Net figures: The UEFA Europa League by numbers

1 – The decider in Turin was the first final since the inception of the UEFA Europa League to be settled by a penalty shoot-out. It was not the first time Sevilla had triumphed via that method, though, as they held their nerve in the round of 16 to eliminate city rivals Real Betis Balompié 4-3 on spot kicks.

3 – PSV Eindhoven, FC Rubin Kazan and AFC Ajax are the only teams to have appeared in all five UEFA Europa League campaigns. PSV are the only side to have featured in all five group stages, while Rubin and Ajax boast 100% attendance records for the five rounds of 32.

3 – Sevilla clearly have an affinity with the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League. The Turin triumph was their third success in the competition in eight years, the Andalusians having ended a 58-year wait for a major trophy against Middlesbrough FC in Eindhoven in 2006 and shown they have what it takes in shoot-outs in 2007 when Andrés Palop was the hero against RCD Espanyol in Glasgow.

4 – There were four hat-tricks registered this term. Jonatan Soriano – who finished as the competition's top scorer – got the ball rolling on matchday one with three goals in FC Salzburg's 4-0 victory over IF Elfsborg before Roberto Soldado (Tottenham Hotspur FC 4-1 FC Anji Makhachkala), Paco Alcácer (Valencia CF 5-0 FC Basel 1893) and Olcan Adın (Trabzonspor AŞ 4-2 Apollon Limassol FC) joined the party.

7 – Rubin and NK Maribor were involved in the game with the most goals this term. The Russian team made the most of their trip to Slovenia with five different players getting on the scoresheet in a 5-2 win.

8 – This is not a number SL Benfica will want reminding of. Their shoot-out defeat by Sevilla FC on Wednesday evening was the eighth successive European final that they have lost and their search for continental silverware will go into a 59th year. The alleged 'curse of Bela Guttman', who led the Eagles to two European Cups before leaving the club in 1962, goes on.

18 – For the first time in a UEFA Europa League group stage two clubs completed the campaign with a maximum haul of 18 points – Salzburg and Tottenham. The Austrian club thus became the first club to achieve the feat twice, having also won all six of their group games in the inaugural 2009/10 season. The only other clubs to have previously registered a perfect record were FC Zenit (2010/11) and RSC Anderlecht (2011/12).

19 – The round of 32 featured teams from 19 member associations - a record for the competition, surpassing the 17 nations that had at least one representative in the 2010/11 season. Italy and Ukraine jointly led the way with four clubs each.

24 – Exactly half of the 48 sides that took part on matchday one were making their debut appearance in the UEFA Europa League proper (group stage to final). Nine of those 24 opened with a win, nine were beaten and the other six registered draws.

25 – Benfica set new competition records for appearances in the quarter-finals (four) and semi-finals (three). They also ended the season boasting the most wins in the five-year history of the competition (25) as well as the highest number of goals scored (68), while extending an unbeaten home run that put them just one shy of Lisbon rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal's competition record of 19 matches. The Eagles have won 16 and drawn two of their home fixtures.

27 – A record number of nations – 27 – were represented in this season's group stage. Six of those countries – Belgium, England, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Ukraine – had three teams involved.

2,500 – The UEFA Europa League's 2,500th goal was netted by Salzburg's Senegal midfielder Sadio Mané as he rounded off the scoring in a 3-0 home victory over Esbjerg fB on matchday six.