UEFA Europa League: Sevilla beat Juventus with an extra-time goal, to face Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma in the final
Jose Mourinho will have the chance to claim a sixth European trophy, although his Roma will have to prevent Sevilla from winning a record seventh Europa League title. Roma reached the final of the Europa League after holding Bayer Leverkusen to a 0-0 draw in Germany on Thursday after the kind of disciplined defensive displays that Mourinho’s teams are known for. The Italian club went 1–0 on aggregate after winning the semi-final first leg at home.
Roma will face six-time champions Sevilla, who prevented an all-Italian final after beating Juventus 2-1 after extra time. The final will be held on May 31 in Budapest, the capital of Hungary.
Leverkusen forward Moussa Diaby hit the crossbar early and Roma goalkeeper Rui Patricio was kept busy from time to time, but Roma’s defense held strong, despite the team rarely going forward and managing just one attempt on goal in the entire game. Did.
Mourinho is bidding for back-to-back European titles with Roma after winning last season’s inaugural edition of the Europa Conference League. He has won the Europa League – or UEFA Cup as it was previously known – with both Porto and Manchester United and also has two Champions League titles. “It’s an incredible team, I don’t know if I can ask for more from Roma, but these guys deserve something special,” Mourinho told Sky Sports.
Winning the Europa League could also be Roma’s only chance to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Sevilla trailed 1-0 at home in the second half but substitute Erik Lamela set up the equalizer to force extra-time and then headed in a 95th-minute winner at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.
After the two teams drew 1-1 in Torino last week, substitute striker Dusan Vlahovic gave Juventus the lead in the 65th minute with a precise chip from inside the area. Another substitute Suso scored the equalizer seven minutes later with a long range effort.
_ Erik Lamela’s header in extra time sends Sevilla into seventh #UEL final _ — UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) May 18, 2023
Sevilla defender Marcos Acuña was sent off after picking up his second yellow card five minutes before the final whistle. Sevilla hopes to salvage a turbulent season with a seventh win in second-tier European competition.
It finished just 10th in the Spanish league, but has shown once again that it thrives in Europe, ousting Manchester United in the quarter-finals. Sevilla won the trophy six times between 2006–2002.
Europa Conference League
Substitute Pablo Fornals scored deep into stoppage time for West Ham to beat AZ 1–0 in Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League semi-final second leg and send the Premier League club through to a European final for the first time in 47 years. This was followed by crowd trouble when some Dutch supporters tried to break into an area reserved for friends and family of players coming behind the dugout after the final whistle.
West Ham players including Michael Antonio, Said Bananarama, Aaron Cresswell and Flynn Downes climbed billboards to stop the trouble. West Ham manager David Moyes said, “I cannot explain what happened and why.” “I can only say that the players were involved because it was a family affair and most of their family and friends were there. Perhaps that was the reason for the reaction. West Ham will face Fiorentina in Prague on June 7 in the final.