The 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League final was the final match of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League, the first season of Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. It was played on 25 May 2022 at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania, between Italian club Roma and Dutch club Feyenoord.
Roma won the match 1–0 to secure the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League title, the first club from Italy to win a UEFA competition in 12 years. As they had already qualified for the group stage of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League via their domestic league performance, that competition's access list was rebalanced, with Feyenoord qualifying for the group stage instead of play-off round as the third place in the 2021–22 Eredivisie. If Roma had not qualified for the Champions League or the Europa League through their league performance, they would have received a place in the Europa League group stage instead.
Venue
The match was the first UEFA competition final to be played in Albania. The 21,690-seat Arena Kombëtare is the home stadium of the Albania national team, as well as clubs Dinamo Tirana and Partizani. Construction of the stadium began in 2016 and was completed by November 2019.
Host selection A bidding process was launched by UEFA to select the venues of the finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2022 and 2023. Associations interested in hosting one of the finals had until 20 February 2020 to submit bid dossiers.
+Bidding associations for 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League Final Association Stadium City Capacity Arena Kombëtare Tirana 22,500 Stade Geoffroy-Guichard Saint-Étienne 41,965 Pankritio Stadium Heraklion 26,240 Toše Proeski Arena Skopje 33,460
Arena Kombëtare was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting on 3 December 2020.
Background
This was Roma's third final in a major UEFA competition, having lost the 1984 European Cup final to Liverpool and the 1991 UEFA Cup final to fellow Italian club Inter Milan, who were the most recent Italian club to reach a European final – losing in the 2020 UEFA Europa League final. Roma was seeking to win their first trophy since the 2007–08 Coppa Italia, and a first European title for an Italian side since Inter won the 2010 UEFA Champions League final. Their head coach José Mourinho, having become the first manager to reach European finals with four different clubs – including the aforementioned 2010 Champions League final, was seeking to become only the third manager – after Udo Lattek and Giovanni Trapattoni – to have won all three existing major European trophies, and the first to achieve the UEFA treble by winning the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League, and UEFA Europa Conference League (in place of the now-defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup).
This was Feyenoord's fourth final in a major UEFA competition, having won the 1970 European Cup final and both the 1974 and 2002 UEFA Cup finals. The first Dutch club to reach a European final since their rivals Ajax lost the 2017 UEFA Europa League final to Mourinho's Manchester United and the most recent to win a European title, they were seeking to join Juventus, Ajax, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Manchester United as the only clubs to have won all three existing major European trophies, and the first to achieve the UEFA treble by winning the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League (again in place of the Cup Winners' Cup). Their head coach Arne Slot was seeking to become the first Dutch to win a European trophy since Dick Advocaat with Zenit Saint Petersburg in the 2008 UEFA Super Cup.
The two sides previously met twice in European competitions, in the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League round of 32, with Roma won one and drew one.
Route to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away). RomaRound FeyenoordOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legQualifying phaseOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legByeSecond qualifying round Drita3–20–0 (A)3–2 (H)Third qualifying round Luzern6–03–0 (A)3–0 (H) Trabzonspor5–12–1 (A)3–0 (H)Play-off round IF Elfsborg6–35–0 (H)1–3 (A)OpponentResultGroup stageOpponentResult CSKA Sofia5–1 (H)Matchday 1 Maccabi Haifa0–0 (A) Zorya Luhansk3–0 (A)Matchday 2 Slavia Prague2–1 (H) Bodø/Glimt1–6 (A)Matchday 3 Union Berlin3–1 (H) Bodø/Glimt2–2 (H)Matchday 4 Union Berlin2–1 (A) Zorya Luhansk4–0 (H)Matchday 5 Slavia Prague2–2 (A) CSKA Sofia3–2 (A)Matchday 6 Maccabi Haifa2–1 (H)Group C winnersFinal standingsGroup E winnersOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legKnockout phaseOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd leg Vitesse2–11–0 (A)1–1 (H)Round of 16 Partizan8–35–2 (A)3–1 (H) Bodø/Glimt5–21–2 (A)4–0 (H)Quarter-finals Slavia Prague6–43–3 (H)3–1 (A) Leicester City2–11–1 (A)1–0 (H)Semi-finals Marseille3–23–2 (H)0–0 (A)
Pre-match
Identity The logo of the 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League Final was unveiled at the group stage draw on 27 August 2021 in Istanbul.
Ambassador The ambassador for the final was former Albanian international Lorik Cana.
Officials
On 11 May 2022, UEFA announced Romanian István Kovács, a FIFA referee since 2010, would officiate the final. Kovács officiated six matches in the 2021–22 Champions League, three matches in the 2021–22 Europa League and one group stage fixture in the 2021–22 Europa Conference League season. He served as a referee at UEFA Euro 2020, where he officiated one group stage match. He also was a referee at the 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He was joined by his fellow countrymen Vasile Marinescu and Ovidiu Artene as assistant referees. Sandro Schärer of Switzerland served as the fourth official, while German Marco Fritz was appointed as the video assistant referee. Fritz's compatriots Christian Dingert and Bastian Dankert served as the assistant and support VAR officials, respectively.
Match
Details The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.
GK 1 Rui Patrício CB 23 Gianluca ManciniCB 6 Chris SmallingCB 3 Roger IbañezRWB 2 Rick Karsdorp LWB 59 Nicola Zalewski DM 77 Henrikh Mkhitaryan DM 4 Bryan CristanteAM 22 Nicolò Zaniolo AM 7 Lorenzo Pellegrini (c) CF 9 Tammy Abraham Substitutes:GK 87 Daniel FuzatoDF 5 Matías Viña DF 15 Ainsley Maitland-NilesDF 24 Marash KumbullaDF 37 Leonardo Spinazzola MF 17 Jordan Veretout MF 27 Sérgio Oliveira MF 52 Edoardo BoveFW 11 Carles PérezFW 14 Eldor Shomurodov FW 64 Felix Afena-GyanFW 92 Stephan El ShaarawyOther disciplinary actions: Salvatore Foti Manager: José Mourinho GK 1 Justin Bijlow (c)RB 3 Lutsharel GeertruidaCB 18 Gernot Trauner CB 4 Marcos SenesiLB 5 Tyrell Malacia CM 26 Guus Til CM 17 Fredrik AursnesCM 10 Orkun Kökçü RF 14 Reiss Nelson CF 33 Cyriel DessersLF 7 Luis SinisterraSubstitutes:GK 16 Valentin CojocaruGK 21 Ofir MarcianoGK 30 Thijs JansenDF 2 Marcus Holmgren Pedersen DF 13 Philippe SandlerDF 25 Ramon HendriksDF 32 Denzel HallMF 6 Jorrit HendrixMF 28 Jens Toornstra FW 9 Alireza Jahanbakhsh FW 11 Bryan Linssen FW 23 Patrik Wålemark Manager: Arne Slot
Man of the Match: Chris Smalling (Roma)
Assistant referees: Vasile Marinescu (Romania) Ovidiu Artene (Romania) Fourth official: Sandro Schärer (Switzerland) Video assistant referee: Marco Fritz (Germany) Assistant video assistant referee: Christian Dingert (Germany) Support video assistant referee: Bastian Dankert (Germany)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 halfStatisticRomaFeyenoordGoals scored10Total shots25Shots on target12Saves20Ball possession41%59%Corner kicks21Fouls committed38Offsides10Yellow cards11Red cards00
+Second halfStatisticRomaFeyenoordGoals scored00Total shots67Shots on target23Saves32Ball possession31%69%Corner kicks25Fouls committed510Offsides00Yellow cards30Red cards00
+OverallStatisticRomaFeyenoordGoals scored10Total shots812Shots on target35Saves52Ball possession36%64%Corner kicks46Fouls committed818Offsides10Yellow cards41Red cards00
See also 2022 UEFA Champions League final 2022 UEFA Europa League final 2022 UEFA Women's Champions League final 2022 UEFA Super Cup AS Roma in European football Feyenoord in international football 2021–22 AS Roma season 2021–22 Feyenoord season
Notes
References
External links