Third consecutive Europa League final to be resolved on penalties. After drawing 1-1 in regulation time, Sevilla became the new UEFA Europa League champion after beating Roma in a penalty shootout thanks to a last goal scored by the Argentine Gonzalo Montiel and thus reaffirming himself as the undisputed king team of this competition with the seventh cup won, in a match held at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary.
The person in charge of putting Roma ahead was the Argentine Paula Dybala, who after a non-existent foul on Iván Rakitic, was encouraged to receive a ball recovered by Cristante and did not forgive Bono at minute 35.
At the end of the first half, the Croatian Iván Rakitic caught a loose ball in the central zone of the field and sent a first-rate missile with his left foot that hit Rui Patricio’s left post and alerted José Mourinho’s men.
But since football is unpredictable and sometimes capricious, Sevilla would tie the game after a cross that Italian Gianluca Mancini found and scored on his own goal. The Sevillian team had another illusion taken away in the 73rd minute after a penalty that was annulled by the VAR after confirming a clean removal from the Brazilian Ibañez to the Argentine Lucas Ocampos in the Roman area.
Roma also had a clearer penalty opportunity after Matic sent in a cross from the left and the ball hit Brazilian Fernando’s hand as he tried to hide his arm behind his back. However, the British referee Anthony Taylor interpreted that he had his hand close to his body and allowed the play to continue.
Later, at minute 83, a laboratory play by Roma almost surprised the Spanish team thanks to Belotti, but the Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, better known as Bono, prevented him from screaming for a goal with a spectacular save. Suso also had it for Sevilla towards the end of regulation time with a strong shot that failed to enter the Italian goal.
Already in added time, the balance opted for the Spanish team with respect to arrivals in the rival area, but Smalling had a last header at the end of the second extra time that hit the crossbar and sent the match to a penalty shootout .
Another Europa League final that is defined on penalties
Already on penalties, Lucas Ocampos converted the first for Sevilla, but Cristante responded for the Italians in the first opportunity for Roma. “Coco” Lamela made it 2-1 and Mancini continued his losing streak after Bono blocked his second chance from 11 steps.
The Croatian Iván Rakitic was in charge of marking the 3-1 Roger Ibañez failed to concede the third penalty for Roma after the ball hit Bono’s right post. The Argentine Montiel had the qualifying penalty but Rui Patricio denied it with a changed hand. However, the referee ruled that the Portuguese goalkeeper had overtaken and Montiel had a new opportunity that he would not waste to score the goal that would give Sevilla the Europa League.
In this way, Sevilla achieved its seventh Europa League title, after taking the finals in 2006 in Eindhoven (Netherlands), 2007 in Glasgow (Scotland), 2014 in Turin (Italy), 2015 in Warsaw ( Austria), in 2016 in Basel (Switzerland) and in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, in Cologne (Germany).
The only previous confrontation between Roma and Sevilla in European competitions was in the round of 16 of the Europa League of the 2019-2020 season, the last in which the Andalusian team was champion. On that occasion the Spanish won 2-0.
The Italians have only lifted two continental titles: the extinct Fairs Cup in 1961 and the last Conference League. In 1991, the ‘Loba’ played in a UEFA Cup final, although they lost against Inter Milan. and in 1984, they did the same against Liverpool on penalties, but in the final of the European Cup. The capital team closed its season in sixth place in Serie A, directly accessing next year’s Europa League.
For its part, Sevilla marches in position number 11 in the LaLiga table after losing on Saturday against Real Madrid (1-2). After a disastrous campaign in which they spent most of the time fighting to avoid relegation, they had a new breather with the arrival of José Luis Mendilibar as technical director.
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