Photo: Inter Milan and Sevilla will battle for the Europa League trophy in the final at the Koln Stadium (Getty Images)
A rejuvenated and restyled Inter Milan will take on a confident Sevilla team in the final of the UEFA Europa League at the Stadion Koln in Germany on Friday.
Inter easily brushed aside Shakhtar Donetsk 5-0 in the semifinal to advance to their first final in any competition since 2011, while Sevilla, who last won the competition in 2016, scored a come from behind 2-1 win against a determined Manchester United, to set up what is likely to be a very intriguing final.
Romelu Lukaka who was prized away from Manchester United at the start of the season, has been a revelation for the Nerazzurri, scoring 30 goals in all competitions this season. He extended his amazing scoring streak in the Europa league, by finding the net in his 10th consecutive match in the semifinal.
His scoring streak dates back to November 2014 while he was at Everton and he has found the back of the net 14 times during that period. Lukaku has scored six goals in this competition so far this season, bettered only by Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United who has eight.
Lukaku along with Lautaro Martinez were responsible for the Shakhtar rout, as both hit a brace in the largest single-game semifinal win ever, in the competition. They are the first Inter Milan pair to score 20 goals each in a season, since Adrian and Obafemi Martins did so during the 2005-05 season.
Antonio Conte has done a tremendous job in getting Inter to play with the same passion and purpose that he displayed as a player and now as a coach and they will head into the final as favourites, despite Sevilla’s overall record in the competition.
The Spanish team has won the competition five times, more than any other team and their victory over Man United shows that they know how to get the job done, under difficult circumstances.
Despite being under pressure for most of the game, Julen Lopetegui’s men were able to pounce when it mattered most, coming from a goal down, to see off their wasteful opponents with the winner coming from substitute Luuk de Jong late in the second half.
A team that has proven to be solid at the back and good in possession, Sevilla will be no slouches as they hunt title number six, against a team that has not lifted silverware in nine years.
Lopetegui praised the “heart” shown by his players in their semifinal win and no doubt will be asking for more of the same, in their final game of an elongated season.
Ever Benega will be playing in his last match for Sevilla and the midfielder will want to leave with silverware. Jesus Nevas and Sergio Reguilon are both wing backs, but they provide width in attack and did so to good effect against United. Their goalkeeper Bono, was the man-of-the-match in the semifinal, pulling off a series of remarkable saves to deny the Manchester United strikers. He will need to report in the same frame of mind to deny the deadly duo of Lukaku and Martinez.
No Spanish team made it beyond the quarterfinals of the Champions League, so the responsibility now falls on Sevilla, to represent the fortunes of the country in Europe, this season.
Italians teams are usually the masters of winning low-scoring games, but with their deadly attacking duo Inter are not likely to be trying to sneak a single goal to win the final. On the other hand, it may be the turn of the Spanish team to try to squeeze out a narrow win by keeping things tight at the back and hitting their opponents on the counter.
Either way, the final should be a treat to watch, especially for the neutrals, as the penultimate title of the season get’s decided on German soil.
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