Sevilla vs Roma LIVE: Result and reaction as Sevilla win Europa League via penalty shootout
Sevilla 1-1 Roma (Sevilla win 4-1 via penalties): They won the Europa League for a record-extending seventh time
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Sevilla are the Europa League champions. It’s a familiar phrase as the Spanish side lifted the trophy for a record-extending seventh time after defeating Roma via a penalty shootout in Budapest.
The champions were second best in the first half. They started slow and sluggish as Roma dictated the tempo of the game. Jose Mourinho risked starting Paulo Dybala up front for the Serie A team and was rewarded with the opening goal as Dybala slotted home from the left side of the box.
Roma then sat back as the second half began with Sevilla gaining the upperhand. Luck played a big part in the equaliser despite the more positive play from Jose Luis Mendiliar’s men. Jesus Navas whipped the ball in from the right and it deflected off Gianluca Mancini to bring the game level.
There it remained through extra-time before the final went to a penalty shootout. Roma squandered their spot kick and Gonzalo Montiel guided home the winning kick to earn Sevilla their seventh Europa League victory.
Relive the action as Sevilla and Roma clashed in the Europa League showpiece:
Rakitic’s pre-match thoughts
Sevilla midfielder, Ivan Rakitic said: “The coach has been very clear from the start about what he wants. This won’t change tomorrow.
“We have to be ourselves. When we say nobody loves the competition like we do, it’s not because some bright spark in the club offices said it. It’s because we think that way.
“We have to play the perfect game and win the cup and bring it home.”
Will Tammy emulate Jose?
England striker Tammy Abraham is looking to become the first player to win the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League. And he’d be doing it in successive years.
He won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2020/21, even though he did not feature in the final against Manchester City, before lifting the Europa Conference League with Roma last year.
Only Jose Mourinho, as a coach, has won all three trophies. Will Abraham become the second person to get his hands on all three?
Pre-match thoughts from Nemaja Gudelj
Sevilla midfielder Nemanja Gudelj spoke before kick off saying: "If somebody had told us at the beginning of the season that this would be the case [Sevilla being in the final], we wouldn’t really have believed them.
"Mendilibar has to be thanked for that. We’ve improved our overall style of play, we’ve started getting better results and we’ve started playing the way that Sevilla used to play a few years ago."
Sevilla vs Roma
This is Roma’s fifth European final - after the 1961 Fairs Cup, 1984 European Cup, 1991 Uefa Cup and 2022 Europa Conference League.
They were successful in the 1961 Fairs Cup and the 2022 Europa Conference League but lost both cup finals in 1984 and 1991.
Which way will this one go?
Sevilla vs Roma
Sevilla’s Jesus Navas, at 37 years and 191 days old, is the oldest outfielder to start the final since David Weir, who was 38, for Rangers against Zenit in 2008.
Navas won Sevilla’s first Uefa Cup in 2006 against Middlesbrough when he was 20 years and 170 days old.
Jose Mourinho’s European honours
Roma boss Jose Mourinho has been to five European finals and has won every single one of them. Here’s a list of when and who he’s beaten in European competition.
2003 Uefa Cup: Porto 3-2 Celtic (Seville)
2004 Champions League: Monaco 0-3 Porto (Gelsenkirchen)
2010 Champions League: Bayern Munich 0-2 Inter Milan (Madrid)
2017 Europa League: Ajax 0-2 Manchester United (Solna)
2022 Europa Conference League: Roma 1-0 Feyenoord (Tirana)
Sevilla vs Roma
Both teams inspect the pitch ahead of kick off at 8pm. Which side will become the 2022/23 Europa League champions?
Sevilla vs Roma
There’s a lot more at stake in tonight’s final that just a trophy.
The winners at Budapest’s Puskas Arena will play in next season’s Champions League with tonight’s final being the only hope of doing so for both teams.
Neither team has finished in the top four of their respective leagues, while Sevilla - 11th in La Liga - could miss out on Europe entirely if they lose.
The year that sportswashing won: A season that changed football forever
For an illustration of the sort of double-think that has pervaded football this campaign, consider the actions of one prominent figure. They have effusively praised Manchester City in public, but constantly asked when the Premier League investigation is going to be concluded in private.
This could actually refer to a few people, and might well be necessary realpolitik. It’s also the reality of the game in the 2022-23 season, one that has gone on so long that two contrasting perspectives on the same subject could both be entirely fair at different times.
This was a campaign that was deeply predictable at one end and wondrously open below that. City may make history by winning a treble but also made history in becoming the first champions to have been charged with breaches that could yet see them expelled from the Premier League. Manchester United were often a shambles in some record defeats but also sensibly getting things together under the astute Erik ten Hag. On it goes, just like the season itself. There’s still almost a month left.
The year that sportswashing won: A season that changed football forever
The 2022-23 season saw football show its two faces and things will never be the same, writes Miguel Delaney
Pre-match thoughts from Sevilla’s sporting director
Sevilla sporting director Monchi spoke to the Spanish media about how his team will fare in tonight’s final saying: “It’ll be difficult because they’re a team who make few mistakes and give little away. You have to beat them – rather than them losing – and try not to commit errors as they live off them.
“Mourinho’s a wily old fox in these contests and he tries to take the pressure off them to put it on us. I don’t know if Smalling, Dybala and Belotti are kids.
“So I don’t think this talk of favourites means much. We’ve got to a good moment after a very tough season. The coach has managed to convince the group of a concept and we’re defending that to the end.”
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