There’s been no end to excitement in Sevilla’s passage to the Europa League final. They came through their group unbeaten; played their arch rivals – Betis – in the last 16, qualifying on penalties and had to rely on a 94th minute goal from Stephane M’Bia to reach the final after relinquishing a two goal first leg league against another of their La Liga colleagues, this time Valencia. Ever since then it’s been obvious that this final is their target and their league form has suffered as a result. They have not won in their last three, losing two, but Unai Emery has chosen to rotate his squad to ensure he has his key players fit for the final in Turin.
Benfica have had a more straightforward route to the Europa League final having entered the competition after being knocked out of the Champions League before Christmas. They have disposed of PAOK, Tottenham, AZ and Juventus. There’s no doubt that their most competitive tie was the semi-final fixture against the Italian Champions, but they prevailed and very deserved winners in the end. Despite going down to 10 men in the second half of the second leg, they withheld the Juve charge and will return to the stadium attempting to end a 52 year run without a European Trophy. They have not tasted defeat in this competition since losing 2-1 to Chelsea in las year’s final.
Sevilla are no strangers to this competition have won it in successive seasons in 2006 and 2007. Those teams included players such as Dani Alves, Luis Fabiano and Jesus Navas. They don’t have quite the same quality available to them these days but that makes it an even greater achievement to reach this stage. Nobody from those successes remain at the club so it’s up to a new set of players and staff to write their own bit of club history.
Having already won the Portuguese title with consummate ease this season, followed by victory in the League Cup last week, Benfica are on course for a historic quadruple. If they are successful in Italy on Wednesday night, they have the chance to cap off an almost flawless campaign by securing the Portuguese Cup this coming Sunday. No matter the competition, to be able to show that consistency is a tremendous testament to the squad and their coach, Jorge Jesus.
I thought Benfica were very unfortunate to lose out in the Europa League final last season as they were the better side for long spells against Chelsea. I’m confident they can make amends for that defeat this time around, though, and expect them to have more quality than their Spanish opponents.
Benfica 13/10 @ Coral
