Holders Sevilla, who crushed ACF Fiorentina, face unheralded Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the UEFA Europa League final in Warsaw on May 27.
The finalists progressed to the finale in the Polish capital in wildly contrasting fashions.
Sevilla, seeking a record fourth success in the competition, were firmly in the driving seat after last week’s 3-0 first-leg success and they finished off Fiorentina with first-half goals from Carlos Bacca and Daniel Carrico.
Photo: EPA
Dnipro, a former rocket factory side, on the other hand secured their first ever European final by edging Rafael Benitez’s SSC Napoli 1-0 in Kiev to go through 2-1 on aggregate.
Napoli, the 1988-1989 UEFA Cup winners, were the better side in the first half, but Yevhen Seleznyov put paid to their Europa League dreams when he headed past goalkeeper Mariano Andujar in the 58th minute, with Yevhen Konoplyanka’s cross from the left setting up the all-important goal.
Napoli are fed up of the sight of Seleznyov as it was he who had come on as a substitute last week to snatch a vital 1-1 draw in Naples.
Photo: AFP
Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain had an early effort kept out by Dnipro goalkeeper Denys Boyko, who also proved a match for the Argentina striker as the half-hour mark approached.
In relentless rain, Dnipro emerged after the break only 45 minutes away from their first ever European final on the away-goals rule, but Ukraine international Seleznyov settled the nerves of the “home” side — Dnipro were hosting Napoli in the safety of the Ukraine capital, which is 450km further away from the conflict in eastern Ukraine than Dnipropetrovsk.
In Florence, any hopes of a Fiorentina fightback fizzled out when Colombian striker Bacca opened the scoring for Sevilla in the 22nd minute off an Ever Banega free-kick.
Five minutes later, the Italians were caught napping by another set-piece, Carrico tapping in a deflected long ball up the right.
Fiorentina’s attempt at a crucial early goal would have paid off if it had not been for Sevilla’s young goalkeeper Sergio Rico superbly denying Gonzalo Rodriguez’s close-range header.
“We weren’t very lucky, at least with the amount of chances we created over the two legs. Sevilla had a good rate of success,” Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Montella said.
The lopsided manner of Sevilla’s path to the final was a world away from last year’s route when they needed the away-goals rule to see them past SL Benfica.
While the La Liga outfit are old Europa League hands, Dnipro are sailing in uncharted waters, setting up an intriguing climax to the competition with the winner for the first time securing direct entry to next season’s UEFA Champions League.
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