2023 Europa League Final Game Thread - Sevilla vs Roma - It's football heritage

fletcherpost

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Game Thread for the final if anyone is watching.

I have this as a 50/50 contest but I'm rooting for Jose.

The match is being played at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

Not much happening in the first ten minutes. Loud whistles from the Roma fans. Can't imagine we'll get many goals.
 
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fletcherpost

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Matic using his arms to elevate and gets a yellow for leaving an elbow on the back of Ocampos's head. Yellow seems harsh to me.
 

Kliq

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Roma feel like the better team, but Sevilla have rattled the cage a few times and this is THEIR tournament.

I figured Jose was done as a major manager after his flaming crash out at Spurs, which followed his flaming crash out of Man U, but he's gotten results with Roma and winning Europa League would be a pretty big accomplishment for that club.
 

Kliq

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Bryan Gil off for Tottenham. Eric Lamela on. Big Spurs energy.
 

fletcherpost

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Ocampos might have over sold it with his somewhat dramatic fall to the turf.. Distracted the jury.

Seen em given though.
 

Kliq

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I think Ibanez got the ball first, which is probably what made Taylor overturn the call so quickly. The commentators on Paramount+ were slow picking that up and made it sound like he was nowhere close to the ball when he went in for the challenge.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Bryan Gil off for Tottenham. Eric Lamela on. Big Spurs energy.
It was more Suso than Erik, but of course Sevilla look much better after taking off the guy they sold to Spurs and bringing on the guy they bought from Spurs for cheaper.
 

Kliq

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Imagine thinking you could beat Sevilla in a Europa League Final?
 

rguilmar

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The myth of Mendilibar grows. The man who was most famous for keeping Éibar and their comically small stadium in La Liga for six seasons (and I think he’d be cool with that) makes the necessary moves to beat the Special One in the Europa League final.

I thought it was an engrossing game in terms of team contrasts. Perhaps if Dybala could have gone for longer the game would have gone differently, but once Suso was on and Ocampos switched sides, it was pretty much all Sevilla.
 

rguilmar

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Just to put a bow on this one with some random facts:
  • Ivan Rakitic captained Sevilla, the first foreign player to do so since Diego Maradona
  • Speaking of Maradona, the last five professional teams he played for won a major trophy this season as did his national team.
  • Jesus Navas put in a real shift, winning the trophy for Sevilla 17 seasons after he first won the same trophy for Sevilla
  • Sevilla have never lost a European final. Neither had Jose. Something had to give. Jose took the lose… predictably.
  • Since Bayern beat Valencia in the 2001 Champions League final (in penalties) Spanish teams are an absurd 18-0 in European finals.
 

Kliq

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Just to put a bow on this one with some random facts:
  • Ivan Rakitic captained Sevilla, the first foreign player to do so since Diego Maradona
  • Speaking of Maradona, the last five professional teams he played for won a major trophy this season as did his national team.
  • Jesus Navas put in a real shift, winning the trophy for Sevilla 17 seasons after he first won the same trophy for Sevilla
  • Sevilla have never lost a European final. Neither had Jose. Something had to give. Jose took the lose… predictably.
  • Since Bayern beat Valencia in the 2001 Champions League final (in penalties) Spanish teams are an absurd 18-0 in European finals.
People keep saying the last one, but Atletico lost the UCL Final to Real.
 

candylandriots

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I didn't see the game, but looks like it should have been called a hand ball. I'm surprised nobody mentioned it in this thread, despite it being a short one.
 

Pesky Pole

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The video of the handball is in the article link by DDB above. I‘d deem it a 50-50 call. The freeze frame shows both arms in the same position so the “natural position“ argument is clearly on the table. I’d go with the no call given it’s a cross (and I realize that’s not supposed to matter but it always does).

Regardless of the call, it doesn’t warrant the manager confronting the ref in the car park way after the moment or fans attacking the ref at the airport in front of his terrified kids. Plus, it’s the friggin Europa League. Even if Liverpool win the Europa League next season, I’ll only be pissed thinking about what they could have done in the Champions League.
 

luckiestman

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I didn't see the game, but looks like it should have been called a hand ball. I'm surprised nobody mentioned it in this thread, despite it being a short one.
I was watching Unimas so couldn’t tell if they were not able to review. At a minimum it seemed like he should have looked at it. No reason to throw water at the guy at the airport.
 

rguilmar

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It looked like at the time that the referee was indicating to the players that VAR was saying that there was no need to review. He was also adamantly putting his arms near his side as if to say “I saw the ball strike his arm but his arm was at his side”.

For my money, this is the way VAR is supposed to work. Ref saw the ball hit the arm but determined that the arm was close enough to the body for him to let it go. That decision would only be reversed if this was a clear and obvious error, which it wasn’t. So no need to review.

Roma bossed the game for like 35 minutes. Sevilla controlled the rest, and towards the end Roma were holding on for pens. You wanna win the game? Then play better and try to win.

I honestly thought he did a good job, and that was mentioned by both the announcers and in the match reports I read. Anything else is Jose being Jose and the mob following their leader.
 

InstaFace

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Imagine thinking you could beat Sevilla in a Europa League Final?
I laughed.

Plus, it’s the friggin Europa League. Even if Liverpool win the Europa League next season, I’ll only be pissed thinking about what they could have done in the Champions League.
These things have the importance that we give them. It's a trophy contested-for by a number of great teams, you get a huge cup and celebration and the games get worldwide attention. It might not be as good as the Champions League, but it represents an achievement, the UCL is not the only thing worth winning.

I too thought Taylor did a good job. The yellow for simulation was a particularly difficult, gutsy and correct call. The penalty call overturned on review. Nobody can honestly complain they got a less than fully professional game of reffing there. God knows there's plenty to complain about officiating up and down global football, but this was an 8 or 9 out of 10 by Taylor.
 

the1andonly3003

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I laughed.


These things have the importance that we give them. It's a trophy contested-for by a number of great teams, you get a huge cup and celebration and the games get worldwide attention. It might not be as good as the Champions League, but it represents an achievement, the UCL is not the only thing worth winning.

I too thought Taylor did a good job. The yellow for simulation was a particularly difficult, gutsy and correct call. The penalty call overturned on review. Nobody can honestly complain they got a less than fully professional game of reffing there. God knows there's plenty to complain about officiating up and down global football, but this was an 8 or 9 out of 10 by Taylor.
Never thought I would see this, ever!
 

swiftaw

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Winning the Europa league also gives you a spot in next season’s champions league, which neither Roma or Seville would have gotten from their domestic league position.