[Sport]The shield is the dynasty: Sevilla conquers its sixth Europa League

[SougarLord]

The decade, the coach, the players, or the rival do not matter. It does not matter if there is an audience or not, whether it is called the UEFA Cup or the Europa League. Not even that everything, life and football, forever harbor a scar from a pandemic that we never imagined. The only thing that matters is the shield and perhaps the man who mends it when it is unsewn, that miracle worker from the offices called Monchi, who is the only link that links the six continental reigns of Sevilla Fútbol Club. Inter fell surrendered to the spell cultivated by the Andalusian team, whose legacy Julen Lopetegui has so brilliantly prolonged, and a piece of Seville history, like Banega, on his last day with that shirt, and especially De Jong and Diego Carlos.

 

It was they, Dutch and Brazilian, the heroes of the Cologne final, both with the aroma of vindication. The forward, so lashed out by his lack of aim throughout the year, signed a double that pointed the way to the cup. And the center-back, after committing an early penalty for the third consecutive game, closed the final with a spectacular - and somewhat fortunate - both from Chile. Arguments that yielded a disappointing Inter, in which Lautaro did not appear and Lukaku only did it in two starts ... and to finish directing the decisive shot from Diego Carlos towards the goal.

 

 

Perhaps it was all the fruit of a macabre and risky ritual. As in the quarterfinals and the semifinals, Sevilla welcomed the match with a clear penalty from the Brazilian central defender. The victim was Lukaku, who was allowed by Lopetegui to demonstrate his skills as a lethal bison after three minutes. It was also the Belgian who converted the penalty, certifying a new start of the nightmare for the Spanish team.

 

Fortunately, Navas and De Jong immediately applied the band-aid for the bleeding that was sensed. He centered the side and headed the battering ram at the near post, Lopetegui's only novelty. A more than successful bet, because after half an hour the Dutchman scored a second goal, again with his head, this time after an indirect foul by Banega, as delicious as usual. The interista reply, however, came almost on the next play, a tracing with Brozovic putting the ball at the far post and Godín turning it into a goal.

 

The first half, in short, was as frantic as the account of the four goals scored suggests. Sevilla were better on points, dominating the ball much more with Banega, Jordán and Ocampos and effectively minimizing the power of Lukaku and Lautaro on the backlash after Diego Carlos' initial error. In Conte's box, everything happened through D'Ambrosio: in attack they were constantly looking for him - a real surprise that did not give him excessive returns - and in defense he seemed to enjoy the license to distribute how much even without being admonished. That is also a virtue.

 

The bacchanal gave way to a calmer second half, in part because Inter claimed the ball more, without getting to monopolize it far from it, and Sevilla did not disgust the slow and harmless possessions of their rival, comfortable also in contexts of matches of that nature. Before the change carousel began, the only shocks were a whip from Reguilón to the side of the net after taking Godín's colors and a heads-up from Lukaku that Bono resolved by throwing himself on the grass and turning off the lights.

 

It was the prelude to Sevilla's third, a goal that was pure beauty, no matter how much a point of fortune assisted him. Diego Carlos, forgetting his initial mistake, dared to resolve a commotion in the area as a Chilean after an indirect foul. His acrobatic strike hit Lukaku and the veteran Handanovic could do nothing to prevent the goal from going up to the scoreboard.

 

Conte immediately burned all of his ships, blasting Alexis, Eriksen and Moses in. Sevilla have already dedicated themselves to defending their income, with several of their footballers (Banega, Diego Carlos, Koundé ...) very physically limited and knowing that they are very strong in that facet. The resistance was successful to continue with an inexhaustible spell, six titles in six finals, a streak immune to the passage of time, because in this Seville the dynasty is sewn to the shield.

Edited August 22, 2020 by SougarLord