World Cup heroes power Sevilla to Europa League title
Montiel and Bounou were stars at Qatar 2022 and again for the Spanish club
Spanish club Sevilla have proven to be the Europa League’s most-success club.
The club captured its seventh title on Wednesday at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, outlasting Roma on penalty kicks following a tense 1-1 draw.
Sevilla put away the Italians thanks to a pair of recent World Cup heroes. Defender Gonzalo Montiel fired home the winning kick for the 4-1 shootout win, scoring just as he did for Argentina in the World Cup final against France.
Montiel’s initial kick had been saved by Rui Patricio, but a VAR review found that the Roma goalie had come off his line early and a retake was awarded.
In goal, Yassine Bounou saved two penalties — from Gianluca Mancini and Roger Ibanez — while the Andalusia-based side scored their four attempts. Bounou had been the hero for Morocco at Qatar 2022, defeating Spain 3-0 on penalties in the round of 16. Morocco finished a surprise fourth at the World Cup.
“I've had a lot of moments like this and I realised that you have to be very calm to deal with them,” Bounou, who was named Player of the Match, said after the game. “My teammates also give me a lot of calm and security. Congratulations to all the guys and to all of Seville. This year has been full of emotions, between the World Cup and today.”
The Europa League final proved to be testy and enthralling at the same time. English referee Anthony Taylor handed out 14 yellow cards — the most ever in a Europa League final — and played almost 30 minutes of stoppage time.
Roma had taken the lead in the 35th minute with Paulo Dybala, but Sevilla found the equalizer thanks to Gianluca Mancini own goal in the 55th minute.
For Roma manager Jose Mourinho, it marked the first time he had ever lost a final of any European competition.
“Sevilla is a great team. We knew that," Mourinho said. “They have the experience and good quality players that we don’t have. We played a great first half, Sevilla reacted in the second half. After that, it was balanced. Over the 120 minutes, we had the best chances to win. Then penalties are penalties, you score, you save them.”
Indeed, the ability of Montiel and Bounou to lift Sevilla — a team that had languished in the bottom half of the La Liga table for much of this season — to a trophy and qualification to next season’s Champions League.