Eindhoven, Glasgow, Turin, Warsaw, Basel, Cologne, Budapest… Seven stately European cities have seen Sevilla, an incredible collector of UEFA Cups, crowned, who on Wednesday took the seventh to Andalusia amid exceptional euphoria from their fans , crazy with this club that is transformed when it reaches the continental battles.
At the beginning of their Europa League course, in mid-February, Sevilla was dangerously threatened by relegation, but it was time to jump onto the international field and resurface. It always happens to him. So much so that he has just put land in the middle among the top winners of this competition: Sevilla has 7, Inter, Juventus, Liverpool and Atlético de Madrid 3. Doubly incredible because the Sevillian team has only been champion of Spain once, in 1946. It’s better outside. And this cup fits him just right. It enlarges, becomes epic and prevails over adversity.
(Also read: Sevilla, the king of the Europa League: champion again, against Mourinho’s Roma)
Roma were a difficult rival, they arrived with sharp fangs, ready to win a big trophy, with José Mourinho on the bench, a specialist in Europe if there were any, and with a crowd behind pushing like never before. The Italian team took the lead with a left-footed shot from Paulo Dybala, who did not know if he would play due to injury, but Mou was confident in his category. And the Cordovan complied, in the only one he had, he billed, although he lasted only 68 minutes on the field.
At the age of 60, Mourinho was looking for his 27th title, an impressive record for a coach who was never a footballer and has never imposed a personal style or a new tactic. His is pure personality, total leadership. Either you are with Mou or you must go. His tremendous character does not admit cracks or resignations in the groups he manages. His wardrobe is his. And that is known from the most valued player to the last of the tifosi, through the president. If you hire Mou you have to give him the keys. “All the Italian teams have changed the way they play, they left ultra-defensiveness and are encouraged to attack, to play colorful and spectacular football, the only one that continues as before is Roma, with Mourinho, but he is so charismatic that since he arrived there is a sold out in all the parties”, says Massimo Tecca, a prestigious Italian journalist (and a Romanist, although he bites his lip before admitting it). Sold out is sold out.
The Portuguese is the only coach to have won all three European competitions: the Champions League (with Porto and Inter), the Europa League (with Manchester United) and the Conference League (with Roma). The scarlet universe celebrated his arrival as the return of Julius Caesar to the Empire. Later, when they won the Conference League, they enthroned him, and now he is the master of lives and estates. If he triumphed on Wednesday they would have proclaimed him the Ninth King of Rome. Eighth is Paulo Roberto Falcão, the sensational Brazilian midfielder who made the Romans fall in love in the eighties.
Mou does not blush: he arranged a line of five men in defense, with two brand midfielders in front, a mixed player like Pellegrini and a single creative: Dybala. On the opposite bench, the Basque José Luis Mendilibar proposed something more generous, a more advanced eleven, with more elements on a good footing. The teams are very even, although the Andalusian does not have a class A like Dybala. And Dybala was not one hundred percent. Of 9 the two lined up a big tank-type area: the Englishman Abraham in Roma, the Moroccan En-Nesyri in Sevilla. After a good World Cup, En-Nesyri helped Sevilla a lot, he scored 16 goals. However, both went unnoticed.
José Luis Mendilibar, the triumph of humility
The one who won the fight at the end was Mendilibar, Mourinho’s absolute counterpart. A calm, modest man, with a low profile, without any sign, he only arrived in Seville on March 21 to replace Jorge Sampaoli. (He could not improve the performance of the team, which started the season very badly with Julen Lopetegui) and in the midst of the fire that his proximity to the bottom of the table meant, he captivated the players with his simplicity. Mendi, as he likes to be called, took Sevilla in a distressing situation, two points above relegation in the league. In the end he ended up saving it comfortably and winning this Europa League.
A consecration that leaves a fortune in the white and red treasury. For the five phases he went through in the Europa League he bagged 14,900,000 euros in prizes. To this are added 4,224,000 for having the best coefficient in this competition, plus 2,940,000 for victories and draws achieved. But, as Sevilla came from the Champions League (eliminated in the first phase), they must add 20,300,000 that they pocketed in the Champions League. Total, 42,364,000 million euros. Plus the ticket offices of 7 local games, which left him about 22,000,000. To all this, add the distribution of the Market Pool of the Europa League, a common pool from TV that is distributed among all the participants. And the €15 million for qualifying for the 2023-2024 Champions League. In other words, he reaped glory and fortune in a season that started badly and in which he had three coaches.
Ferenc Puskas would have liked another type of ending at home. Perhaps the leprechaun of the greatest Hungarian genius has flown over the stadium that bears his name (the imposing Puskas Arena) to take a look at the definition of the Europa League between Sevilla and Roma. He, who was exquisite, would not have approved a match with few goals -it ended 1-1- and with many more nerves and friction than the game. Only in the final of the 1960 European Champions Cup, Puskas scored 4 times in the fantastic Real Madrid 7 – Eintracht Frankfurt 3. Of course, it was another football, another world. They attacked with five and defended with two or three. There were spaces everywhere, it was marked from afar and the slow pace favored individual maneuvers. In addition, it was almost unknown how the rival played. That gave crack advantages. Now, the bad guy with a lot of information manages to nullify the good guy.
It was 1 to 1 in the regular 90 minutes, there was overtime (it never ended) and penalties. And on penalties the white team won 4-1. With four shots -it was not necessary to execute the fifth- Mendilibar had three Argentines finish off: Lucas Ocampos, Erik Lamela and the great specialist Gonzalo Montiel (who kicked the last one for Argentina versus France in Qatar). Without a doubt, DT had faith in the mental strength of the Albicelestes. All three converted.
Mourinho, exasperated as never before, went to the referees’ parking lot to rebuke judge Anthony Taylor as he was leaving, for an alleged penalty by the Brazilian Fernando, from Sevilla. Yes, the ball hit him in the arm, but he was against the body and the Englishman did not concede it. In our opinion, he is currently one of the three best referees in the world along with his compatriot Michael Oliver and Wilmar Roldán.
(You may be interested in: Roma fans tried to attack referee Anthony Taylor in Budapest)
It did not seem like the younger sister of the Champions League. In the preview, the pomp in the Europa League final was lavish in presentation and in public. Sevilla, the King of UEFA, brought 13,000 fans to Budapest, Roma surely twice as many. The Roman painting is a kind of Mouth in the category of popularity: faithful, passionate, screaming.
There was no aesthetic waste, there was tension, ardor, delivery, passion to win. Beauty has many faces. Combat is one of them.
last tango…
Jorge Barraza
For the time
@JorgeBarrazaOK
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