Sevilla spoiled the Italian final – Kommersant

Sevilla and Roma reached the final of the Europa Football League, which will be held on May 31 in Budapest. The Spanish club did not allow the Italian final to take place, defeating Juventus in extra time of the second leg – 2:1. Roma drew 0-0 with Bayer Leverkusen and won the home win on aggregate.

Unlike the Champions League, where two Italian teams – Inter and Milan – ended up in the same semi-final, in the Europa League, two representatives of Serie A, who also reached this stage, moved in parallel courses and could only meet in the decisive match of the tournament . Italy, of course, dreamed of the Juventus-Roma final, and both clubs had fairly good chances of participating in it, but still no more than 50%. The Romans outperformed Bayer at home with a minimal 1:0 advantage, while the Turints barely rebounded from Sevilla at home, snatching a 1:1 draw just before the final whistle.

In the second leg, Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri even almost half changed the starting line-up, including, in particular, the author of the saving goal Federico Gatti, 19-year-old Samuel Ealing-Junior and Moise Ken, who played the role of a central striker instead of Dusan Vlahovic. Surely Paul Pogba would have come out from the first minutes, but the Frenchman was injured in a recent meeting of the national championship with Cremonese. But the mentor of Sevilla, Jose Luis Mendilibar, released the same squad as in Turin, where his team looked very solid. Still, it is no coincidence that the Sevillas in the quarterfinals dealt with Manchester United. They did not flinch before the Italian grandee.

At Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Juve also had a hard time. The hosts started the match so actively, as if they needed to recoup after an unsuccessful departure. The guests in the opening were marked by Ken’s kick in the stomach to Nemanja Gudel and almost remained in the minority. However, it didn’t come to a removal, and then the Turintsy almost scored from a corner when Gatti hit a football head and goalkeeper Yassin Bunu made a save. However, his colleague Wojciech Szczesny saved his team in an even more difficult situation, when Lukas Ocampos hit his head in the fall and the Pole barely scooped the ball out from somewhere under the bar.

Sevilla acted as the first number, but Juventus accepted the challenge and snapped back with sharp counterattacks. Star Argentinean Angel Di Maria could well have opened the scoring if he hadn’t spied on entering the gate. Here is his compatriot and partner in the team that became the world champion, Marcos Acuña, in a simple way, charged from behind the penalty area, and Szczesny pulled the ball already from under the crossbar. The guests responded even more dangerously when Ken spun Loic Bade and shot well into the far corner. But Bunu managed to substitute his foot, and this light touch was enough for the ball to go off the scoring trajectory, and then the bar helped the goalkeeper. Then again it was the turn to rescue Szczesny. The Polish goalkeeper survived, and Adrien Rabiot even put Juventus ahead, but the referees canceled his goal due to offside. And at the end of the first half, the Sevillas were also a little unlucky, when Juan Cuadrado demolished Oliver Torres, but, according to VAR, this happened behind the penalty line.

Despite the zeros, the match was just fire. And in the second half the teams continued to play in the same spirit – from gate to gate. Moreover, better moments arose from the guests. Rabiot ran one on one with Bunu and somehow miraculously missed the corner, while Bremer touched the bar after a cross from a standard. Well, then Allegri replaced Ken with Vlahovic, and the Serb made a goal in just a couple of minutes of being on the field. He pushed through the central defenders, burst into the penalty area and sent the ball into the net. But Mendilibar also guessed with the replacements. Suso had ten minutes to justify the trust of the coach and hit the target with a blow from the radius.

Draw 1:1 again forced both teams to seek their fortune at the gates of others. And the hosts at the end of regular time so opened a second wind. They again forced Juventus to fight back, and Szczesny had a sharp increase in work. Only he kept Turin in the game when Suso, Brian Gil and Youssef En-Nesiri beat. As a result, it was not possible to avoid extra time in this semi-final. And it was very hot there too. The guests could score Federico Chiesa, but Bunu did not blunder, and in the next attack, Eric Lamela closed Gil’s flank feed with his head. Now Juve went all-in, and Chiesa had a great opportunity to retaliate the second goal, but the Italian launched the ball into the upper tier of the podium behind the goal. Sevilla finished with ten men after the removal of Acuña and still defended the victory – 2: 1, confirming that the Europa League is really their tournament. Recall that the Spanish club won it four times in the current format and twice more in the previous one, when it was called the UEFA Cup.

But without the Italian participant, the Europa League final will not do. At the heart of Bayer for the return match with Roma, the former Zenit striker Serdar Azmun appeared. In addition, Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso has made personnel changes in connection with the loss of Robert Andrich and Odilon Cossunu due to injuries. And the head of Roma, Jose Mourinho, mirrored the victorious squad from a week ago. True, now the Romans were playing not so much for a win as for a goalless draw, and they achieved it. The hosts had opportunities for scoring, the same Azmun could equalize the score on aggregate if he hadn’t missed from an advantageous position, and Moussa Diaby hit the crossbar. But in general, Mourinho’s pragmatic plan worked, and luck smiled at the famous Portuguese specialist again. With Roma, he won the Conference League last season and has now reached the final of the Europa League. In general, Mourinho’s collection already has all European competitions.

Alexander Ilyin