Sevilla & Roma to contest 2023 Europa League final

Sevilla sudah menjadi pemenang rekor dalam sejarah kompetisi, mengangkat trofi tidak kurang dari enam kali (2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020) dan mengincar kemenangan ketujuh.

Roma, sementara itu, terakhir memenangkannya pada tahun 1961 ketika dikenal sebagai Inter-Cities Fairs Cup – pendahulu dari apa yang akhirnya menjadi Piala UEFA dan kemudian Liga Europa. Namun, mereka adalah pemegang Liga Konferensi Eropa saat ini.

Sevilla memulai musim ini di Liga Champions tetapi turun setelah babak penyisihan grup. Mereka telah menyingkirkan PSV Eindhoven, Fenerbahce Manchester United dan Juventus.

The semi-final against Juve was eventually decided in extra-time. The first leg had finished 1-1 after a 97th minute equaliser from Federico Gatti in Turin. The return fixture in Spain was also 1-1 after 90 minutes, forcing extra-time, during which Erik Lamela scored an early header to win it.

Roma completed the ultimate ‘park the bus’ mission to get through to the final. Jose Mourinho’s side held a 1-0 aggregate lead heading to Germany to face Bayer Leverkusen and set about keeping it. Lorenzo Pellegrini’s wayward shot after two minutes was their only effort of the whole game, compared to 15 attempts from Leverkusen and eight other blocked shots.

As well as being a two-time Champions League winning manager, Mourinho has won this competiton twice before too - as Porto boss in 2003 and with Manchester United in 2017.

When & where is the 2023 UEFA Europa League final?

This season’s Europa League final will take place at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on 31 May 2023. It is the first of the three UEFA finals to be played, with the Europa Conference League final between West Ham and Fiorentina scheduled for 7 June and the Champions League final that will see Manchester City take on Inter to be played three days after that on 10 June.