Mourinho found his master, Sevilla picked it up too!

Inexhaustible Sevilla, picked it up too! The Andalusians beat Roma on penalties, winning 4-1 (1-1 leg & overtime) in Budapest and winning the 7th Europa League (5 Europa+2 UEFA Cups) in their history. First defeat in a European final for Jose Mourinho, who came from 5/5.

In the minds of the coaches:

With 4-3-3 Sevilla. Bono was under the posts, Navas, Bande, Gudel and Telles in defense, with Fernando and Rakitic as the two midfielders, while Torres had a play maker role, with Ocampos and Hill on the “wings”, while En Nesiri was at the top of the attack.

With 3-4-3 Roma. Patricio was under the rafters. Ibanez, Mancini and Smalling the three stoppers. Cristante and Matic the two midfielders, with Celik and Spinazzola on either side. Pellegrini was behind the two forwards Dybala and Abraham.

The match

Many would have expected an aggressive Sevilla and a collected Roma, but the scenario of the match was different. The “Giallorossi” were the ones, however, who were in the spotlight from the start, having the initiative of the movements and had it for most of the first half. He found the first big phase and one of the few big ones in the first half, with Celik making the turn from the right in the 12′ and Spinazzola being in a shooting position with the goal plate, but his shot was over Bono .

Roma continued to control the situation for a long time, but it was difficult to find a clear phase and in what was essentially its 2nd good moment in the match, it found the goal. Cristade stole the ball in midfield and passed it to Mancini, who with a superb through-the-hole put Dybala in a shooting position, with the Argentinian ace slotting home to make it 0-1. From that point on, Sevilla started to become more aggressive and by the break they had twice flirted with 1-1. In the 44th minute, Rakitic took a corner and Fernando took the header from an excellent position, but without balance and missed. At 45’+6′, Rakitic caught a very strong shot and the ball hit the root of Patricio’s left post.

Clearly improved and more determined, Sevilla entered the second half, forcing Roma into a passive role until it was 1-1. Telles didn’t manage to do it in the 52′, after he missed with a shot from a somewhat sideways position, but it happened in the 55′. Navas made the cross from the right, Ocampos entered the phase powerfully, but did not find the ball, while before En Nesiri did it, against Mancini, who was charged with an own goal.

Roma stormed into the penalty area after the hour and almost found a 2nd goal in the 67th minute when Pellegrini teed up, Smalling made little contact with the ball and Abraham headed over from close range, Bono clearing with legs. In the 75th minute, Taylor showed the white flag for marking Ibanez to Okambos, but he took it back through an onfield review. After the Brazilian found the ball initially and not the foot of the Sevilla ace afterwards.

Shortly after there were complaints from Roma for a penalty after the ball found the hand of Fernando, who had a bit of a sticky hand on it. However, the Englishman could give it. In the 83rd minute, Roma made it 2-1, with Pellegrini making the save, Belotti making the save and Bono making the save, keeping the score at 1-1. The last final in regular time was for the La Liga team, with En Nesiri’s misdirected header at 90’+2′.

In extra time, the spectacle was bad, with both teams taking few risks, resulting in few good chances. The first half of the extra time basically went by… like that, while the 2nd was better, but mostly in the last minutes. Ocampos made an individual effort, came in from the right, but could not execute from a difficult angle, while at 120’+10′, Roma almost scored a “golden” goal, with Smalling sending the ball onto the post with a header, while then Belotti was unable to send the ball into the net.

See here the film of the struggle, through it control-room of sport-fm.gr.

More in a while…