Europa league final clash is finally here and the prize is not only the trophy, as the winner will take a place in next season’s Champions League, so the stakes for Klopp and Emery are high.
UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE
May 18, 2016 • 19:45 • St. Jakob-Park, Basel
Referee: J. Eriksson
Liverpool vs Sevilla Live streams
Match Highlights & Full Match Replay – available after the game end
The Spanish side are the record four-time winners of Europe league’s competition, with four titles (2006, 2007, 2014 and 2015), two in a row, and tonight Emery’s men have a chance to make new history by winning it for a third straight year.
On the other side Reds won Europa league (previously called Uefa Cup) in 1973, 1976 and the last time in 2001, while also winning the Champions league five times.
“When we look at the history of Sevilla in this competition we have to be proud of. There are many beautiful moments we survived in the Europa league, but I do not want to stop here.
In fact, we want to re-live all again, just like our fans. Whenever football gives you the chance you should take it with both hands” – said the coach of the Spanish side, Unai Emery.
Results of Sevilla lately are not fabulous, but it all should be viewed from a different perspective. Specifically, Unai Emery understood the reality that trough the championship he hardly will reach the Champions League, so all the cards he thrown to the Europa League and the National Cup, where Sevilla will play vs Barcelona in the final.
– To me, this Liverpool in amongst the ten strongest teams in the world. They have a great history, have won countless of English and European titles, and new coach breathed them and extra enthusiasm.
– In many ways Reds remind me of Athletic Bilbao, a team that always plays pressing and give a hundred percent on the field.
The key for the Basque coach is:
– In the final emotions are very high, but the key thing is to keep them under control. We should be maximally focused on what we were doing in training.
Emery for the clash with Liverpool can’t count on Michael Krohn-Dehli who suffered an injury in the semi-final game vs Shakhtar, while Benoît Trémoulinas is outside the team due to injury for some time now. According to the latest Emery will sent to the field the strongest line-up with David Soria on the goal who usually plays in the European league, while in the Spanish championship Sergei Rico takes his place.
Sevilla probable lineup: David Soria; Mariano, Rami, Carriço, Escudero; Krychowiak, N’Zonzi; Coke, Banega, Vitolo; Gameiro
Confirmed lineup:
ONCE del #SevillaFC en la FINAL de la @EuropaLeague #vamosmisevilla #APorLaQuinta #UELFinal pic.twitter.com/XdYWMUwxBl
— Sevilla Fútbol Club (@SevillaFC) May 18, 2016
Liverpool are the only English team this season in Europe which managed to knock out some Spanish team. Jurgen Klopp has done a tremendous job with Liverpool and led the team to the finals which the famous English club has won on three occasions.
True, Liverpool in the last two league appearances did not win and ended only at the eighth position, but for a long time, the Reds this competition marked as an absolute priority.
Particularly impressive was Liverpool in the semi-final game against Villarreal, where in the second leg at Anfield with a 3-0 has celebrated, and thus become the first not-spanish team this season, which managed from Europe to eliminate a Spanish club.
Liverpool is waiting for a trophy for a long time:
– The more you wait for the trophy, more effort you add and your desire is growing. Liverpool is a famous club with a rich history and it is clear how much our fans want this trophy.
For the entire seasons they were with us at all stadiums and so I would like that we realized their dreams. The only problem is the fact that Sevilla wants the same.
“I expect it to be intense, of course,” Klopp told Uefa. “There will be challenges all over the pitch, there will be a lot of fight. You cannot win a cup with just ‘a little bit of playing football’. You have to show that you’re really ready for the big moments.
“It’s a 50-50 situation – nobody is favourites, nobody is already halfway there. It’s an intense game with all the circumstances – the hours before a final, and things like this – but for me, the bigger the pressure, the cooler I get.
“We will try everything to take the opportunity. It is difficult – we know. It is against Sevilla – we know. But we will be prepared, 100 per cent. We deserve to be a part of the final – 100 per cent. And who deserves to be in a final can win and that’s what we’ll try.”
Central defender Mamadou Sakho for some time is not is outside the team, while at the moment under the question mark is the young striker Divok Origi.
Liverpool probable lineup: Mignolet; Clyne, Lovren, Touré, Moreno; Lallana, Can, Milner; Firmino, Sturridge, Coutinho.
Confirmed lineup:
The #LFC starting line-up and subs for the #UELfinal against @SevillaFC in full pic.twitter.com/2zq1AC0F0w
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 18, 2016