Europa League group stage number crunching

Key facts

• Record seventh UEFA Europa League group appearances for FCSB and Salzburg
• Salzburg are group stage's all-time highest goal and point scorers
• 13 group debutants take total entrant clubs to 198, 240 including UEFA Cup
  
• Vardar are first Macedonian team to reach a UEFA men's club group stage
• Also making debut in major group stage: Atalanta, Hoffenheim, Östersund, Köln, Lugano, Vitesse, Zlín

ALL STATISTICS ARE FOR GROUP GAMES ONLY. UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE IS 2009/10 ONWARD, UEFA CUP IS 2004/05 ONWARD

Most group appearances by club (UEFA Europa League only)
7: FCSB*, Salzburg*
6: Athletic Club*, Club Brugge, Lazio*, PSV Eindhoven, Rapid Wien, Sparta Praha, Villarreal*
5: Dynamo Kyiv*, København*, PAOK, Partizan*, Sporting CP, Tottenham, Young Boys*

Most group appearances by club (including UEFA Cup)
9: Club Brugge, FCSB*
8: AZ Alkmaar, Tottenham, Villarreal*
7: Athletic Club*, Basel, Beşiktaş, Dinamo Zagreb, Partizan, Salzburg*, Sevilla, Sparta Praha

Most points (UEFA Europa League only)
71: Salzburg
66: PSV Eindhoven

Most points (including UEFA Cup)
88: Tottenham
72: AZ Alkmaar, Villarreal

Most group stage goals (UEFA Europa League only)
63: Salzburg
59: Anderlecht

Most group stage goals (including UEFA Cup)
76: Tottenham Hotspur
68: AZ Alkmaar

UEFA Europa League group masters Salzburg©Getty Images

Most qualifications from group stage (UEFA Europa League only)
5: Anderlecht, Villarreal

Most group stage first places (UEFA Europa League only)
3: Fiorentina, Genk, Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Salzburg, Sporting CP

Single season (UEFA Europa League only)

Most points
18: Salzburg (2009/10), Zenit (2010/11), Anderlecht (2011/12), Salzburg (2013/14), Tottenham Hotspur (2013/14), Dinamo Moskva (2014/15), Napoli (2015/16), Shakhtar Donetsk (2016/17)

Biggest group-winning margin
11: Zenit (2010/11), Napoli (2015/16)

Fewest points to qualify
7: Anderlecht (2010/11), Napoli (2010/11), Maribor (2013/14), Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (2014/15), Midtjylland (2015/16), Krasnodar (2016/17)

Most points without going through
10: Birmingham City (2011/12), Paris Saint-Germain (2011/12), Tottenham Hotspur (2011/12), Young Boys (2012/13), Lokeren (2014/15), Sparta Praha (2014/15)

Most goals scored in a group
22: Napoli (2015/16)

Fewest goals conceded in a group
1: Standard Liège (2011/12)

Fulham went to the 2011/12 group stage from the first qualifying round©Getty Images

Teams progressing to group stage from first qualifying round (UEFA Europa League only)
Fulham (2011/12), Rosenborg (2012/13, 2015/16), Twente (2012/13), Tromsø (2013/14), Gabala (2015/16, 2016/17), Crvena Zevzda (2017/18), Maccabi Tel-Aviv (2016/17, 2017/18), Skënderbeu (2017/18)

Country stats:
Most campaigns by nations' clubs (UEFA Europa League only)
29: Italy*
25: Spain*
24: Germany*
23: Netherlands*
22: England*
21: France*, Portugal*

Most campaigns by nations' clubs (including UEFA Cup)
43: Spain*
41: Germany*, Italy*
40: Netherlands*
39: France*

Most different national representatives (UEFA Europa League only)
16: Germany*
14: Italy*
13: England,*
12: Portugal
11: France*

Most different national representatives (including UEFA Cup)
19: England*, Germany*
16: France*
15: Italy, Spain

Nations never represented (UEFA Europa League only)
Andorra, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Gibraltar, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Northern Ireland, San Marino, Wales***

Nations never represented (including UEFA Cup)
Andorra, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Northern Ireland, San Marino, Wales***

Player stats:
Most group stage appearances (UEFA Europa League only)
31: Mario Sonnleitner
30: Jeremain Lens, Ondřej Mazuch

Most group stage appearances (including UEFA Cup)
38: Dimitris Salpingidis
35: Atiba Hutchinson

Most group stage goals (UEFA Europa League only)
14: Raul Rusescu
13: Aritz Aduriz, Guillaume Hoarau

Most group stage goals (including UEFA Cup)
15: Jermain Defoe
14: Raul Rusescu, Dimitris Salpingidis

*Includes 2017/18
**Appeared in UEFA Cup group stage
***Welsh-based Swansea represented England in 2013/14