Il Seville is in the final of Europa League after beating 2-1 in comeback la Juventus by Allegri. It took Sanchez Pizjuan extra time to decree the challenger of Roma in the final act in Budapest and will be the team of Mendilibar. The advantage of Vlahovic in the 65th minute, less than a minute after entering the field, he gave the illusion Juventus after a first half full of goal chances on both sides. Two former Serie A acquaintances, breast in the 71st minute with a fireball from the edge and lamella headers in extra time turned the match and qualification upside down. Expelled Acuna at the end.
THE MATCH
And with this, Sevilla have reached seven finals in the Europa League, more and more home to the Andalusian team even in a season like this that seemed like a failure. Mendilibar’s men in a fiery Sanchez Pizjuan for two hours of play overturned Allegri’s Juventus on the pitch, creating much earlier and capitalizing on Vlahovic’s initial advantage later. The 2-1 in extra time after the 1-1 draw in the ninety minutes photocopy of the first leg rewards the team that put the most quality, ideas and concreteness on the pitch in the decisive moments, leaving a bitter taste for Juventus after checking the outbursts for more than an hour she had found herself managing a small advantage, only managing it for a good six minutes.
That it wasn’t an easy match to face was certainly no surprise, but throughout the first half Sevilla and Juventus bounced off goal chances. On the one hand Szczesny outdid himself first on Ocampos and then on Acuna, on the other Gatti sent Bounou flying after a corner and Kean hit the post diagonally a few minutes after an irritating dig by Di Maria in front of the goalkeeper with the same attacker free in the area a few steps away. Before the break, Sevilla asked for two penalties for an arm intervention by Fagioli in the area and a much more dubious one by Cuadrado on Acuna judged outside the 16-metre range, while the black and whites saw Rabiot’s goal disallowed for offside.
A swirl of emotions that continued in the second half but in an even more schizophrenic way. Even after the break, Mendilibar’s Sevilla took control of the dribble, but Juventus had the best chances in the first quarter of an hour: two restarts by Rabiot, then a header by Bremer choked joy to the fans in the away sector. The race then changed its face with the changes of the technicians. Less than a minute after entering the field, Vlahovic unlocked the match by slipping between Gudelj and Badé, complete with a scavetto on Bounou, but Suso on the other side – always as a substitute – did the same six minutes later, finding the intersection of the posts from the edge of the area for the 1-1. Always the former Milan then before the ninetieth committed Szczesny on a free kick and freed En Nesyri in full recovery, enhancing the Polish goalkeeper’s backstroke.
Finally, the most classic of football’s “sliding doors” arrived in extra time. Between the 93rd and 94th minutes, first Vlahovic and then Chiesa kicked badly and weakly from a very good position, delivering the assist and header respectively to Gil and Lamela which completed the comeback. The 2-1 in extra time hasn’t changed even after the naive expulsion of Acuna who, as Sevilla’s only yellow card, got the red card for wasting time. Sevilla go to the final, once again. The seventh to be precise, this time against Mourinho and his Roma. Two realities, Sevilla and Mourinho, certainly not used to losing finals.
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REPORT CARDS
Vlahovic 6,5 – Fifty-eight seconds to unlock the match at the first ball touched. In extra time he has a couple of potential chances to make it an encore, but he’s not decided in the winning deflections.
Mary’s 5 – He made a lot of mistakes, too much for one of his quality. The scavette in front of the goalkeeper with Kean completely free in the area is a difficult stain to wash away, while in the second half he loses almost all the tackles.
Rabiot 7 – He is the man who can change Juventus’ matches with his restarting rides. He eats up a couple of goals, but also enters the action which sends Vlahovic on goal, confirming a strong point this season.
Szczesny 7.5 – If the match went beyond the ninetieth it is also thanks to his many decisive interventions, at least three on Ocampos, Acuna and En Nesyri. He can do nothing about Suso’s goal as well as about Lamela’s gore from the center of the area.
Gil 7,5 – Continuous dribbling, a constant and elusive thorn in the side. Luckily the black and white are still quite smoky in the games for the entire ninety minutes, but his talent is crystal clear and at the start of extra time he fishes the right assist for Lamela after leaving Cuadrado on the spot.
Breast 7 – His entry shocked Sevilla, helping with the dribble but above all immediately finding the equalizer with a bolt from the edge. Dangerous even on free-kick and varying on the whole front of attack.
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THE TABLE
SIVIGLIA-JUVENTUS 2-1 dts (and. 1-1)
Sevilla (4-2-3-1): Boonou 6.5; Navas 6 (1′ sts Gomez sv), Badé 5, Gudelj 5.5, Acuna 6; Fernando 7, Rakitic 6; Ocampos 5.5 (25′ st Lamela 7), Torres 6 (17′ st Suso 7 (12′ sts Rekik sv)), Gil 7.5 (10′ pts Montiel sv); In Nesyri 6. Available: Dmitrovic, Flores, Telles, Mir, Hormigo, Good. All.: Mendilibar 7.
Juventus (3-5-2): Szczesny 7.5; Gatti 6, Bremer 5.5, Danilo 6.5; Cuadrado 5 (1′ sts Milik sv), Fagioli 5.5 (40′ Paredes 5.5), Locatelli 5.5 (41′ st Miretti 5.5), Rabiot 6.5, Iling jr 5 (41′ st Kostic 5.5); Di Maria 5 (18′ st Chiesa 5), Kean 6.5 (18′ st Vlahovic 6.5). Extras: Pinsoglio, Perin, Alex Sandro, Rugani, Barbieri. All.: Allegri 5.5.
Referee: Makkelie (Olanda)
Markers: 20′ st Vlahovic (J), 26′ st Suso (S), 5′ pts Lamela (S)
Ammonite yourself: Suso(S); Kean, Danilo, Paredes (J)
Expelled: 10′ sts Acuna (S) due to yellow cards
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