Europa League final updates from the National Stadium in WarsawAnd email paul.doyle@theguardian.com or tweet @Paul_Doyle 8.47pm BST “What started as a great day for humanity has turned into a great afternoon for soccerball here in the USofA,” hollers Art Dubano. “ Gotta love Dnipro’s escapology but they’re doomed. My question is: Chelsea excluded, could any team in England beat this Sevilla over two legs? Lucky for my ManU, a win here sends Seville’s finest straight to the Group Stage of next year’s Champions League (getting past the possible likes of Leverkusen & Valencia is daunting enough).” Of course there are several other teams in England who could beat Sevilla, assuming Arsenal and Man City had their heads right. 8.35pm BST It’s been fun! Dnipro have been sloddier than expected at the back and sharper than expected up front. Sevilla remain the more nifty and look like they could score nearly every time they attack, but this Dnipro side seem swelled by a higher purpose and only a fool would dismiss their chances (no please excuse me as I delete the entry for the 33rd minute). 8.32pm BST 45+2 min: Krychowiak practically orders Martin Atkinson to book him, by upending Rotan as Dnipro lashed forward on a threatening coutner-attack. 8.31pm BST 45 min: Reyes weaves his way between two defenders and then hits the ground on the edge of the box. The ref is unmoved. Good decision. 8.30pm BST You just can’t write these Ukranians off! Rotan clips a dainty freekick over a higgeldy-piggeldy wall and into the net! Rico ran across fro the other side of the goal but could not get ot it in time to paw it out! 8.28pm BST 42 min: A pacey counter-attack by Sevilla concludes with a decent potshot from Vidal. Struck from well outside the area, the ball flies a yard over the bar. 8.27pm BST 40 min: Konoplyanka continues to be Dnipro’s main source of hope. Another probing run down the left, following by a well-aimed pass to Matheus puts Sevilla under pressure. They mobilise quickly to prevent Matheus from shooting or crossing from inside the area, and Dnipro must make do with a corner. 8.24pm BST The Dnipro's number 7 Jaba Kankava is the one who saved his opponent's life during a game last year. http://t.co/oQ2WDD0gHF 8.23pm BST 38 min: Now that’s encouraging! Konoplyanka cuts in from the left agan, then fires a fine effort towards the top corner from 22 yards. Rico stretches to tip it over the bar, but it was close enough to suggest there is still hope for Dnipro. 8.22pm BST 37 min: Freekick to Dnipro about 33.45 yards out, quite central. Rotan dinks it towards the penalty spot, but Bacca heads it away. 8.21pm BST 35 min: Konoplyanka comes off the left and shuffles towards the area, but his pass is misguided, eluding both Matheus and Kalinic in the box. 8.19pm BST 33 min: Not wishing to drive readers away or anything, but this match looks over: can’t see Dnipro scoring again, nor, indeed, avoiding the concession of more goals. If only this week was the 10th anniversary of some preposterous comeback in a European final from which they could take some inspiration ... 8.18pm BST That’s why they’re the top scorers in the tournament. Reyes bisected the defence with a foxy pass from deep, providing fitting reward for a shrewd run by Bacca. The Colombia takes one artful touch and then glides past the out-rushing keeper and slots the ball into the net! 8.14pm BST And there’s another key difference between Dnipro and the Greeks of 2004: because the Ukranians have not coped at all well with set-pieces, and this time they are punished! Dnipro failed to clear a freekick from the left and when the ball bounced to Krychowiak near the penalty spot, he sidestepped Matos thanks to a beautifully sly touch and then whacked a low shot into the net! The Pole then wheels away in jubilation - quite right too: if you can’t celebrate scoring in a European final in your home country, then poor you. 8.12pm BST 26 min: It’s an apt coincidence that Dnipro are wearing a very similar kit to the one worn by Greece in 2004, because their approach so far has been very similar, albeit without as much quality as the Greeks had. 8.10pm BST 23 min: Trémoulinas curls in another nasty cross from the left. Douglas boots it behind for a corner. Dnipro’s marking at the back post is surprisingly absymal, and Krychowiak pogoes before meeting the corner with a powerful header. Boyko shows great agility to push the ball behind for another corner. Dnipro deal with this one better. 8.07pm BST 20 min: Reyes cuts in from the right and cracks a low drive just wide. 8.07pm BST 19 min: Douglas has been impressive so far in the heart of Dnipro’s heavily-manned defence. You can see Sevilla players fretting every time he motions to intervene in a move. Can’t help thinking of the opening sequence to this tune every time he makes to enter the fray. 8.04pm BST 15 min: Konoplyanka scurries down the left and aims a cross towards Kalinic, who’s lurking dangerously in the centre. But Koloziejczak cuts it out and launched a Sevilla counter, which is crudely ended by Kankava’s trip: the yellow card darn near pops automatically from Martin Atkinon’s pocket like bread from a toaster. 7.59pm BST 13 min: A lovely inventive corner from Sevilla - featuring a deft flick in front of the near post from Bacca - presents Banega with a shooting chance, but it’s blocked again. 7.58pm BST 13 min: Excellent cross from Trémoulinas, who is constantly raiding forward down the left. Vitolo’s 12-yard shot is blocked. 7.57pm BST 11 min: See now, that’s exactly what Sevilla should not do at this stage: over-eagerness to equalise leads to silly decisions, such as attempting to swing the ball into the net from 30 yards as Banega did just now. The two team-mates who were in better positions glare at him ... 7.55pm BST 9 min: Manager Emery is swaying rather nervously on the sideline. It’s clear that going behind was the last thing he wanted against a side who revel in defending leads. And that lead has given Dnipro a visible lift, as they’re popping the ball about with a swagger now. 7.53pm BST A perfect counter-attacking goal! Kalinic flicked the ball wide and then hared off and demanded the return cross from Matheus, which duly arrived, and he nodded expertly into the net from eight yards! 7.52pm BST 6 min: Sevilla dominating possession so far and, surprisingly, they’ve got behind the Dnipro defence a couple of times already. And they believed they should have had a penalty just now when Reyes went down under a tackle from Rotan, but the ref waved play on. The wrong call, I think. 7.50pm BST 4 min: Banega lofts a long freekick in the area. Dnipro clear it easily, but Sevilla regain possession and Vidal sprints down the right and prepates to cross, but Dnipro regroup and stifle the move. 7.48pm BST 2 min: An early chance for Bacca to become only the fourth players in 10 European matches to score agaisnt Dnipro. The Colombia controls the ball nicely on his chest at the edge of the area but then bogs his shot way wide. 7.47pm BST 1 min: Off we go! And it’s a good old-fashioned red v blue battle, with Dnipro in blue and the Spaniads wearing the colour that angers bulls. 7.45pm BST The atmosphere at the stadium in Warsaw sounds fabulous. Both sets of fans are crooning harmoniously and very loudly. 7.44pm BST “I suspect the real disdain for the Europe League in England comes from the marketing men,” snorts Kevin Porter. “Competing in it ‘damages the brand’ for any club that aspires to the Champion’s League. Surely from a playing point of view Liverpool, Tottenham et al would welcome the opportunity to give a second XI experience of European competition, but then getting dumped out by Jablonec doesn’t look so good.” So field the first XI and go for it properly. Then again, there are some teams who do go for it but then pretend, after being eliminated, that they weren’t really that bothered. 7.36pm BST Jerzy Dudek kicks off the opening ceremony by marching out on to the pitch with the trophy in his safe hands before placing it on a podium, flashing a sincere smile and strolling off. No milking the acclaim, no pouting for the camera, just an honest-to-goodness grin and a friendly wave. What a nice man! His whole demeanour seems to say “go on then, try to be snide about me.” It’s a feelgood football day for sure. 7.27pm BST “Here in Seville there is a big screen in the Auditorium and even in the Collegio de Medicos there is an outdoor screen and one downstairs in the bar,” relates Henry Carter. “Please can you explain the snobbery about the competition in England?” Well, firstly, it’s not in all of England: Fulham and Middlesbrough fans were righteously joyful when they reached the final not so long ago. As for the others, there’s is a very crass snobbery, being down to them valuing money over glory. 7.11pm BST Dnipro: Boyko; Fedetskiy, Douglas, Cheberyachko, Leo Matos; Kankava, Fedorchuk; Matheus, Rotan, Konoplyanka; KalinicSubs: LAstuvka, Vlad, Seleznyov, BEzus, Gama, Luchkeyvch, Shakhov 6.45pm BST Every now and again football throws up wonderful, heart-warming tales – think Iraq winning the 2007 Asia Cup, Zambia being crowned African champions in 2012, Fifa suits being rounded up by the FBI this morning – and tonight Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk could add to the sport’s happy anthology. Yes, Dnipro’s a lovely story, the unheralded team from the fringes of the continent who have won no silverware of any sort for a quarter of a century but who have reached a major European final in the very season that they’ve been prevented by war from playing any ties at home. Dnipro’s odyssey has uplifted a whole nation, with the team’s defiance of daunting adversity inspiring all of Ukraine at a time of great peril. They are surely not the prettiest team to watch – their style is rooted in grit, gumption and a dollop of counter-attacking flair – but they are very much admired and victory for them tonight would be welcomed far and wide. So Sevilla find themselves cast in the uncharacteristic role of spoilsports. Their city duel with Real Betis notwithstanding, Sevilla are often the ones flying the flag for the underdog, being among the clubs that have to russle up a meal from the scraps that Barcelona and Real Madrid toss to the rest of Spain. So it would be quite a feat – and another indictment of Premier League clubs – if Sevilla tonight became the first team to win this trophy four times. You can be sure that Unai Emergy has devised a 45-point plan detailing how they can do precisely that (for more on Emery, check out this illuminating chat with Sid Lowe). Continue reading...
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