Road to the Europa League Final

The Europa League Final is set to take place on Friday at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany with Sevilla and Inter Milan battling out for Europe's secondary cup competition. The final was suppose to take place at the Stadion Energa Gdańsk in Gdańsk, Poland on May 27th. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the later stages of the competition were postponed. The competition resumed in July with the knockout stages of the competition still to be completed. The games were played in Germany in order for the teams to be together in one space and for safety precautions. Also, all their knockout stages were played without any fans in attendance. The knockout games are now finally completed with Inter Milan facing Sevilla. Both teams have had different runs in reaching the final as Julen Lopetegui and Antonio Conte look to finish their seasons on a high. Here is their stories on their road to Cologne.

SEVILLA



Sevilla are the most successful team in the history of the Europa League. They have won the competition five times, winning it three times in a row between 2014 to 2016 under Unai Emery. Under Julen Lopetegui, they have been a solid side which has helped them to qualify for the Champions League next season through La Liga. In the Europa League, they topped their group which consisted of APOEL, Qarabag and F91 Dudelange with 15 points. They won five out of their six group games, scoring 14 goals and conceded only 3 goals. In the round of 32, they played against Romanian side CFR Cluj. The game ended 1-1 over two legs but Sevilla advanced on away goals. In the round of 16, they faced a difficult task against Italian side AS Roma. Sergio Reguillon and Youssef En-Nesyri scored to give Los Palanganas a 2-0 win to advance to the next round. They faced Wolves in the quarterfinals, who have had a great run in the competition. They were able to handle the threat of Wolves, beating the English side 1-0. They faced another English side in Manchester United in the semifinals. Despite conceding first, they were able to come from behind to beat the Red Devils 2-1 to advance into the final. This will be their sixth Europa League final, and they are yet to lose in an Europa League Final having won the trophy in every final appearance. The Andalusian club will be looking towards the likes of Jesús Navas and Éver Banega, who has won the competition multiple times with Sevilla. However, Lucas Ocampos is the guy who can make things happen for Sevilla. The Argentine is Sevilla's top scorer with 16 goals in all competition. With many of Sevilla's attackers struggling for goals this season, Ocampos has been the difference for Sevilla in winning games this season through his goals. Lopetegui has answered his critics this season, having had a difficult period at Real Madrid, and winning the Europa League will be the icing on the cake.


INTER MILAN



Inter Milan will be playing their first European Final for the first time since 2010 where they won the Champions League in Madrid under José Mourinho. Now, they are under former Juventus manager Antonio Conte. The Italian has a fantastic resume with multiple league titles with Juventus and Chelsea. However, Conte's record in the European stage leaves a lot to be desired but that could change if he wins the Europa League. Inter's European adventure started in the Champions League but were eliminated from the group stages, finishing behind Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund in their group. In the Europa League, they faced Ludogorets in the round of 32 and stomped their authority over the Bulgarian side beating them 4-1 over two legs. In the round of 16, they faced La Liga side Getafe and won the game 2-0 with Romelu Lukaku and Christian Eriksen finding the net. The Nerazzurri faced a difficult clash against Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen but prevailed winning the game 2-1. Their semifinal game was against Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk and blew them out of the water, inflicting a 5-0 victory. Antonio Conte's side are favourites to win the final as they have a strong side, particularly their attack. Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martínez have been one of the most exciting attacking duos this season, with 54 goals between them. That's not to mention other players in their squad like Milan Škriniar, Nicolò Barella, Marcelo Brozović and Christian Eriksen. Inter look to be going place with Antonio Conte and the Nerazzurri faithful will be hoping that winning the Europa League will be the first of many for the blue half of Milan.