User:Quidster4040/sandbox/2018 CONCACAF SuperLiga Final

The 2018 UEFA Europa League Final will be the final match of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, the 47th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 9th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. It will be played at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Décines-Charpieu, Lyon, France on 16 May 2018, between French side Marseille and Spanish side Atlético Madrid.

The winners will earn the right to play against the winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League in the 2018 UEFA Super Cup. They will also qualify to enter the group stage of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League.

Teams
In the following table, finals until 2009 were in the UEFA Cup era, since 2010 were in the UEFA Europa League era.

Venue
The Parc Olympique Lyonnais was announced as the final venue on 9 December 2016, following the decision of the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Nyon, Switzerland.

Background
Marseille reached their third final after a 3–2 aggregate win against Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg, clinched after extra time. They lost the final in both previous occasions (1999 and 2004). This was also their fifth final in all seasonal UEFA competitions, having also played in two European Cup/Champions League finals (winning in 1993; and losing in 1991).

Atlético Madrid also reached their third final after a 2–1 aggregate win against English side Arsenal. They won the final in both previous occasions (2010 and 2012). This was also their ninth final in UEFA seasonal competitions, having played in three European Cup/Champions League finals (losing in 1974, 2014 and 2016) and three Cup Winners' Cup final (winning in 1962; and losing in 1963 and 1986).

The two teams have played each other twice in the Champions League. Atlético Madrid won the first match, while the second was drawn in the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League group stage.

Road to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Ambassador
The ambassador for the final is former French international Éric Abidal, who played three seasons at Lyon and later won two UEFA Champions League titles with Barcelona.

Ticketing
With a stadium capacity of 57,000 for the final, a total amount of 23,000 tickets are available to fans and the general public, with the two finalist teams receiving tickets (number to be confirmed) each and with the other tickets being available for sale to fans worldwide via UEFA.com from 15 to 22 March 2018 in four price categories: €150, €100, €70, and €45. The remaining tickets are allocated to the local organising committee, UEFA and national associations, commercial partners and broadcasters, and to serve the corporate hospitality programme.

Officials
On 7 May 2018, UEFA announced that Dutchman Björn Kuipers would officiate the final. It is the second time he was appointed for a UEFA Europa League final, as he had already been the referee in the 2013 final. He will be joined by his fellow countrymen, with Sander van Roekel and Erwin Zeinstra as assistant referees, Danny Makkelie and Pol van Boekel as additional assistant referees, and Mario Diks as reserve assistant referee. The fourth official for the final is Szymon Marciniak from Poland.

Details
The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the semi-final draw, which was held on 13 April 2018, 12:00 CEST, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.