2014 UEFA Europa League Final

The 2014 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. It was played at the Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy on 14 May 2014,[3] between Spanish side Sevilla and Portuguese side Benfica. Sevilla won the match 4–2 on penalties, following a 0–0 draw after extra time.[4][5]

2014 UEFA Europa League Final
Match programme cover
Event2013–14 UEFA Europa League
Sevilla Benfica
0 0
After extra time
Sevilla won 4–2 on penalties
Date14 May 2014
VenueJuventus Stadium, Turin
Man of the MatchIvan Rakitić (Sevilla)[1]
RefereeFelix Brych (Germany)
Attendance33,120
WeatherSunny
16 °C (61 °F)
40% humidity[2]

Sevilla secured their third title in eight years, after winning the competition in 2006 and 2007. With this triumph, they joined Juventus (1977, 1990, 1993), Inter Milan (1991, 1994, 1998) and Liverpool (1973, 1976, 2001) as the teams with the most wins. Benfica lost their second consecutive UEFA Europa League final, following their defeat against Chelsea in the 2013 final. Including their runner-up finish in 1983, Benfica are the team with the most lost finals in the competition.

As the winners, Sevilla earned the right to play against 2013–14 UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid in the 2014 UEFA Super Cup.

Venue

The Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy, was chosen as the venue of the match at a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, on 20 March 2012.[6][7] It is the home stadium of Juventus since 2011. This was the first time that a one-legged final was hosted in Turin. Previous UEFA Cup finals contested over two legs have had one of their matches played in Turin. The first legs of the 1977 UEFA Cup Final and the 1990 UEFA Cup Final, both contested by Juventus, were played at the Stadio Comunale (now the Stadio Olimpico di Torino). The first leg of the 1992 UEFA Cup Final, contested by Torino, and the second leg of the 1993 UEFA Cup Final, contested by Juventus, were played at the Stadio delle Alpi, which has been demolished to make way for the Juventus Stadium.[8]

Background

After a comeback by their opponents Valencia, who had lost the first leg 2–0, Sevilla secured their presence in the final after Stéphane Mbia's injury-time header qualified them on away goals.[9] Sevilla had previously played in two UEFA Cup finals, winning both times in 2006 and 2007,[10] and were aiming to become the fourth team to win three UEFA Cup/Europa League titles, after Juventus, Inter Milan and Liverpool.[11]

Benfica reached their second consecutive Europa League final,[12] after defeating Juventus 2–1 on aggregate and denying their opponents a chance to play the final at their home stadium.[13] It was the first time a club has reached consecutive finals in the competition, having featured in the Champions League group stage on each occasion. Both of their previous UEFA Cup/Europa League finals, in 1983 and 2013, ended in defeats. They had also played in seven European Cup finals (1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1988, 1990). After winning successive European titles in 1961 and 1962, they had lost seven straight major European finals.[10]

The final was Sevilla's 19th match in the competition, having started their participation in the third qualifying round against Montenegrin side Mladost Podgorica.[12] They only qualified for the competition after Málaga were banned and Rayo Vallecano were denied a UEFA license.[14] Benfica transitioned from the Champions League group stage, after finishing third in their group, behind Paris Saint-Germain and Olympiacos. They became the first team to reach the Europa League final without conceding a defeat, registering six wins and two draws in eight knockout phase matches.[12]

The only previous meeting between Sevilla and Benfica in European competition was in the 1957–58 European Cup preliminary round. The first leg at Estadio de Nervión, won by Sevilla 3–1, marked the European debut of both clubs. The second leg at Estádio da Luz ended 0–0, giving Sevilla the victory on aggregate, and they later reached the quarter-finals before losing to eventual champions Real Madrid.[15]

Road to the final
Further information: 2013–14 UEFA Europa League

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Sevilla Round Benfica
Europa League Champions League
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Qualifying phase (EL, CL) Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Mladost Podgorica 9–1 3–0 (H) 6–1 (A) Third qualifying round Bye
Śląsk Wrocław 9–1 4–1 (H) 5–0 (A) Play-off round
Opponent Result Group stage (EL, CL) Opponent Result
Estoril 2–1 (A) Matchday 1 Anderlecht 2–0 (H)
Freiburg 2–0 (H) Matchday 2 Paris Saint-Germain 0–3 (A)
Slovan Liberec 1–1 (A) Matchday 3 Olympiacos 1–1 (H)
Slovan Liberec 1–1 (H) Matchday 4 Olympiacos 0–1 (A)
Estoril 1–1 (H) Matchday 5 Anderlecht 3–2 (A)
Freiburg 2–0 (A) Matchday 6 Paris Saint-Germain 2–1 (H)
Group H winners
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Sevilla 6 3 3 0 9 4 +5 12 Advance to knockout phase
2 Slovan Liberec 6 2 3 1 9 8 +1 9
3 Freiburg 6 1 3 2 5 8 −3 6
4 Estoril 6 0 3 3 5 8 −3 3
Source:
Final standings Group C third place
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Paris Saint-Germain 6 4 1 1 16 5 +11 13 Advance to knockout phase
2 Olympiacos 6 3 1 2 10 8 +2 10
3 Benfica 6 3 1 2 8 8 0 10 Transfer to Europa League
4 Anderlecht 6 0 1 5 4 17 −13 1
Source:
Europa League
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knockout phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Maribor 4–3 2–2 (A) 2–1 (H) Round of 32 PAOK 4–0 1–0 (A) 3–0 (H)
Real Betis 2–2 (4–3 p) 0–2 (H) 2–0 (A) Round of 16 Tottenham Hotspur 5–3 3–1 (A) 2–2 (H)
Porto 4–2 0–1 (A) 4–1 (H) Quarter-finals AZ 3–0 1–0 (A) 2–0 (H)
Valencia 3–3 (a) 2–0 (H) 1–3 (A) Semi-finals Juventus 2–1 2–1 (H) 0–0 (A)

Pre-match

Ambassador
Ciro Ferrara was the ambassador for the final.

Former Italy international and Juventus player Ciro Ferrara, who won the UEFA Cup in 1989 with Napoli, was named as the ambassador for the final.[16]

UEFA unveiled the visual identity of the final on 30 August 2013, the same day as the group stage draw.[17]

Ticketing

The international ticket sales phase for the general public ran from 27 February to 25 March 2014. Tickets were available in four price categories: €150, €100, €70, and €45.[18]

Officials

German referee Felix Brych was named by UEFA on 7 May 2014 as the referee of the final.[19] The rest of the refereeing team are fellow countrymen Mark Borsch and Stefan Lupp as assistant referees, Tobias Welz and Bastian Dankert as additional assistant referees, Thorsten Schiffner as reserve assistant referee, and Serbia's Milorad Mažić as the fourth official.

Match

Team selection

Benfica were not able to play either Enzo Pérez or Lazar Marković, both of whom were sent off in the second leg of their semi-final.[20] Eduardo Salvio, who was booked in that match, was also suspended.[21]

Game summary

At full-time, the game was locked at 0–0. After a further 30 minutes of extra time, both sides were still scoreless.[22] This meant the match was the first final to end goalless and the first to be decided by penalty shoot outs.[23] Sevilla won the penalty shoot out 4–2, their goals coming from Carlos Bacca, Stéphane Mbia, Coke and Kevin Gameiro. Lima and Luisão scored for Benfica, while Sevilla goalkeeper Beto saved goals from Óscar Cardozo and Rodrigo.[22] Paul Gardner writing for Soccer America opined that the assistant referee standing on the goal line allowed Beto to advance too far when he saved the two goals and that Benfica should have been allowed to take the shots again.[24][25]

Details
Sevilla 0–0 (a.e.t.) Benfica
Report
Penalties
Bacca
Mbia
Coke
Gameiro 		4–2 Lima
Cardozo
Rodrigo
Luisão
Attendance: 33,120[26]
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)
Sevilla[2]
Benfica[2]
GK13 Beto
RB23 Coke 98'
CB21 Nicolás Pareja
CB2 Federico Fazio 11'
LB16 Alberto Moreno 13'
DM40 Stéphane Mbia
DM6 Daniel Carriço
CM11 Ivan Rakitić (c)
RW19 José Antonio Reyes 78'
LW20 Vitolo 110'
CF9 Carlos Bacca
Substitutes:
GK1 Javi Varas
DF3 Fernando Navarro
DF5 Diogo Figueiras 110'
MF7 Marko Marin 78' 104'
MF12 Vicente Iborra
MF15 Piotr Trochowski
FW18 Kevin Gameiro 104'
Manager:
Unai Emery
GK41 Jan Oblak
RB14 Maxi Pereira
CB4 Luisão (c)
CB24 Ezequiel Garay
LB16 Guilherme Siqueira 30' 99'
RM6 Rúben Amorim
CM30 André Gomes
LM20 Nicolás Gaitán 119'
RF8 Miralem Sulejmani 25'
CF11 Lima
LF19 Rodrigo
Substitutes:
GK1 Artur
DF3 Steven Vitória
DF33 Jardel
MF10 Filip Đuričić
MF34 André Almeida 100' 25'
FW7 Óscar Cardozo 99'
FW90 Ivan Cavaleiro 119'
Manager:
Jorge Jesus

Man of the Match:
Ivan Rakitić (Sevilla)[1]
Assistant referees:
Mark Borsch (Germany)
Stefan Lupp (Germany)
Fourth official:
Milorad Mažić (Serbia)
Additional assistant referees:
Tobias Welz (Germany)
Bastian Dankert (Germany)

Match rules[27]

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Seven named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.

Statistics

See also

References
  1. Hammond, Mike (15 May 2014). "UEFA Europa League final stats and facts". UEFA.com (Union of European Football Associations). Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  2. "Tactical lineups" (PDF). UEFA.com (Union of European Football Associations). 14 May 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  3. "2013/14 UEFA Europa League access list". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014.
  4. "Sevilla take the penalty prize as Guttmann's 'curse' does for Benfica". The Guardian. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  5. "Sevilla 0-0 Benfica (AET, 4-2 on pens)". BBC Sport. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  6. "UEFA Executive Committee agenda for Istanbul meeting". UEFA.org (Union of European Football Associations). 9 March 2012.
  7. "Turin to stage 2014 UEFA Europa League final". UEFA.com (Union of European Football Associations). 20 March 2012.
  8. "Previous European finals in Turin". UEFA.com (Union of European Football Associations). 1 May 2014.
  9. "Valencia 3 Sevilla 1". BBC Sport. 1 May 2014.
  10. "Benfica and Sevilla to meet in Turin final". UEFA.com (Union of European Football Associations). 1 May 2014.
  11. "Hat-trick trio: The three-time winners". UEFA.com (Union of European Football Associations). 7 May 2014.
  12. "Semi-finals: second-leg stats and facts". UEFA. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  13. "Juventus 0 Benfica 0". BBC Sport. 1 May 2014.
  14. "Sevilla and Benfica to meet in Europa League final". theScore.com. 2 May 2014.
  15. "Benfica and Sevilla going back to the start". UEFA.com (Union of European Football Associations). 5 May 2014.
  16. "Ferrara picked as Turin final ambassador". UEFA.com (Union of European Football Associations). 30 August 2013.
  17. "Visual identity for Turin final". UEFA.com (Union of European Football Associations). 30 August 2013.
  18. "Turin final tickets go on international sale". UEFA.com (Union of European Football Associations). 27 February 2014.
  19. "Brych to referee UEFA Europa League final". UEFA.com (Union of European Football Associations). 7 May 2014.
  20. "Match Press Kit" (PDF). UEFA.com (Union of European Football Associations). 14 May 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  21. "Juventus 0-0 Benfica". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 1 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  22. "Sevilla v Benfica, Europa League final 2014: as it happened". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  23. uefa.com (15 May 2014). "UEFA Europa League - News – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  24. Gardner, Paul (15 May 2014). "Brazen goalkeeper cheating helps Sevilla win Europa League". SoccerAmerica. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  25. "Com arbitragem polêmica e muito drama, Sevilla bate Benfica nos pênaltis e conquista a UEL" [With a polemic officiating and much drama, Sevilla beats Benfica on penalties and wins the UEL]. vavel.com (in Portuguese). VAVEL Brasil. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  26. "Full-time report" (PDF). UEFA.com (Union of European Football Associations). 14 May 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  27. "Regulations of the UEFA Europa League 2013/14" (PDF). Nyon: UEFA. March 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  28. "Team statistics" (PDF). UEFA.com (Union of European Football Associations). 14 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
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