Inter Milan Battle Sevilla in Europa League Final
Serie A giants Inter Milan and LaLiga side Sevilla will be looking to be crowned champions of Europa League 2019/20 season champions as they clash in the Europa League final. For the Italians, it is a must-win game as they have not won the league in ten years now but that’s no the case for the Spaniards as they are the most successful in the tournament.
Also, Inter Milan is looking to land their first Europa League title since last winning it in 1998 after a 3-0 win against Lazio. And the last time an Italian club win the Europa League was in 1999. Inter go into the final in excellent form, winning each of their last six matches in all competitions, while they have only lost once since the beginning of March.
They have only won 14 of their 43 previous European games against Spanish opposition, though, suffering 18 defeats in the process, including two losses to Barcelona in this season’s Champions League. Sevilla on the hand is the most successful side in the history of this competition, they have won the UEFA Cup/Europa League on different five occasions, most recently lifting the European trophy in 2016.
Sevilla has been victorious in their last three games against Italian opposition, beating Roma earlier this month and also overcoming Lazio twice in the last-32 stage of the 2018-19 Europa League. They came from behind to beat Manchester United 2-1 after beating fellow English team Wolves 1-0 in the quarter-finals. They are seen as favourites to lift the trophy but the Italians will also do their best to lift the trophy.
Sevilla’s only injury worry surrounds key attacker Lucas Ocampos, who limped off the field during the semi-final against Manchester United. The Argentine is being tipped to recover for Friday’s final, though, meaning that Julen Lopetegui could name an unchanged side from the clash with the Red Devils.
De Jong came off the bench to score the winner against the English side in the semi-finals is one player Inter defence should keep an eye on while Sevilla will have former Manchester United and Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku and Martinez to worry about, as the player have been in top form since the start of the season.
As for Inter, it could be a case of same again from Conte when it comes to team selection. Matias Vecino is definitely out with a knee injury, but there is a chance that Alexis Sanchez could feature, having battled back from a thigh issue.
Alessandro Bastoni is again expected to get the nod over Milan Skriniar as part of a back three alongside Diego Godin and Stefan de Vrij, while Ashley Young and Danilo D’Ambrosio should keep their wing-back roles.
Roberto Gagliardini is also likely to retain his position in the middle of the park, meaning that the likes of Christian Eriksen and Stefano Sensi might have to accept spots on the bench once again.