Liverpool vs. Sevilla: Winners and Losers from Europa League Final
The UEFA Europa League final saw Sevilla beat Liverpool 3-1 on Wednesday to claim a third successive trophy in the tournament.
Sevilla started on the front foot, but they didn't make their early possession count by creating chances, while Liverpool upped their game midway through the first half—and in style.
Daniel Sturridge scored a gorgeous effort with the outside of his left foot to put the Reds ahead before Dejan Lovren had a goal ruled out for offside minutes later.
Within a minute of the restart, Sevilla were level; Mariano beat Alberto Moreno down the left and crossed low for Kevin Gameiro to score from close range.
The Spanish side maintained their good start to the second half, and captain Coke scored twice in six minutes—a brilliant low finish from the edge of the box and a close-range strike—to put his team well in control.
Here are all the biggest winners and losers from St Jakob-Park.
Winner: Kolo Toure
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Perhaps the best player, and certainly the most committed, on the park was centre-back Kolo Toure.
The 35-year-old showed tremendous awareness and pace despite his advancing years to shut down Sevilla on the counter-attack on numerous occasions, tackling back against Kevin Gameiro down the channels and winning plenty of high balls in the area.
That the Reds had to rely on him with such frequency must be a huge source of concern, but Toure helped keep Sevilla at bay more than anyone else.
Loser: Alberto Moreno
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After raiding forward more than once in the opening period and having involvement in the first-half goal, Alberto Moreno undid his good work within 20 seconds of the restart.
The left-back headed straight to a Sevilla player from kick-off, then missed a tackle—the Liga side were level an instant later.
As the half wore on, he missed challenges, was caught out of position and lost his marker several times, a terrible 45 minutes from the former Sevilla man against his old club.
Winner: Coke
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Right-back-turned-wide-midfielder Coke had the opposite game: He offered nothing in the first half for Sevilla but won the game for them after the break.
Suddenly with space to break into and free reign to cut infield, the Sevilla captain scored the second and third goals of the night for his team: a sweet drilled shot into the far bottom corner and a straight-up blast at the keeper that Simon Mignolet couldn't keep out.
Coke lifted the trophy, and it remains Sevilla's.
Loser: Jurgen Klopp
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Liverpool had several poor performers in the game, particularly after the break, but plenty of questions have to go the way of Jurgen Klopp, too.
The manager watched on in the second half without reacting as Sevilla dominated possession and took the game to Liverpool, waiting to make tactical changes until it was too late.
Much might have been different had Liverpool taken one of their several chances at the end of the first half to notch a second goal, but once the tide of the match altered, Klopp needed to react—and didn't.
The German reached two finals in his first season with Liverpool, but he has two defeats to show for his efforts.
Winner: Unai Emery
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By contrast, Unai Emery managed the match well.
His team started with a direct style that yielded little, but he didn't panic at the break and make a host of changes.
Instead, he clearly urged his side to be more on the front foot and play more on the ground, playing at pace to exploit the gaps in Liverpool's midfield before making changes to shore up his side later in the match.
Three years, three Europa League trophies—not a bad run for Emery, and he has a Copa del Rey final to look forward to next.
