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| Sevilla Won Europa league 2015 |
He has a look of
Michael Corleone - and after masterminding this record breaking Europa League
triumph Sevilla manager Unai Emery may end up with an offer he cannot refuse.
The 43-year-old has
attracted admiring glances from the likes of Newcastle and West Ham and his
credentials were further underlined with this triumph in an invigorating Europa
League final.
After a morning on
which the story was the ugly side of football came a bedtime fairytale - a
five-goal thriller that displayed the beauty of the game.
At the end of 90
breathless minutes, Emery's Andalusians were lifting Europe's most handsome
trophy for a fourth time, overtaking Juventus, Inter Milan and Liverpool. A
second back-to-back success following those of 2006 and 2007 in a decade of
dominance. While the Europa League may be well and truly a second tier
tournament, a quadruple is a fine achievement for Spain's fourth-largest city.
This was not,
however, as straightforward as some had predicted.
Dnipro, from a land
ravaged by war, had not come to surrender. They had played each 'home' match
243 miles to the north west in Kiev in a momentous path to Warsaw's Stadion
Naradowy thanks to the crisis in the east of Ukraine.
In an arena that
resembles a circus big top, this was a dramatic final act.
Sevilla started on
the front foot and had an penalty appeal turned down by Martin Atkinson but on
seven minutes the underdogs were ahead when Brazilian Matheus found space on
the right and volleyed a precise cross onto the head of former Blackburn Rovers
man Nikola Kalinic.
Showing a composure
rarely seen at Ewood Park, the Croatian, who scored seven times in 44
appearances for the Lancashire side after signing as a £6million replacement
for Roque Santa Cruz, powered his header past Sergio Rico to send those in sky
blue and yellow wild.
Game on.
Sevilla, however,
were composed and patiently searched for a response. Former £20m Arsenal man
Jose Antonio Reyes, captain on what may have been his farewell appearance in
his second stint at the club, hit a low drive into the side-netting from 20
yards out before unorthodox Dnipro keeper Denys Boyko, all punches and leg
blocks, pulled off a superb full-stretch stop to prevent Pole Grzegorz
Krychowiak from levelling on home soil.
He could not do the
same moments later, however, when the burly Colombian Carlos Bacca laid the
ball backwards from a short corner and Krychowiak took a calm touch and
side-footed home to delight the locals.
The Ukranians were
reeling and Sevilla, roared on by the red corner of a bouncing stadium, soon
sent their opponents to the floor. Reyes, the man who failed to live up to the
hype for the Gunners, spotted Bacca’s run and played a measured 30-yard through
ball for the latecomer to calmly round Boyko and slot home. A bell-ringer of a
goal from the former bus conductor.
Dnipro rallied. Urged
on by around 10,000 noisy supporters, many of whom had tied the country’s sky
blue and yellow flags around their necks, they quickly dusted themselves down
and came again.
Pacy Liverpool target
Yevhen Konoplyanka, cut in from the left and hit a swerving effort which was
bound for the top corner until the intervention of Rico. The Sevilla keeper,
21, won his first Spanish call-up this week and showed why with a fine stop.
He may, however, have
questioned his positioning when Ruslan Rotan, the Dnipro captain, clipped a free
kick from the edge of the box over the wall and into the far corner for the
equaliser to cue more chaotic scenes in the stands.
Rotan, 33, revealed
he and his team-mates had dipped into their own pockets to pay for some
supporters to make the journey to Poland. His strike ensured many of those had
smiles on their faces at the half-time whistle.
Reyes made way on 58
minutes for Coke as Emery pushed the talented Aleix Vidal, who had been playing
at right back, further up the field. It made the difference.
The vibrant
Krychowiak almost instantly gave Sevilla the lead but could not force the ball
home in a goalmouth scramble while Martin Atkinson rightly turned down a
penalty appeal when Vitolo went down under minimal contact in the box.
The red tide could
not be stemmed however, and few were surprised when Bacca, released by a
delightful flick from a recovered Vitolo, fired the winner.
On a night for heroes
Matheus was a late casualty, taken off on a stretcher following a late clash of
heads with Benoit Tremoulinas leaving Dnipro down to 10.
Regardless, they
pressed with a series of corners but for them there was to be no wonder in
Warsaw.
Perhaps it was
fitting that their journey should come to an end in a city that knows more than
most about human suffering - and issues with the bad boys next door.
Emery, already with a
decade in management, will now have a decision to make.
He will be enticed by
the prospect of Champions League football next season - for the first time
handed out as a prize for the winners.
Sevilla’s win and
that qualification may well have prompted more groans at the end of a season
full of them in east London and on Tyneside.
Source:dailymailsport.co.uk
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