Background
The qualification of Porto and Braga for the UEFA Europa League final ensured it would be the first all-Portuguese final in UEFA competition, and only the second-ever European tie between Portuguese teams, after the semi-final meeting between Braga and Benfica. Nevertheless, it was the eighth time that two clubs from the same national association featured in a UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League final. A distance of 47.4 km (29.5 mi) separated the cities of Porto and Braga, the smallest distance between opponents in a UEFA competition final. The previous record was 83.8 km (52.1 mi), set at the 1988 UEFA Super Cup between PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands and KV Mechelen of Belgium.
Porto secured its presence in a major UEFA competition final for the fifth time, after victorious campaigns at the 1986–87 European Cup (2–1 against Bayern Munich), 2002–03 UEFA Cup (3–2 against Celtic) and 2003–04 UEFA Champions League (3–0 against Monaco), and a runner-up place in the 1984 European Cup Winners' Cup Final against Juventus (lost 2–1). The club also competed three times in the UEFA Super Cup – won in 1987 (2–0 in aggregate, against Ajax) and lost in 2003 (1–0 against Milan) and 2004 (2–1 against Valencia) – and grabbed two European/South American Cup titles in 1987 (1–0 against Peñarol of Uruguay) and 2004 (0–0, 8–7 on penalties, against Once Caldas of Colombia).
Braga qualified for a UEFA competition final for the first time. Before reaching the Dublin final, the team's best European result was a place in the last 16 of the 2006–07 and 2008–09 UEFA Cup seasons. Participation in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup was achieved via the 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup, where Braga was one of the eleven third-round winners. Having reached the furthest in the UEFA Cup, among the Intertoto Cup teams, Braga were considered the outright winners of the last season of this competition. In contrast to the extended national and international curriculum of Porto, Braga had just one major title in their history: the 1966 Portuguese Cup.
A UEFA Champions League regular, Porto finished third in the 2009–10 Primeira Liga and thus missed a place in the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League, entering instead in the UEFA Europa League play-off round. This was the first time Porto competed in UEFA's second competition since winning the 2002–03 tournament. Braga, on the other hand, finished the Portuguese league in a historic second place, granting the team participation in the UEFA Champions League for the first time. Braga reached the group stage by successively knocking out more highly regarded opponents, such as Celtic and Sevilla, in the second and third qualifying rounds, respectively. The club concluded the group stage in third place, behind Shakhtar Donetsk and Arsenal and was therefore relegated into the UEFA Europa League round of 32.
Read more about this topic: 2011 UEFA Europa League Final
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