Sevilla wins third consecutive Europa League title, beating Liverpool 3-1

Yesterday, Spanish football club Sevilla FC defeated English football club Liverpool F.C. in the 2016 UEFA Europa League Final at St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland. In doing so, Sevilla defended their title and claimed their third consecutive title under manager Unai Emery. Sevilla have lifted the trophy five times — in 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Liverpool started the brighter of the two teams in the opening half. For the match overall they had 72% ball possession and had six shots on target. But The Reds committed nineteen fouls in the match while the Spanish side committed just nine. Sevilla's goalkeeper David Soria kept Liverpool at bay as he saved shots from Liverpool's Emre Can shortly before the ten-minute mark. Sevilla defender Daniel Carriço cleared a goal-bound effort off the line from Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge. Sturridge tested Soria a while later, but the goalkeeper blocked successfully. In the 35th minute Sturridge collected a pass from Brazillian Philippe Coutinho and curled the ball with the outside of his left foot to give Liverpool the lead. Liverpool had a chance to extend their lead before the half-time break through Adam Lallana, but Sevilla defender Daniel Carriço blocked his attempt. Liverpool ended the first-half with a 1–0 lead.

Sevilla's Kevin Gameiro levelled the score in the 46th minute from Mariano Ferreira's cross. Sevilla took the lead in the 64th minute through their captain, Coke, who shot beyond Liverpool's goalkeeper Simon Mignolet to score. Six minutes later Sevilla extended their lead when Coke pounced on a loose ball in the box to ensure Sevilla claimed their third consecutive UEFA Europa League title.

After the match, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp in a press conference said "It was obvious the first goal of Sevilla had a big influence on our own game. In this moment we lost faith in our style of play. We changed from passing simply and quickly to complicated. We lost our formation, so it was not compact anymore".