Even José Mourinho has not been able to stop Sevilla FC's impressive triumph in the Europa League's great thriller. The star coach and AS Roma lost the heated final on Wednesday in Budapest on penalties 1-4 (1-1, 1-1, 1-0). For record winners Sevilla, it was the seventh success in the seventh final of the second biggest competition in European club football – and that since 2006. Mourinho lost a European Cup final as coach for the first time after five victories. With another triumph, he would have become the sole record holder.
Argentina's World Cup winner Paulo Dybala (35th minute), whose starting eleven had been questionable after ankle problems, had put Roma in the lead, Gianluca Mancini (55th) scored the interim equaliser with an own goal. In the second half of extra time alone, referee Anthony Taylor added more than ten minutes of injury time.
Gonzalo Montiel scored the decisive penalty for the Andalusians, who qualified for the Champions League by winning. Last year, Eintracht Frankfurt celebrated with the big silver cup.
Psycho trick of the tactics master
On Wednesday evening, thousands of fans from Spain and Italy created a final atmosphere in the chic Puskas Arena. Mourinho stood almost exclusively on the edge of his coaching zone in a dark shirt and shouted instructions on the pitch.
His Roma, who knocked Bayer Leverkusen out of the competition in the semi-finals, needed a few minutes to find their way into the game. Leonardo Spinazzola tested Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou in the twelfth minute. The assist came from Dybala, for whom Mourinho had actually announced that more than "20, 30 minutes" of playing time were not possible. In retrospect, probably a little psychological trick of the tactics master.
Mourinho's emotions
Sevilla's players, who had sent a greeting to their seriously injured former goalkeeper Sergio Rico before kick-off, initially could not cope with Roma's aggressive play at all. Coach José Luis Mendilibar's side tried, if at all, to get close to the opponent's penalty area via the right side of 37-year-old captain Jesús Navas.
Just as the game seemed deadlocked, Mancini broke the Sevilla defence with a strong pass, Dybala gave Bounou no chance. The Romans in the arena cheered loudly, Mourinho also allowed the great emotions for a moment. The 60-year-old led Roma to victory in the lower-tier Conference League last year – he lifted the Champions League trophy with Porto in 2003 and with Inter Milan in 2010.
And Seville? The record winners of the competition, who had already won the UEFA Cup twice, could not find any solutions even after going behind. It was only in the long injury time of the first half that former Schalke Bundesliga player Ivan Rakitić had a great chance to equalise, but only hit the post.
On the other hand, the second half began tailor-made for the Spanish club. Roma pulled back - similar to the second leg against Leverkusen - and tried to manage the lead. Mancini's own goal, forced by a sharp cross from Navas, finally brought Sevilla back into the game.
On the other side, Bounou prevented Tammy Abraham from falling behind again (67th). Substitute Andrea Belotti also narrowly missed the second goal for the Romans (83rd) – the game had to go into extra time, which was marked by injuries and in which both teams were visibly playing at the breaking point.