Turin (Italy): Spanish side Sevilla sensationally claimed a third Europa League title after a dramatic penalty shoot-out in which Benfica pair Oscar Cardozo and Rodrigo missed from the spot to extend the Portuguese giants’ European final hoodoo in Turin on Wednesday.
Benfica striker Lima got the Portuguese giants off the mark but after Sevilla striker Carlos Bacca fired into the roof of the net to pull level, Sevilla ’keeper Beto dived low to save Oscar Cardozo’s tame shot.
Stephane Mbia then sent Jan Oblak the wrong way to make it 2-1, and after Beto saved Rodrigo’s tame shot the title was Sevilla’s after Frenchman Kevin Gameiro, a late substitute, gave the Spaniards an unassailable 4-2 lead following successful spot kicks from either side by Coke and Benfica captain Luisao.
Benfica, recently crowned league and League Cup champions, came to Turin confident of ending a 52-year jinx that had seen them lose a total of seven European finals since winning the second of two consecutive European Cups in 1962.
Benfica had stumbled at the last hurdle five times in the European Cup, once in the Uefa Cup (1983) and once in its successor, the Europa League, in 2013 when they lost 2-1 to Chelsea in Amsterdam.
Yet despite creating the lion’s share of chances in an open, flowing encounter, the ‘Benfica Curse’ as their unenvied streak has come to be known was maintained as Jorge Jesus’s men ultimately failed to hit the net at Juventus Stadium.
Jesus said the “best team did not win the Europa League”, and added: “Sevilla started off better, but as match progressed we improved and we were the better team. We showed our power and created chances to score but couldn’t.”
