Sevilla FC has risen to become the record winner of the Europa League. In a spectacular finale in Cologne, Luuk de Jong was the hero of the evening. Romelu Lukaku became a tragic figure in the loser Inter Milan.
From Christian Hornung
Sevilla said the rousing game 3-2 (2-2) in front of empty stands in the Cologne stadium. The Andalusians, who won the UEFA Cup in 2006 and 2007, have won the Europa League for the fourth time after 2014, 2015 and 2016. The first half of this duel in particular was great Friday evening entertainment.
From the very first minute, an exchange of blows developed in Müngersdorf, which would have earned 50,000 fans instead of around 300 officials in the stadium. There was no tactical banter, no palpation, no warm-up phase – it went straight to the point. The two coaches Julen Lopetegui from FC Sevilla and Antonio Conte from Inter Milan also gave full throttle on the sidelines, hardly leaving a scene uncommented and were repeatedly on the verge of what was allowed.
Lukaku not to stop
However, there was little to suggest for Lopetegui at the penalty kick for the early Inter lead. Seville defender Diego Carlos let himself be overwhelmed by the force of Romelu Lukakus in the running duel, only able to step into his heels in the penalty area – Lukaku converted the penalty himself with nerves to make it 1-0 (5th). It was a record goal: The Belgian scored in the Europa League’s eleventh game in a row – something like this had never happened before.
Seville had already proven in the 2-1 in the semifinals against Manchester United that a deficit does not cause them any lasting nervous flutter. And coach Lopetegui had learned one thing from this game: winning goal scorer Luuk de Jong, still a joker against ManUnited, was in the starting line-up this time. And he paid that back. In the 12th minute there was exactly the combination that brought the Andalusians to the final: Jesús Navas’ right flank, in the center de Jong broke away with a short kick from Diego Godín – and headed the 1-1 equalizer.
De Jong in a double pack
Then Sevilla took control in midfield, put enormous pressure on both flanks and left Inter barely breathing space. Coach Conte tried to push more from the outside – and saw in the 17th minute the very consistent referee Danny Makkelie for his exaggerated theatricality the yellow card. But Contes’ frustration grew. In the 33rd minute, Ever Banega flicked a free kick from the right-hand corner precisely over the Inter defense, where de Jong was again free – and turned the game to 2-1 with a perfectly placed header into the far corner.
What Lucien Favre was thinking at that moment would have been interesting to know. Under today’s Dortmund coach, the 12 million king transfer de Jong in 2012/13 flopped completely in Mönchengladbach because Favre was not a fan of high flanks: With a loss of a whopping seven million euros, Gladbach gave the Dutchman back two years later. Recovering high balls for header goals was not only the strength of Sevilla and de Jong that evening: In the 36th minute, Inter equalized after a free kick from Marcelo Brozovic by Godín, who had irresistibly screwed up the six-yard box.
Bounou keeps Sevilla in the game
The second half started a little more moderately, but more action than before was hardly possible. For 20 minutes the game got by without major goal scenes, both teams noticeably reduced their willingness to take risks. Then came Lukaku again. After a through pass by Nicolo Barella, the Belgian was again unstoppable, but in a one-on-one with Yassine Bounou, the Seville keeper, who had already outstanding against Manchester, retained the upper hand.
For the finale in general, and Lukaku in particular, that was a key scene. Seven minutes later, the brawny Belgian wanted to defend a standard in his own penalty area – but he deflected Diego Carlos’ spectacular overhead kick into his own goal after a header that was defended too short: 3-2 for the Andalusians. After that, Inter tried everything again, but Sevilla left with a compact and highly concentrated defensive performance even in the six-minute stoppage time except for a low shot by Antonio Candreva that was cleared on the line: a victory for the outsider, which was by no means undeserved.
“Hard to put into words”
Seville captain Jesús Navas, who had already won the Europa League for the first time, was extremely proud after the game on RTL: “It’s hard to put into words what this success means for our club. But also what ours mean Staging a few supporters in the stands for an ambience was outstanding. It’s a big family, that gave us a lot. “
Topic in: Deutschlandfunk, Friday, August 21, 2020, 10:50 p.m.
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