Europa League Group-Stage Awards
The UEFA Europa League group stage is complete after 48 teams took part in 24 games across the continent on Matchday 6.
The end of the group stage is the perfect time to take stock. Who scored the most goals? Which team was the most dominant? And why should you keep watching anyway?
Fortunately, Bleacher Report has you covered. Keep reading for answers to all those questions and more.
Top Scorers
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Through six matches of group-stage play, two players share the title of Europa League's top goalscorer. Strangely enough, they were in the same group all along.
Aritz Aduriz scored six times in five matches to help Athletic Bilbao top Group L with 13 points. At age 34, Aduriz is enjoying a fine season with the Basque club, with 10 more goals to his name in La Liga.
Finishing second in Group L, Augsburg made it through to the round of 32 thanks to Raul Bobadilla's late goal against Partizan. It was Bobadilla's sixth strike of the group stage, pulling him onto level terms with Aduriz.
Best Europa League Specialists
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Some players seem to perform better in the Europa League than in their domestic competitions. Bobadilla, the competition's co-leading scorer this season, is one of them. Though the Paraguay international has scored six times in the Europa League, he's netted only three goals in the Bundesliga this term.
He's not alone. The Europa League seems to bring out the best in several players.
Another is Tottenham Hotspur's Erik Lamela, who hit a first-half hat-trick against Monaco on Matchday 6. The Argentina forward finished the group stage with five strikes, more than double his total of two so far this season in the Premier League.
Despite that peculiar scoring record, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said Lamela has been a steady presence for his team this season.
"[The hat-trick is] fantastic for Lamela and a great moment for him," Pochettino said, per BBC Sport. "From the start of the season he's showing improvement and consistency."
The most curious case of Europa League scoring form might belong to Schalke's Franco Di Santo. In 408 continental minutes this season, the Argentine has scored five goals. Meanwhile, in 930 Bundesliga minutes, he's scored just once, per WhoScored.com.
Most Dominant Team
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Napoli demolished the competition in Group D, winning all six of their matches by a combined score of 22-3. Maurizio Sarri's men were so dominant that they were confirmed as group winners on Matchday 4.
Those 22 goals? A record, beating Salzburg's previous mark of 21. The goal differential of plus-19? More goals than the other three teams in Group D scored all together.
After steamrolling through the group stage, Napoli should be a formidable team in the knockout phase.
Most Football Manager-Esque Goal
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Pione Sisto is a Uganda-born Danish footballer who plays midfield for Midtjylland. The goal he scored for his side on Matchday 6 was less like something any normal footballer would do and more like something you'd see in Football Manager.
In the 27th minute against Club Brugge, Sisto moved a step or two away from the touchline on the left and lashed the ball into the top corner of the net from all of 30 yards. See the goal here.
We might never know whether Sisto was shooting or crossing, but this will go down as one of the most remarkable strikes of the group stage.
Best Reason to Keep Watching
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So the group stage is over and you're wondering why you should keep watching the Europa League. With 32 teams left in the competition, there's still plenty of time left until the games get interesting.
OK, so you're not wrong about that, but consider this: In the hat for the round of 32 are a whole bunch of big names from around world football. Liverpool, Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli and Porto are just a few of the sides that are still around. And Sevilla—the two-time defending champions—are back in their preferred milieu after crashing out of the Champions League group stage.
Keep watching. The best is yet to come.
