Who wins the Europa League? Opta’s supercomputer makes its prediction

The Europa League returns this week for a new season, with 36 teams ready for an eight-week league phase that will run from Wednesday evening through mid-January.

At the end of those matches, the teams will be ranked in a single giant table, with the top eight advancing to the round of 16, while the teams finishing from 9th to 24th will play in a play-off round to also secure a place in the knockout stage.

Ahead of the start of the 2026-27 Europa League league phase, Opta’s supercomputer has run 10,000 season simulations. But who won the competition most often?

In their first-ever European season, Bournemouth are the favorites to go all the way and win the 2026-27 Europa League.

Opta’s supercomputer ran 10,000 season simulations, and Rose’s side managed the balance between domestic and European football well, winning the Europa League more often (14.3%) than any other team. Bournemouth also finished the league phase at the top of the standings in more simulations (15.1%) than any other side.

Benfica rank just behind Bournemouth, winning the Europa League in 14.0% of the simulations.

The third favorite to win the Europa League is Bayer Leverkusen. Milan and Juventus are also in the top 10. The Bianconeri won the tournament in 7.8% of the simulations, while the Rossoneri did so in 5.4%.