UEFA competitions in the context of "Balkans Cup"

The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual club football competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the second-tier competition of European club football, ranking below the UEFA Champions League and above the UEFA Conference League.

Introduced in 1971 as the UEFA Cup, it replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. From the 2004–05 season a group stage was added before the knockout phase. The competition took on its current name in 2009, following a change in format. The 2009 re-branding included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and a change in qualifying criteria. In the 2024–25 season, the group stage was replaced with an expanded league phase of 36 teams.

Juventus Football Club (/juːˈvɛntəs/ yoo-VEN-təs; Italian: [juˈvɛntus]; from iuventūs, Latin for 'youth'), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (Italian: [ˈjuːve]), is an Italian professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in 1897 by a group of Turinese students, the club played in different grounds around the city, and has played in the Juventus Stadium since 2011.

Nicknamed la Vecchia Signora ("the Old Lady"), it has won 36 official league titles, 15 Coppa Italia trophies and nine Italian Super Cups, being the record holder for all these competitions; they also hold two Intercontinental Cups, two European Cup / UEFA Champions Leagues, one European Cup Winners' Cup, three UEFA Cups (Italian record), two UEFA Super Cups and one UEFA Intertoto Cup (Italian record). Consequently, the side leads the historical Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC) classification, whilst on the international stage the club occupies the sixth position in Europe and the twelfth in the world for most confederation titles won with eleven trophies, as well as the fourth in the all-time Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) competitions ranking, having obtained the highest coefficient score during seven seasons since its introduction in 1979, the most for an Italian team in both cases and joint second overall in the last cited.

Hampden Park (/ˈhɑːmdən/ HAHM-dən; Scottish Gaelic: Pàirc Hampden), currently known as Barclays Hampden for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football team. Hampden Park is owned by the Scottish Football Association (SFA), and regularly hosts the latter stages of the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup. The largest stadium by capacity when opened in 1903, an accolade the stadium held until 1950, Hampden Park is the 11th-largest football stadium in the United Kingdom, and the second-largest football stadium in Scotland. The stadium retains all attendance records recorded in European football.

A UEFA category four stadium, Hampden Park has hosted six European finals including the 1960 European Cup final between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt which, with a crowd of 127,621 in attendance, is the highest ever recorded attendance for a European Cup final. The stadium houses the offices of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and has hosted three European Cup/Champions League finals, two Cup Winners' Cup finals and a UEFA Cup final. It has hosted other sporting events including the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 Commonwealth Games (also hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony). Scotland was one of the eleven host countries of the pan–European Euro 2020 tournament with the stadium hosting the round of 16 matches and will host matches of the upcoming Euro 2028, of which Scotland is again one of the host countries.

Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (Turkish pronunciation: [galataˈsaɾaj spoɾ kuˈlyby], Galatasaray Sports Club), usually referred to as Galatasaray, is a Turkish professional football club based in the district of Sarıyer, in the European side of Istanbul. It is the association football branch of the larger Galatasaray Sports Club of the same name, itself a part of the Galatasaray Community Cooperation Committee which includes Galatasaray High School where the football club was founded in 1905, consisting entirely of students. The team plays in dark shades of red and yellow at home, with the shirts split down the middle between the two colours.

Galatasaray is one of three teams to have participated in all seasons of the Süper Lig since 1959, following the dissolution of the Istanbul Football League. Galatasaray has the most Süper Lig (25), Turkish Cup (19) and Turkish Super Cup (17) titles in Turkey. Galatasaray is the most successful Turkish club in European competitions. Galatasaray won the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2000, becoming the only Turkish team to win a major UEFA competition. In the 1999–2000 season, the club achieved the rare feat of completing a treble by winning the Süper Lig, Turkish Cup, and UEFA Cup in a single season. In the UEFA Champions League, Galatasaray has reached the quarter-finals several times and the semi-finals of Club Champions Cup once. Galatasaray is the only Turkish club to have been ranked first on the IFFHS World Rankings. According to IFFHS, Galatasaray is the best Turkish club of the 20th century, and the 20th most successful club in Europe. As of 2025, they have the 2nd position in UEFA coefficient among Turkish teams.

Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü (Turkish: [feˈnæɾbahtʃe], Fenerbahçe Sports Club), commonly known simply as Fenerbahçe, or colloquially as Fener is the football branch of Fenerbahçe Sports Club association, based in Kadıköy district of Istanbul, Turkey. They compete in the Süper Lig, the top division of Turkish football. Founded in 1907, Fenerbahçe is one of Turkey’s most successful and widely supported clubs, boasting a record 28 Turkish national championship titles, including victories in the Turkish Football Championship and the Süper Lig era. The club has also won 9 Turkish Super Cups and 7 Turkish Cups, making them one of the most decorated teams in Turkish football history. Their home matches have been played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul since 1908.

Fenerbahçe won their first major honor in domestic football in the early 20th century and continued to become champion in Turkish football before the establishment of the Süper Lig in 1959. Prior to this, the club won multiple Turkish Football Championship titles, asserting its place as one of Turkey’s footballing powerhouses. Since the creation of the Süper Lig, Fenerbahçe has remained one of the most successful teams, regularly contending for the title and winning numerous league championships. Counting since the official football federation of the country, the Turkish Football Federation, abbreviated TFF, Fenerbahçe have won 28 national championship titles respectively, making it the most successful so far in Turkey. The club holds the joint-record for the longest uninterrupted top-flight streak in Turkish football history. Internationally, Fenerbahçe won the Balkans Cup in 1966–67, becoming the first Turkish club to claim an international trophy. In modern European competitions, they reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in the 2007–08 season and the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League in 2012–13, further establishing their presence on the continental stage.

Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (German pronunciation: [ɛs faʊ̯ ˌvɛʁdɐ ˈbʁeːmən] ), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association football team, who compete in the Bundesliga, the first tier of the German football league system. Bremen share the record for most seasons played in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, and are ranked third in the all-time Bundesliga table, only behind Bayern and Borussia Dortmund.

Werder have been German champions four times, have won the DFB-Pokal six times, the DFL-Ligapokal once, the DFL-Supercup thrice, and the European Cup Winners' Cup once. The team's first major trophy was the 1960–61 DFB-Pokal; they last won the cup in 2008–09. Bremen's first German championship came in 1964–65, and their latest in 2003–04, when they won the double. In European football, Werder won the 1991–92 European Cup Winners' Cup, and were runners-up in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup.