Man United captain Bruno Fernandes makes Europa League history

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Hat-trick for Man United 

©TM/IMAGO

The Europa League doesn’t carry the glitz and glamour, or financial incentives, of the Champions League but it’s still a fantastic spectacle. The second biggest UEFA club competition is often incredibly exciting and it provides an opportunity to clubs from outside the European elite to get their hands on silverware. The competition was established in 1972 as the UEFA Cup before being renamed the Europa League ahead of the 2009/10 season. Sevilla are the most decorated club in the tournament’s history with seven titles and Unai Emery led them to three of those triumphs.

Three British clubs have secured passage to the quarter-finals this season with Rangers defeating Fenerbahce on penalties, Tottenham edging past AZ Alkmaar on aggregate and Manchester United preserving their unbeaten European record against Real Sociedad. Once again, Bruno Fernandes was the architect behind United’s triumph, scoring his second hat-trick for the club and it was a historic night for the Portuguese midfielder in the Europa League.

Fernandes surpassed Dries Mertens to become the player with the most goal contributions in the history of the Europa League/UEFA Cup with his hat-trick against Sociedad. Belgium international Mertens held the record with 41 goals and assists but Fernandes is now on 44. The 30-year-old has scored 24 goals and provided 20 assists in the Europa League across 53 games for Man United and  Sporting CP.

As the graphic above illustrates, Edin Džeko ranks third with 41 goal contributions but the Bosnian striker won’t be able to add to his tally this season after Fenerbahce were knocked out. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the top scorer in the competition’s history with 34 goals and he’s also provided six assists to rank fourth. Some other famous faces feature on the list including Klass-Jan Huntelaar, Romelu Lukaku and Henrik Larsson – the Swedish striker scored twice in the 2003 final as Celtic lost to Porto with José Mourinho famously winning his first European trophy.