The second in our three-part series of looking ahead to the three major UEFA European Club competitions focuses on the Europa League Final, which is the first of the trio of finals to take place on Wednesday 31st May 2023.
Fans of Sevilla and AS Roma will be in attendance at the Puskas Arena in the beautiful city of Budapest, the capital of Hungary in what promises to be a very close and exciting game between two well-matched but very different teams.
As the second-most prestigious of the three tournaments, the Europa League has been enhanced by the changes made to it in recent times and especially the chance for the winner of this trophy to earn a seed spot in the Champions League Group Stage next season.
That is something that both teams, neither of whom can qualify for the Champions League via their league form this season, will very much have in mind in this game.
So let’s crack on with our preview of the big game.
Sevilla will be hoping that they can make it a magnificent seven wins in this tournament, extending their record of wins in the competition, while AS Roma boss Jose Mourinho is chasing his second European trophy with AS Roma after their Europa Conference League success last year.
It has been an adventurous season for both in this competition, with Sevilla dropping into it after finishing third in their Champions League group before entering the Knockout Stage Playoffs of this competition.
Bet365 Sport have AS Roma as the slight favourites to win the trophy although all three options are pretty close in the betting, which indicates that the bookies feel this one could be a close one too.
I agree, so let’s find out why, first by taking a look how both teams made it to the Final itself.
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AS Roma qualified for the Europa League and were drawn into Group C in the Group phase.
As a second-place finisher in Group C, AS Roma qualified for the Knockout Phase Playoffs, rather than directly into the Round of 16.
European Record 2023 – Played – 14, Won – 7, Drew – 3, Lost – 4, For – 20, Against – 10
Sevilla qualified for the Champions League initially, drawn into Group G of the Group Stage.
As a third-place finisher in Group G, Sevilla dropped into the Europa League Knockout Phase Playoffs.
European Record 2023 – Played – 14, Won – 5, Drew – 4, Lost – 5, For – 19, Against – 16
AS Roma | Pos | No. | Pos | Sevilla |
Rui PATRICIO | GK | 1 | GK | Marko DMITROVIC |
Rick KARSDORP | DR | 2 | DR | Gonzalo MONTIEL |
Roger IBANEZ | DMC | 3 | DML | Alex TELLES |
Bryan CRISTANTE | DMC | 4 | DC | Karim REKIK |
5 | AMLC | Lucas OCAMPOS | ||
Chris SMALLING | DC | 6 | DC | Nemanja GUDELJ |
Lorenzo PELLEGRINI | MC | 7 | AMR | SUSO |
Nemanja MATIC | MC | 8 | MC | Juan JORDAN |
Tammy ABRAHAM | AC | 9 | AC | Tecatito CORONA |
10 | MRC | Ivan RAKITIC | ||
Andrea BELOTTI | AC | 11 | ||
12 | AMRC | Rafa MIR | ||
13 | GK | BONO | ||
Diego LLORENTE | DLC | 14 | DC | Tanguy NIANZOU |
15 | AC | Youssef EN-NESYRI | ||
16 | DMR | Jesus NAVAS | ||
17 | AMR | Erik LAMELA | ||
Ola SOLBAKKEN | AMR | 18 | MC | Papa GUEYE |
Zeki CELIK | DR | 19 | DML | Marcos ACUNA |
Mady KAMARA | DMC | 20 | MC | FERNANDO |
Paulo DYBALA | AMC | 21 | AMC | OLIVER Torres |
22 | DC | Loic BADE | ||
Gianluca MANCINI | DRC | 23 | DC | MARCAO |
Marash KUMBULLA | DC | 24 | AMLC | Papu GOMEZ |
Georginio WIJNALDUM | MC | 25 | AML | Bryan GIL |
26 | DR | Pablo PEREZ | ||
27 | AC | Carlos ALVAREZ | ||
31 | GK | Alberto FLORES | ||
36 | GK | Matias ARBOL | ||
Leonardo SPINAZZOLA | DML | 37 | ||
43 | MC | Manu BUENO | ||
Edoardo BOVE | MC | 52 | ||
Ebrima DARBOE | DMC | 55 | ||
Nicola ZALEWSKI | DML | 59 | ||
Cristian VOLPATO | AMC | 62 | ||
Pietro BOER | GK | 63 | ||
Benjamin TAHIROVIC | DMC | 68 | ||
Stephan EL SHAARAWY | AMRC | 92 | ||
Mile SVILAR | GK | 99 | ||
Backroom Staff & Owners | ||||
Jose MOURINHO | Manager | Jose Luis MENDILIBAR | ||
Salvatore FOTI | Assistant Manager | Fran RICO | ||
Giovanni CERRA | 1st Team Coach | Juan DIAZ | ||
The FRIEDKIN GROUP | Owner | SEVILLASTAS de Nervion S.A |
Probable AS Roma XI – (5-3-2) – GK – Patricio, DMR – Celik, DML – Spinazzola, DC – Ibanez, DC – Cristante, DC – Smalling, MC – Matic, MC – Pellegrini, MC – Bove, AC – Belotti, AC – Dybala
Probable Sevilla XI – (4-2-3-1) – GK – Bono, DR – Navas, DL – Tellez, DC – Bade, DC – Gudelj, DMC – Fernando, DMC – Rakitic, AML – Lamela, AMR – Gil, AMC – Oliver, AC – En-Neysri
I expect this to be a very close game and I would not be surprised at all if we are pushed into extra time to decide the winner, or perhaps even penalties.
Sevilla, I feel, have the advantage and the belief in this tournament, but AS Roma won a European trophy last season, so that experience will stand them in good stead here.
Neither side have been impeccable in Europe this year, but I think this will be a cagey and tight affair and that ultimately extra time will be needed to separate the two, perhaps even penalties.
As such, I’d back the draw at 2/1 for the full time score, with a correct score bet of 1-1 between the two teams being a 5/1 shot at bet365 Sport, which is appealing.
And as for who wins, I think Sevilla will do just enough to claim their seventh Europa League title.
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