Two of the Europa League's most successful teams do battle in the final of the competition on Friday night as a campaign which has spanned more than 12 months finally comes to an end.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced the competition to adopt an unfamiliar format, with every match from the quarter-finals onwards being played over one leg at a neutral venue.

The RheinEnergieStadion in Koln will play host to the final as Sevilla and Inter Milan face off, with both clubs looking to extend a fine record in Europe's secondary club competition.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at Inter Milan's record in the UEFA Cup/Europa League.

Inter Milan are one of the biggest names in European football with a rich history in both the European Cup/Champions League and the secondary competition, which they find themselves in the final of for a fifth time on Friday.

Only opponents Sevilla - appearing in their sixth - have both played in more finals and lifted the trophy on more occasions, with Inter sitting in a cluster of teams with three UEFA Cup/Europa League titles to their name alongside Liverpool, Juventus and Atletico Madrid.

Inter have lifted the European Cup the same number of times, but they have not got their hands on this particular trophy since 1998, when they beat Lazio in a classic final which brought an end to a golden era for Inter in Europe.

A young Brazilian by the name of Ronaldo starred in that 3-0 triumph over Lazio, with Ivan Zamorano and Javier Zanetti also getting on the scoresheet - the latter in spectacular fashion - as Inter bounced back from having lost the final 12 months earlier against Schalke 04.

Indeed, the 1998 final was Inter's fourth time in the showpiece event in the space of eight years, having previously lifted the trophy in 1991 and 1994 as well.

The Nerazzurri's first triumph in the competition came against Serie A rivals Roma in a two-legged final which saw Giovanni Trapattoni's Inter side win 2-0 at San Siro before limiting Roma to a 1-0 victory at the Stadio Olimpico to come out on top 2-1 on aggregate.

Three years later Inter were back in the final again, this time beating Austria Salzburg 1-0 in both legs to seal a second title, which was hoisted aloft by the competition's all-time record appearance-maker Giuseppe Bergomi.

In fact, Inter Milan as a club have played more UEFA Cup/Europa League matches than any other team - 190 in total - and their tally of 96 wins is also unparalleled in the competition's history.

Only Sporting Lisbon and Club Brugge have both taken part in more campaigns and lost more matches in the competition, while Brugge are the only team to have scored more goals - although three for Inter on Friday would see them jump to the top of that all-time list.

Inter's more recent history is less impressive, though; before this season they had not made it past the last 16 since 2003-04, while that 1998 triumph was their last taste of the final.