The 2020 UEFA Europa League final was the final match of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, the 49th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. It was played at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany on 21 August 2020, between Spanish side Sevilla and Italian side Inter Milan. The match was held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.
The final was originally scheduled to be played on 27 May 2020 at the Stadion Energa Gdańsk in Gdańsk, Poland. However, UEFA announced on 23 March 2020 that the final was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 17 June 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee chose to relocate the final to Cologne, as part of a "final-eight tournament" consisting of single-match knockout ties played in four stadiums across Germany.
Sevilla won the match 3–2 for their record sixth UEFA Cup/Europa League title. As winners, they earned the right to play against the winners of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League, Bayern Munich, in the 2020 UEFA Super Cup. They also qualified to enter the group stage of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League; since Sevilla had already qualified through their league performance, the berth reserved was given to the third-placed team of the 2019–20 Ligue 1 (Rennes), the 5th-ranked association according to next season's access list.
Venue
The UEFA Executive Committee chose RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne as the host at their meeting on 17 June 2020. This was the first UEFA club competition final hosted at the stadium and the first Europa League final held in Germany since 2010. During the two-legged final era, the country hosted either one or both legs 11 times, before hosting the single-legged 2001 UEFA Cup Final in Dortmund and the 2010 final in Hamburg.
The stadium was first opened in 1923 as the Müngersdorfer Stadion and has been the home stadium of German Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln since 1948. It underwent two major renovations during its lifetime. It hosted UEFA Euro 1988 as well as the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Background The match was a record-extending sixth UEFA Cup/Europa League final for Sevilla, the most successful team in competition history. The club won all their prior finals in 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Inter Milan reached their fifth UEFA Cup/Europa League final, second only to Sevilla. They previously won three finals in 1991, 1994 and 1998, and lost to Schalke 04 in 1997. They were the first Italian team to reach a UEFA Cup/Europa League final since Parma in 1999.
Previous finals In the following table, finals until 2009 were in the UEFA Cup era, since 2010 were in the UEFA Europa League era.
TeamPrevious final appearances (bold indicates winners) Sevilla5 (2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016) Inter Milan4 (1991, 1994, 1997, 1998)
Route to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away; N: neutral). SevillaRound Inter MilanEuropa LeagueChampions LeagueOpponentResultGroup stage (EL, CL)OpponentResult Qarabağ3–0 (A)Matchday 1 Slavia Prague1–1 (H) APOEL1–0 (H)Matchday 2 Barcelona1–2 (A) F91 Dudelange3–0 (H)Matchday 3 Borussia Dortmund2–0 (H) F91 Dudelange5–2 (A)Matchday 4 Borussia Dortmund2–3 (A) Qarabağ2–0 (H)Matchday 5 Slavia Prague3–1 (A) APOEL0–1 (A)Matchday 6 Barcelona1–2 (H)Group A winnersFinal standingsGroup F third placeEuropa LeagueOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legKnockout phaseOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd leg CFR Cluj1–1 (a)1–1 (A)0–0 (H)Round of 32 Ludogorets Razgrad4–12–0 (A)2–1 (H) Roma2–0 (N)Round of 16 Getafe2–0 (N) Wolverhampton Wanderers1–0 (N)Quarter-finals Bayer Leverkusen2–1 (N) Manchester United2–1 (N)Semi-finals Shakhtar Donetsk5–0 (N)
Pre-match
Identity The original identity of the 2020 UEFA Europa League Final was unveiled at the group stage draw on 30 August 2019.
Ambassador The original ambassador for the Gdańsk final was former Polish international Andrzej Buncol, who won the 1987–88 UEFA Cup with Bayer Leverkusen.
Officials On 18 August 2020, UEFA named Dutchman Danny Makkelie as the referee for the final. Makkelie had been a FIFA referee since 2011, and was previously an additional assistant referee in the 2018 UEFA Europa League Final and the video assistant referee in the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final. He was also an assistant video assistant referee in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final. He was joined by four of his fellow countrymen, with Mario Diks and Hessel Steegstra as assistant referees, Jochem Kamphuis as the video assistant referee and Kevin Blom as one of the assistant VAR officials. The other assistant VAR for the final was Paweł Gil from Poland, with his compatriot Tomasz Sokolnicki serving as the offside VAR official. Anastasios Sidiropoulos of Greece was the fourth official.
Match
Details The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held on 10 July 2020 (after the quarter-final and semi-final draws), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
GK 13 Yassine BounouRB 16 Jesús Navas (c)CB 12 Jules KoundéCB 20 Diego Carlos LB 23 Sergio ReguilónRM 24 Joan JordánCM 25 FernandoLM 10 Éver Banega RF 5 Lucas Ocampos CF 19 Luuk de Jong LF 41 Suso Substitutes:GK 1 Tomáš VaclíkGK 31 Javi DíazDF 3 Sergi GómezDF 18 Sergio EscuderoDF 36 Genaro RodríguezDF 40 Pablo PérezMF 17 Nemanja Gudelj MF 21 Óliver TorresMF 22 Franco Vázquez FW 11 Munir FW 28 José LaraFW 51 Youssef En-Nesyri Manager: Julen Lopetegui GK 1 Samir Handanović (c)CB 2 Diego Godín CB 6 Stefan de VrijCB 95 Alessandro Bastoni RM 33 Danilo D'Ambrosio CM 23 Nicolò Barella CM 77 Marcelo BrozovićCM 5 Roberto Gagliardini LM 15 Ashley YoungCF 9 Romelu LukakuCF 10 Lautaro Martínez Substitutes:GK 27 Daniele PadelliDF 13 Andrea RanocchiaDF 31 Lorenzo PirolaDF 34 Cristiano BiraghiDF 37 Milan ŠkriniarMF 11 Victor Moses MF 12 Stefano SensiMF 20 Borja ValeroMF 24 Christian Eriksen MF 87 Antonio Candreva FW 7 Alexis Sánchez FW 30 Sebastiano EspositoManager: Antonio Conte
Man of the Match: Luuk de Jong (Sevilla)
Assistant referees: Mario Diks (Netherlands) Hessel Steegstra (Netherlands) Fourth official: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (Greece) Video assistant referee: Jochem Kamphuis (Netherlands) Assistant video assistant referees: Kevin Blom (Netherlands) Paweł Gil (Poland) Offside video assistant referee: Paweł Sokolnicki (Poland)Match rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if necessary Penalty shoot-out if scores still level Twelve named substitutes Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time
Statistics
+First halfStatisticSevillaInter MilanGoals scored22Total shots84Shots on target52Saves03Ball possession57%43%Corner kicks10Fouls committed611Offsides01Yellow cards22Red cards00
+Second halfStatisticSevillaInter MilanGoals scored10Total shots65Shots on target02Saves20Ball possession38%62%Corner kicks02Fouls committed108Offsides01Yellow cards02Red cards00
+OverallStatisticSevillaInter MilanGoals scored32Total shots149Shots on target54Saves23Ball possession47%53%Corner kicks12Fouls committed1619Offsides02Yellow cards24Red cards00
See also 2020 UEFA Champions League final 2020 UEFA Women's Champions League final 2020 UEFA Super Cup Inter Milan in European football Sevilla FC in European football 2019–20 Inter Milan season 2019–20 Sevilla FC season
Notes
References
External links