Europa League 2014/15 Winners and Losers from Semifinal Second Legs
The UEFA Europa League final is set after the two semifinals concluded with the second legs on Thursday evening.
Sevilla will be back in the final, searching for a second consecutive title, after finishing off a 5-0 aggregate victory over Fiorentina with a 2-0 second-leg win. Unai Emery's side will be looking for the club's fourth Europa League title and could become the first club to win the competition in back-to-back seasons since Sevilla—no, that's not a misprint—did so in 2006 and 2007.
In the other semifinal, Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk completed a 2-1 aggregate victory with a 1-0 win in their adopted home site of Kiev. Myron Markevych's men were long shots, but Yevhen Seleznyov's second-half header was enough to send his side into a first-ever UEFA final.
The final is scheduled for May 27 in Warsaw.
Here are our choices for winners and losers from Thursday's second legs.
Winners: Sevilla
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Sevilla eased into their second straight final with a 2-0 victory at Fiorentina. Carlos Bacca and Daniel Carrico scored the goals to put the final touches on a 5-0 aggregate win that never felt in doubt after the first leg.
After steaming through the competition, the Spanish side have to be considered favorites in the final. Manager Unai Emery has his finger on the pulse of his side, repeatedly making all the right moves with his tactics, starting lineups and substitutions. And after winning the competition last season, Sevilla have the experience and know-how to do so again.
The last side to win back-to-back titles was, of course, Sevilla, in 2006 and 2007. If the Andalusian side can do so again, it would surely draw plenty of attention to Emery and his job prospects. Kieran Canning of Agence France-Presse wrote on Twitter that Emery ought to be considered for the Real Madrid job, if the capital club parts company with Carlo Ancelotti at the end of the season.
It's unclear at this point whether Emery would leave Sevilla in the summer, but it's clear that both he and his team have made quite an impression in the Europa League.
Losers: Fiorentina
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The home fans at the Stadio Artemio Franchi produced an electric atmosphere at kickoff. But by halftime, their team, Fiorentina, trailed 2-0, and the tie was effectively finished.
In truth, the Viola had little chance after losing the first leg 3-0 last week in Spain. But Vincenzo Montella's men were the architects of their own downfall, switching off twice on set pieces in the first half as Sevilla stormed into the lead.
And in the second half, when a comeback was too late, Josip Ilicic blasted an awful penalty way over the bar, a miss that neatly summed up Fiorentina's disappointing semifinal.
Winner: Carlos Bacca
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Carlos Bacca scored his 26th goal of the season for Sevilla on Thursday, breaking the deadlock with an opportunistic finish in the 22nd minute. Ever Banega whipped in a free-kick from the right, and after the ball bounced free momentarily in the box, Bacca pounced.
The goal highlighted Bacca's instincts as a finisher. A fox in the box, the Colombian doesn't need many chances to score goals.
Loser: Gonzalo Higuain
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Was Gonzalo Higuain a loser, or was Denys Boyko a winner? Take your pick. The two were ineluctably linked over the two legs of the semifinal, and the Dnipro goalkeeper repeatedly came out on top.
After playing the role of hero last week at Napoli, Boyko again dominated in the return leg. In the eighth minute, the Dnipro man made a great save to stop Higuain at close range, a stop that set the tone for the Ukrainian side's victory. Twenty minutes later, he saved again, keeping out Higuain's header with a fingertip.
Higuain came close again late in the second half, but after chipping Boyko, he saw his shot cleared off the line by Douglas.
All in all, it was a night—and a semifinal—to forget for the Napoli striker.
Winners: Dnipro
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Before this season, Dnipro had never gone past the quarterfinal stage of a UEFA competition. But after beating Napoli by a single goal, the Ukrainians are heading to their first European final.
Yevhen Seleznyov scored the game's only goal, a 58th-minute header, to give his side a 2-1 aggregate victory and, quite possibly, a whole new level of respect among European fans.
It's perhaps understandable that many outside Ukraine are unaware of the merits of Myron Markevych's team. The Ukrainian Premier League certainly cannot match the glamor of Europe's top five league's, or even, on most occasions, the quality.
But it's no accident that Dnipro have made it this far. After scraping through the group stages, the Ukrainians gained steam in the knockout phase, eliminating Olympiakos, Ajax and Club Brugge before seeing off heavily favored Napoli.
You might not know a lot about Dnipro. But there's plenty of reason to cheer for Markevych's team, including the fact that they're having to play their "home" games 280 miles from home in Kiev due to the ongoing conflict in their country.
Winner: Sergio Rico
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Sevilla coasted to a two-legged victory over Fiorentina in a one-sided semifinal, but that shouldn't detract from the strong performance goalkeeper Sergio Rico turned in Thursday night in the second leg.
In the 16th minute, when the match was still scoreless, Rico made an excellent reaction save to keep out a Gonzalo Rodriguez header. Had Rodriguez scored, Fiorentina might have had a chance to mount a comeback, but instead, Sevilla soon scored two goals and put the tie away.
Rico proved his value again early in the second half, diving to his left to stop Mohamed Salah's low, angled shot through traffic.
Beto, Sevilla's first-choice goalkeeper, was the hero of last season's Europa League final shootout. But after returning from an extended injury layoff, he played poorly in the second leg of this season's quarterfinals. Rico, on the other hand, stood out as a bright spot for his side in the semifinals and will be a strong bet to start the final.
As B/R's Laura Greene tweeted, Rico could very well attract attention in the upcoming transfer window.
