Europa League Final 2023 Preview

Sevilla vs. AS Roma

Serial European Cup winners Sevilla are once again hoping to add another trophy to their impressive cabinet and they take on AS Roma, managed by Jose Mourinho who himself has won this competition in the past.

Spanish sides have had a strong grip on this trophy, having won six of the last nine Europa Leagues, with four of these being won by Sevilla. The Spanish side have won each of their last six appearances in Europa League finals so history is certainly on their side going into this match.

With nothing much to play for in the league, manager Jose Luis Mendibar was able to rest many of his players in the hope of avoiding injuries and making sure his team are fresh for the final on Wednesday. The result of that was a defeat at the hands of Real Madrid on Saturday. Despite their good record in this competition, Sevilla have been heavily reliant on home form in recent times and they have not won outside of Spain in 13 matches, something that will give Roma fans some hope. 

Roma are themselves familiar with reaching European Cup finals of late as they won the Conference League last season under Jose Mourinho. The hope is that they can go one better this time around and win the Europa League, which is a level up on the Conference League.

Should they do so they would be one of only four Italian clubs to have claimed four European trophies back to back and they will be the first to do so since the year 2000. Roma also lost their last match in the league, 2-1 to Fiorentina, as their minds were also on this more important event. However, unlike Sevilla, that defeat might be costly as they are still hoping to finish in the top six.

With one game to go in Serie A, they are only one point ahead of Juventus, although they will be well aware that a win in this final will guarantee them a spot in the Champions League next season. Much like Sevilla, Roma have struggled to get results away from home in this competition this season, they are winless and goalless in the last four matches held outside of Italy. 

Where it’s held

The match will be held in Hungary in the Puskas Arena in Budapest, an impressive stadium that can hold over 67,000 supporters. This will be the first time that AS Roma play in a UEFA match in Hungary. Overall, finals in this competition have been entertaining, unlike many other high-profile and high pressure events.

Match preview and predictions

The previous thirteen matches have seen an average of 2.92 goals but, despite that, this time around the odds predict a low scoring affair with the under 2.5 market favoured. Last season saw an entertaining match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers end 1-1 with the German team winning on penalties. Other recent winners include Villareal, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and, of course, Sevilla who have won it four times in the last ten years.

Both teams had to beat some strong opposition to reach this final. Sevilla overcame Juventus in the semi-finals and Manchester United in the quarters as well as getting past the likes of PSV, and Fenerbahce once they got through the group stages. Roma just managed to beat German team Bayer Leverkusen in the semi-finals, winning by a solitary goal to nil, but had an easier task in getting past Feyenoord, Real Sociedad and Salzburg.

Key players include Roma goalkeeper Rui Patricio who has made more appearances in this competition than anyone else as well as the likes of the experienced Nemanja Matic and Tammy Abraham but Paulo Dybala remains an injury concern for the Italian team. Sevilla have a former Roma man in their ranks in the form of experienced Erik Lamela, who scored the winner against Juventus in the semi-final as well as other experienced players such as Ivan Rakitic and Jesus Navas. 

In terms of form, Sevilla have won two of their last five matches, whereas AS Roma have won only one of their last five matches. As previously mentioned, both lost their league matches last weekend. These two have played each other four times but the only competitive meeting was in Europa League in 2020, with Sevilla winning 2-0. This time around it is the Spanish team who are slight favourites, given a 37% chance of winning the match when compared to 34% for the team from the Italian capital.