Jose Mourinho loses a European final for the first time as Sevilla beat Roma

Jose Mourinho has lost a European final for the first time in his career after Sevilla overcame Roma on penalties to lift the Europa League trophy for the seventh time in their astonishing history with the competition.

Paulo Dybala opened the scoring for the Serie A giants in the first half of Wednesday’s showpiece at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, but Sevilla hit back early in the second half. The contest eventually went to extra time and penalties, where Bono saved two spot-kicks before Argentina’s Gonzalo Montiel netted yet another decisive trophy-winning penalty.

Sevilla edged possession in the early stages with Roma looking solid and compact, but it was the Italian side who had the first chance of note when Dybala found Leonardo Spinazzola in space inside the box but his first-time shot was palmed away by goalkeeper Bono.

The Spanish side looked a little toothless going forward while Roma’s players, and a prowling Jose Mourinho on the sidelines, quickly turned the contest into a slugfest and appealed every decision, particularly one clearance that saw Tammy Abraham go down clutching his head – though there was nothing it.

That non-decision seemed to fire Roma’s players up even more, though, and they took the lead moments later, with Dybala racing onto a through-ball from centre-back Gianluca Mancini and calmly firing the ball past Bono with his dependable left boot.

With Roma now leading, they retreated even further into their low block and Sevilla had an astonishing 76% of the ball between the opening goal and the half-time whistle, though created precious little for all their possession.

There were a host of aimless crosses pumped into a packed box filled with red shirts – though one did find Fernando at the back post, who headed over – while Dybala was showing flashes of his supreme talent at the other end, only for a dazzling dribble to result in an embarrassing dive from Roma skipper Lorenzo Pellegrini.

Deep into added time of the first half, Sevilla carved out their best opportunity when Ivan Rakitic was left unmarked on the edge of the box; the Croatian let the ball run across him and struck a fizzing, left-footed effort towards goal that hit the inside of the post and narrowly avoided rebounding in off Rui Patricio.

Roma’s players high-fived as they walked down the tunnel, with Mourinho claiming a 1-0 half-time lead in a European final for the sixth time. A minute after the restart, Abraham was wildly fist-pumping winning a throw-in deep inside his own half – which rather summed up what the match had become.

Still Sevilla penned their dogged opponents back, and still they persisted with their crosses into the box. In the 55th minute, they finally found a breakthrough; Jesus Navas darted down the flank and whipped in yet another cross, but for once Roma’s defence could not clear their lines and Mancini nodded the ball past his own keeper – the first goal Mourinho has conceded in a European final since 2003.

The Italian side seemed to struggle to shake off their defensive mindset after conceding yet they very nearly retook the lead after an astonishing goal-mouth scramble following a deep free-kick, with Bono producing a fabulous save to deny Abraham from close range before Roger Ibanez shanked his follow-up effort wide.

Dybala, an injury doubt before the match, was withdrawn in the 68th minute which left Abraham even more isolated before he too was subbed off. Sevilla continued to dictate proceedings, bombarding the box with crosses, and thought they had won a penalty when Lucas Ocampos was brought down after a stumbling run into the box, but a visit to the VAR monitor revealed Ibanez had got a tiny touch on the ball.

Despite their lack of possession, Roma continued to threaten from set-pieces and a neat free-kick saw the ball scooped over the wall for substitute Andrea Belotti, who looked certain to score only for Bono to produce another excellent stop.

Sevilla applied plenty of pressure in the closing stages, peppering Patricio’s goal with three quick-fire shots in the sixth minute of added time, but Roma survived and the match went to extra time. The Giallorossi briefly showed a little more intent when the game restarted, though it soon settled into the previous pattern of laborious attack versus dogged defence.

After an almost entirely uneventful 30 minutes of play, Roma came to life with a succession of set-pieces in a seemingly never-ending period of added time, with Chris Smalling hitting the bar at the death with a looping header. But after 120 minutes of stodgy, passive and bad-tempered football, the final would be settled from the penalty spot.

Sevilla won the toss and went first, shooting towards their own fans, and struck first blood when Mancini’s effort was kept out by the legs of Bono before a finger-tip save from the Moroccan pushed Ibanez’s effort onto the post. Gonzalo Montiel – who scored the winning penalty in the World Cup final for Argentina – initially saw his effort saved, but the keeper was off his line and he buried the retake to sink Roma hearts and spark wild scenes of celebration. After two decades, Mourinho’s bus was finally beaten.

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