Sevilla win Europa League on penalties as Benfica’s European curse strikes again

Sevilla 0, Benfica 0 (aet: Sevilla win 4-2 on penaties): Sevilla claimed the Europa League final in Turin last night after winning a penalty shoot-out 4-2 against a Benfica side who dominated the game but continued a long losing streak in finals.

Goalkeeper Beto was the hero for Sevilla with two saves from Oscar Cardoza and Rodrigo in the shootout before top scorer Kevin Gameiro converted the winning penalty.

So superior were Benfica, and so preposterous did it seem that the game was still goalless at 90 minutes, that it was hard not to wonder if Guttmann’s curse was about to strike again.

The story has it that the great Hungarian coach Bela Guttmann cursed the club in 1962 when, having led them to a second successive European Cup, he was denied a bonus by the board. He resigned and, it is said, vowed the club would not win another European title in 100 years. They have now lost eight European finals since, including last year’s in this competition, and that in injury time to Rafael Benitez’s Chelsea.

Benfica created the better chances in the first half. Fazio, in particular, looked uncertain for Sevilla, allowing Rodrigo to sashay past him before hitting his shot rather too close to Beto and then getting in a terrible muddle with Nicolas Pareja and gifting possession to Nicolas Gaitan who poked the ball past Beto but saw it drift wide.

Sevilla's shakiness continued after the interval. Lima, finding space on the left, seemed to have taken the ball too wide with his first touch but he beat Beto with a ferocious shot only for Pareja to get back to chip the ball to safety. For Benfica the chances only made things worse. They had seen this before, notably against Chelsea.
Guardian Service