team when Unai Emery’s side obliterated everybody in the second-tier competition.