Sevilla Clenches 6th Europa League Trophy

By Eyongeta Eyong

Sevilla claimed their sixth Europa League, the highest by a team so far, after beating Inter Milan 3-2 in a thrilling final encounter in Cologne, Germany.

Sevilla were the better team on the night even though Inter also gave a fight but it wasn’t enough to stop the Spanish side that has been used to this competition.

It was the former Manchester United striker, Romelu Lukaku who opened the scores after just five minutes, from the penalty spot after he was brought down by Diego Carlos. It was his 34th goal of the season for the Serie A side in all competitions; the highest for the side in a single season since Ronaldo in 1997-98 season. He also scored 34 goals.

Luuk de Jong, however, had a different idea scoring twice with two headers before the end of the first half in the 12th and 33rd minutes respectively before Diego Godin later equalised for Inter immediately to balance the game 2-2 into half-time.

In the second half, Sevilla won it, thanks to a Diego Carlos’ acrobatic effort that took a wicked deflection off Lukaku who was in the wrong position at the right time in the 74^th minute.

It was to be Lukaku’s night, but the Belgian couldn’t just make a difference positively for his team but had to be involved in the opponent’s winning goal, that wasn’t a night he would have planned for, but what can he do? He has to recover from it.

It was a night to forget for Inter after thrashing Shakhtar Donetsk 5-0 in the semi-final only to lose against Sevilla in the final.

Sevilla, on the other hand, would be happy, most especially their Manager, Julen Lopetegui who won his first-ever managerial trophy. The Europa League Final ended Sevilla 3-2 Inter.

In doubt of his future in the club, Antonio Conte said, “We’re going to meet on next week with the club and we’ll decide about my future. I’m not sure that I’ll be the Inter manager on next season, we’ll decide together. Inter will plan the future with or without me…”