© EuroFootball.com
On Wednesday in the Scottish city of Glasgow, the winner of the second most important European football tournament - the UEFA Cup final winner will be revealed. This year's final will be Spanish - last year's winner "Sevilla" will meet the current Spanish King's Cup winner, Barcelona's "Espanyol".
Location: Glasgow, "Hampden Park" stadium Time: 21:45 (Lithuanian time) Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)
The Path to the Final
"Espanyol" easily won Group G, which also included "Ajax", "Zulte Waregem", "Sparta", and "Austria", winning all 4 matches. On their way to the final, the Barcelona club defeated "Livorno" in the round of 16 (2-1 and 2-0), "Maccabi Haifa" in the quarter-finals (0-0 and 4-0), "Benfica" in the semi-finals (3-2 and 0-0), and "Werder Bremen" in the semi-finals (3-0 and 2-1).
"Espanyol" has scored 32 goals in the tournament. Walter Pandiani has scored 11 times, while Luis Garcia has scored 6.
"Sevilla" finished second in Group C, behind "AZ", and ahead of "Braga", "Liberec" and Zurich's "Grasshoppers". In the round of 16, Sevilla club defeated Bucharest's "Steaua" (2-0 and 1-0), in the quarter-finals they defeated Donetsk's "Shakhtar" (2-2 and 3-2), in the semi-finals they defeated "Tottenham" (2-1 and 2-2), and in the semi-final they defeated Pamplona's "Osasuna" (0-1 and 2-0).
During this UEFA Cup season, "Sevilla" has celebrated 21 goals. Javier Chevanton and Luis Fabiano have scored 4 goals each.
History
The European tournament finals have been held in Glasgow five times, with Spanish clubs winning three of them. The sixth final will also end in a Spanish victory, as the teams competing are both from Spain.
Since 1971, the UEFA Cup final has been played six times between teams from the same country, but for the first time, the deciding match will be Spanish. Overall, Spain has won the UEFA Cup four times - in 1985 and 1986, Madrid's "Real" won the title, in 2004 - "Valencia", and in 2006 - precisely "Sevilla", defeating "Middlesbrough" 4-0 in Eindhoven. Later, the Sevilla team also won the European Super Cup, defeating "Barcelona" 3-0.
If successful in Glasgow again, "Sevilla" would repeat the achievement of the Real side in the 1980s.
"Espanyol" came closest to winning the UEFA Cup in the 1987-1988 season, when, after winning the first leg of the final 3-0 against Bayer Leverkusen, they stumbled in the second leg with the same score and lost in a penalty shoot-out. The current "Espanyol" head coach Ernesto Valverde and his assistant, goalkeeping coach Thomas N‘Kono, fought on the field back then.
The Opportunity to compete for the second most important European trophy was earned by the team from the Catalonia region last year after winning the King's Cup final against "Zaragoza."
Facts
Over the weekend in the "La Liga" championship, "Espanyol" took the lead against Real Madrid after a W. Pandiani "Hattrick" at 3-1, but still lost the match 3-4 and currently holds the 12th position.
Meanwhile, "Sevilla" beat "Recreativo" 2-1 and holds the 3rd position, 2 points behind Real Madrid and Barcelona. Furthermore, Sevilla's club still has a chance to triumph in the King's Cup competition if they defeat Madrid's "Getafe" in the final in June.
The current Sevilla coach Juande Ramos started the 2002-2003 season as the coach of "Espanyol", but was dismissed after 5 consecutive defeats.
Overall, the two clubs have faced each other 118 times. "Sevilla" celebrated victory 55 times, "Espanyol" 42 times, and the matches ended in a draw 21 times. In their last encounter in the Spanish championship on April 29th, Sevilla won 3-1 at home.
In this UEFA Cup season, "Espanyol" most terrifies opponents at the beginning of the second half. Out of their 32 goals, 10 were scored between the 45th and 60th minute.
Out of the 18 players registered for the victorious final against "Middlesbrough" last year, "Sevilla" still has 16 players in their ranks (Javier Saviola returned to Barcelona after his loan agreement ended, and Kepa Blanco was loaned to West Ham).
Missing Players
Perhaps somewhat paradoxically, both finalists will be missing some of their key players. "Sevilla" will be without French defender Julien Escude, who is suspended due to yellow cards. He is expected to be replaced by Aitor Ocio. Meanwhile, defender Adriano Correia, who suffered a thigh injury in the semi-final against "Osasuna," will be ready for the final.
Pre-match Thoughts
In 1988, former "Espanyol" player and current head coach Ernesto Valverde, who was one step away from the cup, said: "I never played in Great Britain and I am happy that the final will take place in Scotland. We have a second chance to win the cup and it's great that we can do it in the fantastic Glasgow "Hampden Park" stadium - it's doubly enjoyable."
"Sevilla" attacks very quickly and dangerously. They feel comfortable playing fast-paced, high-tempo football," said E. Valverde listing the opponents' strengths.
Espanyol's attacking midfielder Ivan de la Pena was in agreement: "They like to play, that's true. "Sevilla" are excellent at pressing, aggressive, and can play fast. The fact that Sevilla is still competing for three titles shows who the favorites are. However, we will try not to miss the second chance and aim for the cup.
Meanwhile, one of the leaders of the Sevilla club, goalkeeper Andres Palop, did not intend to underestimate the opponents and did not consider his team the favorite: "We have great respect for our opponents. They play excellently on counterattacks, have great forwards like Luis Garcia and Walter Pandiani, and a player who distributes the ball well and organizes the game like Ivan de la Pena. They are a very good team."
Sevilla's coach Juande Ramos hopes that his team will repeat last year's victory: "In Eindhoven last year, we had a brilliant evening, played well and won the cup. We hope to do the same this year. We are proud that we can replicate Real's achievement and win two consecutive years. Everything is in our hands, and we will do everything to win, but our opponents will be just as determined."
Projected Lineups
"Espanyol": Gorka Iraizoz; Pablo Zabaleta, Moises Hurtado, Daniel Jarque, David Garcia; Francisco Rufete, Ito, Ivan de la Pena, Albert Riera; Luis Garcia, Raul Tamudo.
"Sevilla": Andres Palop; Daniel Alves, Aitor Ocio, Javi Navarro, David Castedo; Renato, Christian Poulsen, Jose Luis Marti; Adriano Correia; Luis Fabiano, Frederic Kanoute.
