Carlos Bacca was the Man of the Match as Sevilla won their second straight UEFA Europa League title. The Colombian striker scored two of the three goals and assisted on the other as he was instrumental leading Sevilla to European glory for the second consecutive season.

Bacca was particularly effective to capitalize on his chances. After assisting Grzegorz Krychowiak in the first goal, he added a score in the first-half and the decisive one on the second-half as Sevilla managed to escape the threat of Dnipro to lift a European trophy for the second year in a row.

The game started with a lot of intensity as both sides tried to settle into the pitch but both were moving forward. Sevilla appeared to have more possession but it was Dnipro who scored first, breaking the deadlock in the early minutes. A long ball from the right wasn’t cleared and it found Matheus on the right. The Brazilian winger was tightly marked but he managed to lob the ball towards the centre of the pitch where Nicola Kalinic had acres of space. The Croatian striker nodded the ball home past the keeper to put the Ukrainian side on top before the 10th minute mark.

Sevilla woke up after the goal

Things changed after the goal though. Dnipro adopted a more defensive stance as they played with nine men behind the ball, only with Kalinic roaming close to the defenders. Sevilla took control of the ball in the midfield zone and between Ever Banega and Vitolo they started to create chances. The first clear approach occurred in the 12th minute when Vitolo’s effort was blocked inside the box and a few minutes later, Jose Antonio Reyes blasted a shot from outside the box but the ball went slightly wide to the left of Denis Boyko.

Boyko came up big in the 24th minute once again. Banega sent a cross to the far post that found Krychowiak and the Polish midfielder sent a header towards the net but Boyko stretched to his left to parry the ball away. Reyes had another chance a few minutes later but Kankava was there to block a close range effort but Dnipro wouldn’t be able to withstand the pressure much longer.

Another cross from the left fell near the penalty spot and the ball fell to Krychowiak. The Polish midfielder dummied a defender and with a defender close to him, he placed a right-footed effort near the post in an angle that was impossible for Boyko to reach, sending the fans into raptures and equalizing the score midway into the first half but there would be more since Sevilla added their second goal in the 31st minute. A spectacular through ball from Reyes found Colombian striker Carlos Bacca who, after leaving Douglas behind with his run, made his way into the box, dummied the keeper and placed the ball into the empty net with a soft touch.

Dnipro never stopped fighting

Dnipro tried to move their lines forward after the second goal and Matheus looked quite active. Yevhen Konoplyanka appeared to be a non-factor but only needed one sequence to create danger as he blasted a log-range effort from the left side but Rico was excellent to clear the ball away to a corner kick. Sevilla had one more chance before the break when a counter led by Carlos Bacca found Aleix Vidal, but the right-back’s shot from outside the box went above the crossbar.

Dnipro was considered quite a threat on set-piece situations and they equalized nearing the end of the first-half. A free-kick outside the box was brilliantly taken by Ruslan Rotan and the Ukraine international located the ball over the wall and it went next to the right post. Sergio Rico stretched to get the ball but wasn’t able to reach for it so the Ukrainian side equalized a few minutes before the half-time whistle.

The referee Martin Atkinson booked Kalinic (Dnipro) and Krychowiak (Sevilla) before the half-time interval. The first 45 minutes ended with a 2-2 draw that showed intensity, pace and a will to move the ball forward as both sides battled hard to get the upper hand in this pivotal encounter but neither was able to dominate the match completely.

Carlos Bacca showed the way for Sevilla

The second-half started with less pace in comparison to the first 45 minutes. Both sides appeared to be slightly more negative but Sevilla had more control of the ball, although they lacked clarity going forward. Dnipro, on the other hand, closed the spaces in the midfield zone but every time they moved forward they created danger. Kalinic was very active on the final third and posed quite a threat with his mobility and his strength.

Sevilla manager Unai Emery introduced a change in the 59th minute, taking Reyes off and sending Coke in to move Aleix Vidal into a more advanced role on the right flank but a few minutes after the change, it was Dnipro who had a chance. After a foul from Daniel Carrico, Yevhen Konoplyanka blasted a free-kick towards the goal but his effort went horribly wide. Sevilla countered with a header from Stephane M’Bia that went above the goal around the 63th minute mark.

Sevilla was close to score their third goal in the 67th minute. A corner cross sent from the left side went around the six-yard box and even though the defence managed to clear the ball, the ball hovered near the penalty spot for a few seconds and it landed to Krychowiak, but the defender’s shot was blocked by Douglas to end the threat.

Sevilla scored their third goal in the 73th minute when Carlos Bacca found the back of the net for the second time. After a lobbed ball into the box was cleared away, M’Bia captured the rebound and passed the ball to Vitolo who flicked it to Bacca with a one-time pass. The Colombian striker let the ball bounce once before unleashing a fierce shot past Byoko and putting the Spaniards in the driving seat of the game midway into the second-half.

Final minutes of the game

Sevilla got the lead with less than twenty minutes on the clock and they spend the rest of the game protecting their advantage, where the midfield zone was nothing short of brilliant. Vitolo, M’Bia and Krychowiak covered lots of ground and they dominated the possession in the middle of the pitch while Banega also helped, adopting a more defensive stance.

Sevilla chose to maintain their intensity and Carlos Bacca was inches away from scoring a hat-trick, first with a header that went above the bar and seconds later with a close range effort that went slightly wide when Boyko had no chance to get to that ball.

Dnipro tried to move their lines forward once again and they had some interesting efforts, but most of the chances they created were either well wide or not particularly dangerous.

The game suffered a long delay after Matheus fell down with no explanation and he was taken off on a stretcher. The final minutes had Sevilla taking care of the ball on their defensive end while Dnipro chose to attack through the flanks but their efforts weren’t successful and overall, they weren’t able pose much of a threat to change their fortune.

Led by Carlos Bacca, Sevilla completed a solid performance on both ends of the pitch as they managed to re-group when they conceded an early goal. The Spaniards were the better side overall, they looked much more threatening on both halves and they fully deserved the win that not also gives them the second straight Europa League title, it also clinched them a berth on both the UEFA Super Cup and the group stages of next season's UEFA Champions League.

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About the author
Juan Pablo Aravena
26-year-old Chilean sports journalist with three years of experience in different websites and platforms. Covering all four major sports for VAVEL USA, international soccer for VAVEL UK and Latin American Soccer for VAVEL LatAm.