EUROPA League
LIVE: EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL: SEVILLA 3-2 INTER MILAN
Full time! Sevilla are six time Europa league winners!!
90min: Antonio Conte makes another switch , sending on Antonio Candreva for Godin.
+6mins added time
88min: Sevilla players are going down at every opportunity now. Frustration brewing over for Inter now who can’t get any sustained pressure on the Spanish side.
GOAL! SEVILLA 3-2 Inter Milan
74min: What a turnaround in fortunes! Just over an hour ago, Diego Carlos was bringing down Romelu Lukaku for a penalty.
Now the defender’s overhead kick following a Sevilla free-kick deflects off the striker for an own goal, and a remarkable sixth Europa League trophy is within sight for the Spanish side.
Sevilla 2-2 Inter Milan
51min: Sevilla are seeing more of the ball in the early stages of this second half, but these first six minutes have probably been the quietest of the game so far.
Sevilla restart – no changes from either side
What are we going with for a full-time score, 6-6?
The second half begins.
De Jong becomes the first Dutchman to score in UEFA Cup/UEL final since Van Hooijdonk in 2002
Diego Godin, who scored in the 2014 Champions League final for Atlético, is the sixth player to score in both a European Cup/Champions League final and a UEFA Cup/Europa League final after Steven Gerrard, Hernan Crespo, Dmitri Alenichev, Allan Simonsen and Pedro. Collection.
Half time round up
- Inter and Sevilla produce thriller in Cologne
- Godín nods Sevilla level from set piece
- De Jong heads two after Lukaku penalty
- Sides level record for first-half UEL final goals
- Spaniards boast perfect final record (P5 W5)
HALF-TIME VERDICT: Sevilla
A good half of football from Sevilla, with the Spaniards controlling large swathes of the game. You have to feel they’ll be disappointed in the manner of concession of both goals, but can take heart from the problems they’ve caused Inter.
Half time
Sevilla 2-2 Inter Milan
39min: Bit sneaky from Nicolo Barella, who is late with his challenge on Ever Banega to pick up a yellow card. There has been no pattern to his first half at all. This is madness, yet enjoyable madness.
Gooooal!
Godín (Internazionale) scores!
This is astonishing; it’s 2-2! It is almost a replica of Sevilla’s second goal as Brozović clips in a deep free-kick from a similar area and Godín storms through the crowd to head past Bounou.
GOAL! SEVILLA 2-1 Inter Milan
12 minutes is the earliest both sides have scored in a UEFA Cup/Europa League final since 1990 when Fiorentina versus Juventus was 1-1 after only 10 minutes. Intense
Romelu Lukaku is the first player to score in six consecutive knockout stage matches in major European competition since Cristiano Ronaldo between 2012 and 2013. Inevitable.
Inter have scored in 50 of their 54 games this season now. Sevilla have only failed to score four times too in their last 44 games following De Jong’s effort. The scoreline should not really be a surprise given those facts
Lukaku has matched Ronaldo’s number of goals (34) during his first season at Inter (1997/98). He now needs the most difficult part to really equal him: bringing the trophy home.
Inter have scored during the first half in ten of their last 11 European matches now.
Sevilla 1-1 Inter Milan
18min: You can’t take your eyes off this game, it’s insane! Inter want another penalty against Diego Carlos (who else?) but he is innocent on this occasion as the handball claim against him was more ball to hand.
Not that Inter boss Antonio Conte agreed on the touchline as he is booked for his protest.
GOAL! SEVILLA 1-1 Inter Milan
12min: Oh, it’s one of those nights is it? Excellent response from Sevilla as Jesus Navas swings in a cross from the right and at the near post Luuk de Jong justifies his selection by diverting home with a diving header.
Jesús Navas (Sevilla)12’Gooooal!
L. de Jong (Sevilla) scores!
GOAL! Sevilla 0-1 INTER MILAN
5min: Diego Carlos, who has given away penalties in the quarter-finals and the semi-finals has now got the hat-trick in the final.
There was never any doubt as he was booked for practically assaulting Romelu Lukaku as they tussled inside the box, with the striker eventually dusting himself down to drill his penalty into the bottom corner.
The two previous single match UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League finals which were played in Germany both involved Spanish teams and went into extra time – Liverpool vs Alavés (2001) and Atlético vs Fulham (2010).
Italy’s Inter meet Spain’s Sevilla in Cologne. The Italians have named an unchanged side form their semi-final match. But in Sevilla, De Jong replaces En-Nesyri. Meanwhile, Sevilla boast perfect final record (P5 W5)
- Sevilla starting XI: Bono, Navas, Kounde, Carlos, Reguilon, Jordan, Fernando, Banega, Ocampos, De Jong, Suso
- Inter Milan starting XI: Handanovic, Godin, De Vrij, Bastoni, D’Ambrosio, Barella, Brozovic, Gagliardini, Young, Lukaku, Martinez
UEFA has decided to postpone its assessment of the multi-club ownership case involving Olympique Lyonnais and Crystal Palace until the French club’s relegation has been confirmed, European football’s governing body said on Monday.
The multi-club ownership regulations do not allow clubs under the same ownership compete in the same European competition, and American businessman John Textor holds a stake in both Palace and Lyon.
Palace qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup last season while Lyon reached the competition by finishing sixth in Ligue 1 but have since been relegated to Ligue 2 by French football’s financial watchdog (DNCG).
Lyon are appealing the decision, which came following an audit of the club’s finances, and UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body will now await the outcome of the appeal before making its decision.
UEFA and Lyon reached a settlement agreement over the club’s breach of the financial sustainability requirements, and as part of the settlement, Lyon agreed to their exclusion from European competition should the DNCG confirm their relegation.
League of Ireland club Drogheda United lost an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this month over their exclusion from the Conference League, after falling foul of the multi-club ownership rules.
-Reuters
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Tottenham Hotspur have sacked manager Ange Postecoglou, the club said on Friday, little more than two weeks after the Australian guided the London club to a first major trophy in 17 years with victory in the Europa League final.
While Postecoglou’s fate has split opinion amongst the fans, the 59-year-old ultimately paid the price for an horrendous Premier League season which saw Tottenham finish 17th.
“The Board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the Club for a change to take place,” Tottenham said in a statement.
“Following a positive start in the 2023/24 Premier League (PL) season, we recorded 78 points from the last 66 PL games. This culminated in our worst-ever PL finish last season.”
Postecoglou leaves two years to the day after his appointment and 16 days after his side beat Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao for the club’s first silverware since 2008, a win that also put them in next season’s Champions League.
The former Celtic manager has had to face questions over his future for several months, yet delivered on his claim early last season that he always wins a trophy in his second season in a job
He also took Tottenham to the League Cup semi-final but their league campaign was their worst since 1976-77, the last time the club suffered relegation from the top flight.
Several of the club’s first team have voiced their support for Postecoglou since beating United, but chairman Daniel Levy is now searching for his fifth full-time manager in six years since Mauricio Pochettino was sacked in 2019.
“At times there were extenuating circumstances — injuries and then a decision to prioritise our European campaign,” the club said. “Whilst winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the Club’s greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph.”
Several managers have been linked to the Tottenham job, including Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner.
GOOD START
Postecoglou will walk away with his pride intact and a handsome bonus, but his recent comment to fans at the Europa League victory parade that the third season of a TV series is always better than the second now looks hollow.
It all started so well for Postecoglou. He began the 2023-24 campaign by guiding Tottenham to their best start to a top-flight season since the 1961 title-winning team.
That form soon dipped though and despite finishing fifth in his first campaign the momentum had long since gone.
This season Tottenham earned only 38 points and lost 22 top-flight matches. They managed five points from their last 12 league games and the only win they earned during that run was against a Southampton side who narrowly avoided becoming statistically the worst team ever in the Premier League.
Postecoglou has pointed to a long injury list which denied him the likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Dejan Kulusevski, Destiny Udogie, Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Son Heung-min for significant periods.
But while it has clearly been one of long-serving chairman Levy’s toughest calls, he has concluded that Postecoglou is not the man to lead the club forward.
“We have made what we believe is the right decision to give us the best chance of success going forward, not the easy decision,” the club statement said.
“We have a talented, young squad and Ange has given us a great platform to build upon. We should like to express our gratitude to him. We wish him well for the future — he will always be welcome back at our home.”
Many fans reacted to the news of Postecoglou’s sacking with surprise, but England manager Thomas Tuchel said that sometimes even winning a trophy is not enough.
“I feel for every manager and I have huge sympathy for every manager in these moments because I was in the same spot,” the German, who was sacked by Chelsea despite taking them to the Champions League title, said on Friday.
“If the trust is not there anymore then sometimes it’s not enough to win a trophy.”
-Reuters
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UEFA apologised for running out of winners’ medals during the Europa League final trophy ceremony on Wednesday after more Tottenham Hotspur players lined up to receive their prizes.
Spurs captain Son Heung-min and two other players, the last to line up for individual medals, were left empty-handed after their team beat Manchester United 1-0 to win the club’s fourth European title on Wednesday.
Son lifted the trophy without a medal around his neck.
“To our great displeasure, we did not have enough medals available on stage during the trophy ceremony presentation due to an unexpected discrepancy in the player count …” British media quoted European soccer’s governing body as saying on Thursday.
“More team members – including injured players – participated in the ceremony than initially anticipated.
“The missing medals were promptly delivered to the winning team in the dressing room, along with our sincerest apologies for the oversight.”
-Reuters
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