2016 UEFA Europa League Final

The 2016 UEFA Europa League Final was an football match between Liverpool of England and Sevilla of Spain on 18 May 2016 at St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland. The showpiece event was the final match of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, the 45th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA.[5] Liverpool were appearing in their fourth final, after their appearances in 1973, 1976 and 2001. Sevilla were appearing in their fifth final and third in three. They had appeared in 2006 and 2007, as well as the previous two finals in 2014 and 2015, winning all four.

2016 UEFA Europa League Final
Match programme cover
Event2015–16 UEFA Europa League
Liverpool Sevilla
1 3
Date18 May 2016
VenueSt. Jakob-Park, Basel
Man of the MatchCoke (Sevilla)[1]
RefereeJonas Eriksson (Sweden)[2]
Attendance34,429[3]
WeatherRain
18 °C (64 °F)
51% humidity[4]

Liverpool entered the competition in the group stages, while Sevilla started in the round of 32 after finishing third in their Champions League group. Liverpool's ties in the knockout phase ranged from close affairs to comfortable victories. A last-minute goal against Borussia Dortmund of Germany secured a 5–4 aggregate victory in the quarter-finals, while they beat Villarreal of Spain 3–1 over two legs in the semi-final. Sevilla's matches were similar. They beat the Swiss team FC Basel 3–0 on aggregate in the Round of 16, but their quarter-final match with fellow Spanish team Athletic Bilbao went to a penalty shoot-out, which they won 5–4 after the tie had finished 3–3 over two-legs.

Watched by a crowd of 34,429, Liverpool took the lead in the 35th minute when striker Daniel Sturridge scored. However, they conceded within the first minute of the second half when Sevilla striker Kevin Gameiro levelled the match. Sevilla took the lead in the 64th minute when captain Coke scored. They extended their lead six minutes when Coke scored his second of the match. Liverpool were unable to respond during the remainder of the match which meant Sevilla won the match 3–1 to win the competition for the fifth time and third in succession.

Sevilla earned the right to play against the winners of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid, in the 2016 UEFA Super Cup. They also qualified for the group stage of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, as Real Madrid also qualified for the group stage through domestic performance, that meant the berth reserved for the Champions League title holders was not used and passed to the Europa League title holders.[6]

Route to the final

Note: In the table, the score of the finalist is given first (H = home; A = away).

Liverpool Round Sevilla
Europa League Champions League
Opponent Result Group stage (EL, CL) Opponent Result
Bordeaux 1–1 (A) Matchday 1 Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–0 (H)
Sion 1–1 (H) Matchday 2 Juventus 0–2 (A)
Rubin Kazan 1–1 (H) Matchday 3 Manchester City 1–2 (A)
Rubin Kazan 1–0 (A) Matchday 4 Manchester City 1–3 (H)
Bordeaux 2–1 (H) Matchday 5 Borussia Mönchengladbach 2–4 (A)
Sion 0–0 (A) Matchday 6 Juventus 1–0 (H)
Group B winners
Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Liverpool 6 10
2 Sion 6 9
3 Rubin Kazan 6 6
4 Bordeaux 6 4
Source: UEFA
 Final standings Group D third place
Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Manchester City 6 12
2 Juventus 6 11
3 Sevilla 6 6
4 Borussia Mönchengladbach 6 5
Source: UEFA
Europa League
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knockout phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Augsburg 1–0 0–0 (A) 1–0 (H) Round of 32 Molde 3–1 3–0 (H) 0–1 (A)
Manchester United 3–1 2–0 (H) 1–1 (A) Round of 16 Basel 3–0 0–0 (A) 3–0 (H)
Borussia Dortmund 5–4 1–1 (A) 4–3 (H) Quarter-finals Athletic Bilbao 3–3 (5–4 p) 2–1 (A) 1–2 (a.e.t.) (H)
Villarreal 3–1 0–1 (A) 3–0 (H) Semi-finals Shakhtar Donetsk 5–3 2–2 (A) 3–1 (H)

Venue
The St. Jakob-Park in Basel was selected to host the final in September 2014.

The St. Jakob-Park was announced as the venue of the final at the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, on 18 September 2014.[5] This was the first European club final hosted at the stadium, although the previous stadium of the same name, the St. Jakob Stadium, which opened in 1954 for the 1954 FIFA World Cup and closed in 1998, hosted four European Cup Winners' Cup finals in 1969, 1975, 1979 and 1984.

The current St. Jakob-Park, nicknamed "Joggeli" by fans, was built in 1998 and opened in 2001, and is the home stadium of Basel. It hosted six matches at UEFA Euro 2008, including the opening match and a semi-final. Its current capacity is 38,512, but is reduced to nearly 36,000 seats for UEFA competitions.[5]

After Basel got transferred to the Europa League after conceding to Maccabi Tel Aviv by away goals, Basel had the chance to become the first team to win the competition in home ground since Feyenoord in 2002, and the first to win it under the Europa League banner. This possibility ended after Basel was eliminated in the round of 16 by Sevilla.[7]

Background

Before the final, Sevilla were the most successful team in the history of the UEFA Cup/Europa League, with four titles, while Liverpool were joint second, tied with Internazionale and Juventus, with three titles. Neither side had lost in a UEFA Cup/Europa League final before. This was their first meeting in a European competition.[8]

Liverpool previously won finals in 1973, 1976, and 2001.[9] Overall, this was their 12th final in a European competition, with five wins in the European Cup (1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, and 2005) and two defeats in the European Cup (1985 and 2007) and one in the European Cup Winners' Cup (1966). This was the second European club final for their manager Jürgen Klopp, who lost in the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final with Borussia Dortmund, who were eliminated by Liverpool in this season's quarter-finals.[10]

Sevilla previously won finals in 2006, 2007, 2014, and 2015.[11] They were the first team to reach five overall finals and three consecutive finals, and had a chance to win an unprecedented five overall and three consecutive titles. Spain was aiming to become the most successful country in the competition's history, with them tied with Italy with nine wins apiece. Sevilla's manager Unai Emery, who led them to the previous two titles, had a chance to win his third title, to tie him with record holder Giovanni Trapattoni.[12] José Antonio Reyes, who was in the squad of four previous Europa League winners (although he only played in three finals), was aiming to collect a record fifth Europa League winner's medal.[13]

Pre-match

Ambassador
Alexander Frei

Former Switzerland and Basel striker Alexander Frei was named the ambassador for the final.[14]

UEFA unveiled the brand identity of the final on 28 August 2015 in Monaco ahead of the group stage draw. The logo features the Basel landmark Marktplatz.[15]

Ticketing

With a stadium capacity of 35,000, a total amount of 27,000 tickets were available to fans and the general public, with the two finalist teams receiving 9,000 tickets each and with 9,000 tickets being available for sale to fans worldwide via UEFA.com from 23 February to 21 March 2016 in four price categories: CHF 180, CHF 120, CHF 90, and CHF 50. The remaining tickets were allocated to the local organising committee, UEFA and national associations, commercial partners and broadcasters, and to serve the corporate hospitality programme.[16]

UEFA was forced to defend the choice of St. Jakob-Park, which is the second smallest venue to host the competition's final, as the final competition venue after Liverpool and Sevilla were confirmed as the finalists.[17] Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, who initially told the supporters to travel to Basel even without a ticket, later backtracked from his suggestion.[18]

Match

Officials

Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson was announced as the final referee by UEFA on 10 May 2016.[2]

Goal-line technology

The goal-line technology system Hawk-Eye was used for the match. This was the first UEFA competition match to employ goal-line technology, following approval by the UEFA Executive Committee in January 2016.[19][20]

Summary

In the 35th minute Daniel Sturridge scored with a shot using the outside of his left foot from out on the left after a pass from Philippe Coutinho. Seventeen seconds into the second half Kevin Gameiro made it 1–1 when he scored three yards out after a cross from the right by Mariano who got past Alberto Moreno by putting the ball between his legs.[21] Sevilla missed two more chances to score before they went in front in the 64th minute when Coke scored with a low right foot shot to the corner of the net from twenty yards. Coke got his second in the 70th minute with a right foot shot from six yards out on the right after the ball broke to him via a deflection off a Liverpool player.[22]

Details

The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the semi-final draw, which was held on 15 April 2016 at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[23]

Liverpool 1–3 Sevilla
Sturridge  35' Report Gameiro  46'
Coke  64', 70'
St. Jakob-Park, Basel
Attendance: 34,429[3]
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)
Liverpool
Sevilla
GK22 Simon Mignolet
RB2 Nathaniel Clyne 90+4'
CB6 Dejan Lovren 30'
CB4 Kolo Touré 82'
LB18 Alberto Moreno
CM7 James Milner (c)
CM23 Emre Can
RW20 Adam Lallana 73'
AM11 Roberto Firmino 69'
LW10 Philippe Coutinho
CF15 Daniel Sturridge
Substitutes:
GK52 Danny Ward
DF37 Martin Škrtel
MF14 Jordan Henderson
MF21 Lucas
MF24 Joe Allen 73'
FW9 Christian Benteke 82'
FW27 Divock Origi 72' 69'
Manager:
Jürgen Klopp
GK31 David Soria
RB25 Mariano 84'
CB3 Adil Rami 77' 78'
CB6 Daniel Carriço
LB18 Sergio Escudero
CM4 Grzegorz Krychowiak
CM15 Steven Nzonzi
RW23 Coke (c)
AM19 Éver Banega 57' 90+3'
LW20 Vitolo 56'
CF9 Kevin Gameiro 89'
Substitutes:
GK1 Sergio Rico
DF5 Timothée Kolodziejczak 78'
DF21 Nicolás Pareja
MF8 Vicente Iborra 89'
MF14 Sebastián Cristóforo 90+3'
MF22 Yevhen Konoplyanka
FW24 Fernando Llorente
Manager:
Unai Emery

Man of the Match:
Coke (Sevilla)[1]

Assistant referees:[2]
Mathias Klasenius (Sweden)
Daniel Wärnmark (Sweden)
Fourth official:[2]
Svein Oddvar Moen (Norway)
Additional assistant referees:[2]
Stefan Johannesson (Sweden)
Markus Strömbergsson (Sweden)
Reserve assistant referee:[2]
Mehmet Culum (Sweden)

Match rules[24]

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used.

Statistics

See also

References
  1. "Sevilla make it three in row at Liverpool's expense". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  2. "Jonas Eriksson to referee Europa League final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  3. "Full Time Report Final – Liverpool v Sevilla" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  4. "Tactical Lineups – Final – Saturday 18 May 2016" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  5. "Basel awarded 2016 UEFA Europa League final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  6. "How the Europa League winners will enter the Champions League". UEFA.com. 6 May 2016.
  7. "UEFA Europa League". Uefa.com.
  8. "UEFA Europa League final: Liverpool v Sevilla". UEFA.com. 5 May 2016.
  9. "Liverpool's three UEFA Cup wins". UEFA.com. 16 May 2016.
  10. "2016 UEFA Europa League Final Press Kit" (PDF). UEFA.com. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  11. "Sevilla's first four final successes". UEFA.com. 16 May 2016.
  12. "Five records Sevilla can break in Basel". UEFA.com. 17 May 2016.
  13. "Reyes seeks fifth win: top UEFA club cup winners". UEFA.com. 17 May 2016.
  14. "Former Swiss soccer player Alexander Frei, ambassador for the UEFA Europa League final in Basel, shows a ticket with Czech soccer team AC Sparta Praha during the draw of the round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League 2015/16 soccer at the UEFA headquarters, in Nyon, Switzerland, Friday, Feb. 26, 2016. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)". Yahoo!. AP. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  15. "New UEFA Europa League brand identity revealed". UEFA.org. 28 August 2015.
  16. "2016 UEFA Champions League final ticket sales launch". UEFA.org. 1 March 2016.
  17. "Europa League: Uefa defends St. Jakob-Park for Liverpool v Sevilla final". BBC Sport. 6 May 2016.
  18. "Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp tells ticketless fans not to go to Europa League final". BBC Sport. 8 May 2016.
  19. "Goalline technology to be used in Champions League final". BBC Sport. 4 March 2016.
  20. "Goal-line technology for Europa League final". UEFA.com. 17 May 2016.
  21. "Liverpool 1 Sevilla 3: Jurgen Klopp's side unravel against rampant Spaniards in Europa League final". Daily Telegraph. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  22. "Sevilla beat Liverpool 3–1 to claim Europa League title – as it happened". Guardian. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  23. "Draws — Semi-finals". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  24. "Regulations of the UEFA Europa League 2015/16 Season" (PDF). UEFA.com. 1 May 2015.
  25. "Team statistics" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
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