EUROPA League
Europa League kings Sevilla target seventh title against Mourinho’s Roma
Sevilla will target a record-extending seventh Europa League title in Wednesday’s final against an AS Roma side under Jose Mourinho, who has himself won five major European trophies including last year’s Conference League with the Italians.
Neither Sevilla nor Mourinho have ever lost a European final, with the Spaniards having won all six of their Europa League finals and the Portuguese having last year become the first coach to win all the European trophies.
Mourinho’s haul includes two Champions League titles (Inter Milan and Porto), two Europa League crowns (Porto and Manchester United) and the inaugural Conference League trophy.
However, the Roma manager will have a hard task to steer his team to victory against Europa League thoroughbreds Sevilla who will arrive with momentum as they try to keep their astounding record in their favourite competition after a difficult season.
Languishing in the bottom half of LaLiga for a large part of a campaign in which they fired two managers, Sevilla rediscovered their mojo after exiting the Champions League.
They beat PSV Eindhoven, Fenerbahce and Manchester United before downing Juventus in the semis to reach the final.
They have lost only two matches since the arrival of manager Jose Luis Mendilibar in mid-March and are in the race for a Conference League place with one game left in LaLiga after spending most of the season fighting to avoid relegation.
Roma, however, are without a win in seven consecutive Italian league games and suffered a late collapse to lose 2-1 to Fiorentina on Saturday, ending any hopes Mourinho’s side had of a top-four finish in Serie A.
They earned a spot in Wednesday’s Europa League final after a hard-fought 0-0 draw at Bayer Leverkusen in their semi-final return leg, securing a 1-0 aggregate win.
With Sevilla and Roma both having struggled for form in their domestic leagues, they need to win on Wednesday to qualify for the Champions League next season. In the case of Sevilla, who are 11th in LaLiga, they could miss out on Europe entirely.
After winning the 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020 Europa League finals, Sevilla have the chance to work their magic yet again in their favourite competition.
However, they will be without talismanic left back Marcos Acuna, who was sent off in extra time in the second leg of the semi-final against Juventus, which Sevilla won 2-1 for a 3-2 aggregate victory, for time wasting after a second yellow card.
‘The Special One’ Mourinho, who knows a trick or two of his own when it come to European finals, will have full-back Leonardo Spinazzola back after a muscle strain, while forwards Stephan El Shaarawy and Paulo Dybala should also be fit.
Roma have never won the Europa League, although they were runners up in the 1991 UEFA Cup and 1984 European Cup, with their only European title apart from last year’s Conference League triumph being the 1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
-Reuters
Four-times Europa League winner Unai Emery booked an astonishing sixth final in the competition as a manager on Thursday when his Aston Villa team swept aside Nottingham Forest in the second leg of their all-English semi-final.
The 54-year-old Spaniard has won three times with Sevilla (2014, 2015, 2016) and once with Villarreal (2021) – either side of a defeat with Arsenal (2019) – deservedly earning him the epithet “Mr Europa League” from some fans and media.
Now he goes to the 2026 final seeking a fifth title, this time with Aston Villa against Bundesliga side Freiburg.
“His track record speaks for itself,” said Villa striker Ollie Watkins, heaping praise on his boss as the man to guarantee Europa League success. “We need to go and win it now.”
Emery was delighted with how his team overturned a 1-0 deficit to Forest in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final to score four times at home and win 4-1 on aggregate.
“Now we have to look to the final,” he said, hoping that Villa will do “something fantastic” for their fans.
Though thrilled at Thursday’s win, Emery left the pitch quickly after the final whistle, pumping his fist a few times at the crowd before letting his players enjoy the moment with fans
He and his Villa side will be favourites at the Europa League final in Istanbul on May 20, but Emery was taking nothing for granted. “Of course German teams are so difficult, their coaches, their players are so good,” he added of the upcoming opponents.
-Reuters
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List of teams which have qualified for the next round of the Europa League after the league phase concluded on Thursday, ranked by table position:
Directly to the round of 16:
1. Olympique Lyonnais (France)
2. Aston Villa (England)
3. Midtjylland (Denmark)
4. Real Betis (Spain)
5. Porto (Portugal)
6. Braga (Portugal)
7. Freiburg (Germany)
8. AS Roma (Italy)
Knockout phase play-off places (seeded)
9. Genk (Belgium)
10. Bologna (Italy)
11. VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
12. Ferencvaros (Hungary)
13. Nottingham Forest (England)
14. Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)
15. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)
16. Celta Vigo (Spain)
Knockout phase play-off places (unseeded)
17. PAOK (Greece)
18. Lille (France)
19. Fenerbahce (Turkey)
20. Panathinaikos (Greece)
21. Celtic (Scotland)
22. Ludogorets (Bulgaria)
23. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
24. SK Brann (Norway)
-Reuters
UEFA Europa League – Aston Villa v RB Salzburg – Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain – January 29, 2026 Aston
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Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv will not accept any away fan tickets for their Europa League match at Aston Villa next month, even if local authorities reverse the decision to ban their supporters, they said on Monday.
The ban followed safety concerns raised by British Police, who cited potential protests outside Villa Park, following demonstrations at Israel’s recent World Cup qualifiers in Oslo and Udine.
“From hard lessons learned we have taken the decision to decline any allocation offered on behalf of away fans and our decision should be understood in that context,” Maccabi said in a statement.
“We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future.”
Aston Villa announced the decision last week, saying they were following instructions from the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), who are responsible for issuing safety certificates for games at Villa Park.
West Midlands Police described the match as high risk, past incidents, including violent confrontations and hate crime offences involving Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters ahead of a November 2024 game in Amsterdam.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the announcement as “shameful”.
Villa are third in the Europa League standings while Maccabi Tel Aviv are 30th after two rounds.
-Reuters
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