The 2005–06 UEFA Cup, the 35th edition of the UEFA Cup, was won by Sevilla, beating Middlesbrough in the final. It was the first victory for Sevilla in a European competition, and the first appearance by Middlesbrough in a European final. The final took place at Philips Stadion, in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The match was refereed by Herbert Fandel. Middlesbrough sealed their place in the final on the back of two dramatic comebacks. In the quarter finals they beat FC Basel of Switzerland 4–3 on aggregate (after losing the first leg 2–0 and being 1–0 down in the second leg, they scored 4 goals), this put them into the semi–final to face Steaua București. The first leg finished 1–0 to Steaua, and the second leg (at the Riverside Stadium again) finished 4–2 (after being 2–0 down). Sevilla went on to defend the trophy the following year. CSKA Moscow were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage. Association team allocation 113 teams qualified directly for the 2005–06 UEFA Cup from 52 UEFA associations. An additional three teams qualified via the UEFA Fair Play league, while 27 further teams qualified at various stages from the UEFA Intertoto Cup and the UEFA Champions League. Below is the final qualification scheme for the 2005–06 UEFA Cup: Associations 1–6 each have 3 teams qualify, with the exception of England (2) who have 2 teams Associations 7–8 each have 4 teams qualify Associations 9–15 each have 2 teams qualify Associations 16–20 each have 3 teams qualify Associations 21–49 each have 2 teams qualify, with the exception of Liechtenstein (43) who have 1 team Associations 50–52 each have 1 team qualify plus Winner of previous years' tournament 3 UEFA Fair Play entries 3 winners of the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup 16 losers from the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round 8 third-placed teams from the UEFA Champions League group stage Association ranking Notes (CLTH): Berth vacated due to being taken by the UEFA Champions League title holders. (UCL): Teams transferred from the Champions League. (UIC): Additional berths for the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup winners. (FP): Additional Fair Play berth (Germany, Norway, Denmark). Distribution Each association enters a certain number of teams to the UEFA Cup based on its league coefficient. Through domestic competitions (national championships and cups and league cups in certain countries) an association may qualify up to four teams. The following amendments were