Two teams with elements of history will clash at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday in the UEFA Europa League final for the 2022/2023 season as La Liga side Sevilla faces Italian side AS Roma.
La Liga club Sevilla is the most successful club in the competition, having won it six times in 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2020 finals. The club has had to deal with relegation troubles before appointing Jose Luis Mendilibar in March.
Mendilibar has managed to turn the fortunes of Sevilla, helping them to 11th position, but a European place next season can only be made possible by a win in the final which will seal a UEFA Champions League place.
However, facing a side coached by Jose Mourinho, Mendilibar isn’t bothered about the history of the Portuguese coach, who hasn’t lost a European final and who is also aiming to be the first to win the Europa League with three different teams.
“I think that Sevilla will be the favorites given we have won this competition six times. Some people prefer to look at the budgets of both sides; others look at their history. However you want to look at it, you can see both sides winning it. And I would not discount Sevilla. I see it 50-50. we are going to come up against eleven players, not just one. I am not going crazy before this because our style will not change. At the last minute, you can change what you say to the players on an individual level, but the overall style will not change too much.” Mendilibar said.
Sevilla and Roma have met four different times, but the Italians failed to defeat the Spaniards in their only European meeting in 2020 in a 2-0 win. While Sevilla saw off Juventus in the semi-final, Roma beat Bayer Leverkusen to reach this year’s final.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
