Europa League Final Preview: Sevilla's History Against Ukrainian Opposition

VAVEL's Jordon Stenner takes a look back at Sevilla's previous meeting with Ukrainian opposition ahead of their UEFA Europa League final against Dnipro this Wednesday.

Europa League Final Preview: Sevilla's History Against Ukrainian Opposition
Sevilla celebrate their semi-final win over Fiorentina on home turf as they reach the final in Warsaw.
jordan-stenner
By Jordan Stenner

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk play in their first ever UEFA Europa League final this Wednesday, taking on a team all too familiar with the competition in Sevilla.

The La Liga side are the reigning champions ahead of Wednesday's meeting in Warsaw, and are the favourites to retain the trophy.

Unai Emery's men have had another successful season in Europe, but they meet unfamiliar opponents in Ukranian side Dnipro - so how have they fared against sides from the Ukraine before?

Sevilla first encountered Ukrainian opposition back in the Round of 16 in the  2006-07 UEFA Europa League, when they took on Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Spanish side drew the first leg 2-2 in Seville with an 88th minute equaliser by Enzo Maresca, convering from the spot to keep the tie evenly poised.

However, in the second leg things took a dramatic turn for the worse, having found themselves 2-1 down on the night and 4-3 down on aggregrate. Nevertheless, Sevilla had a corner in the 95th minute and decided to send their then goalkeeper Andres Palop up, and this turned out to be a good decision as he tucked home a shot to send the game to extra time.

In the 105th minute, Javier Chevanton tucked home from a tight angle meaning Sevilla lead 5-4 on aggregate and that was the result at the full time whistle. They went on to win the competiton with a 3-1 penalty win over Espanyol in the final.

The next time Sevilla found themselves up against Ukrainian opposition was in the 2010-11 competiton in the form of Karpaty Lviv, who they played over two legs in the group stages.

In the away fixture, Sevilla won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Frederic Kanoute in the 34th minute. In the return fixture, Sevilla triumphed 4-0 against their unknown Ukrainian counterparts with goals from Alejamndro Alfaro (2), Luca Cigarini and Alvaro Negredo. Unluckily for Seville that year, they were knocked out in the Round of 32 by FC Porto on away goals.