Roma To Face Sevilla In UEFA Europa League Final

AS Roma will meet Sevilla in the 2023 UEFA Europa League final after beating Bayer Leverkusen in the semis. Sevilla reached the final by overcoming Juventus.
Roma To Face Sevilla In UEFA Europa League Final
Roma To Face Sevilla In UEFA Europa League Final /

AS Roma qualified for their second European final in two seasons after a 0-0 draw away at Bayer Leverkusen secured a 1-0 aggregate victory in the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League.

Jose Mourinho's team, who won the first ever edition of the UEFA Europa Conference League last year, had just one shot at the BayArena, while Leverkusen recorded 26.

But Rui Patricio made six saves to keep a priceless clean sheet, meaning Edoardo Bove's goal in the first leg seven days earlier proved to be the difference between the sides.

Roma will now face Sevilla in the final at Budapest's Puskas Arena on May 31.

Roma manager Jose Mourinho pictured celebrating after guiding his team to a 1-0 aggregate win over Bayer Leverkusen in the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League in May 2023
Roma manager Jose Mourinho pictured celebrating after guiding his team to a 1-0 aggregate win over Bayer Leverkusen in the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League :: IMAGO/MIS

Sevilla needed extra time to beat Juventus 2-1 in Spain on Thursday to wrap up a 3-2 aggregate win in the other semi-final.

Substitute Dusan Vlahovic fired Juventus ahead seconds after entering the field as a 64th-minute substitute.

But Sevilla leveled six minutes later when Suso scored a long-range stunner to force extra time.

Erik Lamela then completed the turnaround five minutes into extra time and Sevilla held on for a priceless victory, despite having Marcos Acuna sent off in the closing moments.

Erik Lamela pictured celebrating after scoring Sevilla's winning goal in a 3-2 aggregate victory over Juventus in the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League in May 2023
Erik Lamela pictured celebrating after scoring Sevilla's winning goal in a 3-2 aggregate victory over Juventus in the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League :: IMAGO/Cordon Press LOF

Mourinho has a perfect record in European finals, having won all five in his managerial career.

But he will be up against the most successful team in Europa League history on May 31.

Sevilla have been Europa League champions four times in the past 10 years, having also won the competition in 2006 and 2007 when it was known as the UEFA Cup.


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Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.