Even though Manchester United were tipped to meet Inter Milan in this year’s Europa League final, Sevilla facing the Italian giants is probably the next-best encounter observers could have wished for.
Julen Lopetegui’s troops somehow came through their difficult semi-final against the Red Devils despite conceding a high number of quality chances to the Premier League outfit. On that night, Los Nervionenses had the dependable Moroccan goalkeeper Bono to the rescue as United laid siege to the Spanish outfit’s goal early in the second half.
“The keeper’s had a fantastic game. Of course, it’s disappointing that we don’t score," Solskjaer reflected following the game. "We know we have players who have the quality to score, but that’s the game."
Match-winner Luuk de Jong was effusive about the North African shot-stopper’s heroics in the last four, praising the Girona loanee for keeping the club from Andalusia from falling behind after the break.
“Compliments to Bono, who saved us so many times at 1-1,” Dutchman de Jong remarked after the final whistle. “Then I got the chance to come in and score the winning goal. It feels fantastic to be in the final now. We had a really good match tonight, with an incredible goalkeeper on our side.”
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Lopetegui equally credited his goalie’s efforts against the English side, stating the 29-year-old was ‘very important’ for the side in Sunday’s success.
Indeed, Bono deserved the flattering remarks after the Seville outfit’s progress. He made no fewer than six stops throughout the game, with big saves to thwart Marcus Rashford in the opening 45 as well as Mason Greenwood and Anthony Martial (twice) after the interval particularly remarkable.
Also, the on-loan stopper stuck out a boot to prevent a Martial cut-back from finding its way into the box, before denying the Frenchman when the striker attempted to dribble past him to then slot into an empty net.
At times, it seemed like the Canadian-born player took on the Man United attack by himself, and it’d have been a shame had he been denied a place in Friday’s final after a brilliant showing.
It’s usually a collective effort when teams win things, still, a lot of credit will go to Bono if Sevilla claim a sixth success in Europe’s secondary club competition.
The goalkeeper’s early penalty stop in the quarter-final win over Wolverhampton Wanderers not only prevented a side who seldom surrender leads from edging ahead, but it also turned the game in his team’s favour and led to Los Nervionenses seizing the initiative for the rest of the game.
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Frankly, Lopetegui knows he can rely on the Moroccan against the attacking threat of Inter on Friday. Bono has made 21 saves and kept six clean sheets in nine European appearances this term – only Sergio Romero with seven has more shut-outs, but the South American made 10 fewer saves in his nine appearances.
Per Fbref, the Morocco star ability to stop threatening shots has been outdone by only Copenhagen’s Karl-Johan Johnsson, who incidentally produced his best showing of the tournament vs the Manchester giants.
The sticking point for Sevilla, however, remains up front, where Youssef En-Nesyri has been largely inconsistent since his move from Leganes in January. Having performed admirably against Wolves, where his brilliance fashioned out the Spanish club’s only clear-cut chance, the 23-year-old frontman was then anonymous against United, and it was no surprise he was replaced before the hour.
A major worry for Lopetegui will be leaving the young forward isolated in attack, with Inter never shying away from crowding out the central areas, thus leaving the opposition striker detached from his teammates.
This was evident in the Nerazzurri’s 5-0 thrashing of Shakhtar Donetsk on Monday, with one particular phase of play with half-time approaching proof of Antonio Conte’s side’s effort to limit the space between the lines and stop the supply to Junior Moraes.
The Ukraine striker, who’d scored three times in two games, was barely involved and touched the ball a meagre 21 times even though his team had 63 percent of the ball.
Avoiding the same trap would be vital to En-Nesyri’s chances of thriving in what could be a clash a style on Friday night in Cologne.
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On the other side is Chelsea loanee, Victor Moses, a Conte soldier in West London but majorly peripheral since the temporary switch to Inter at the turn of the year. The ex-Nigeria international has barely featured since the restart and got only nine minutes in place of Danilo D'Ambrosio last time out despite the Nerazzurri’s healthy lead.
The fiery manager has preferred the more cautious D'Ambrosio over Moses and Antonio Candreva in recent games, opting for a bit more balance in the team to secure results.
Inter have reaped the reward of Conte’s switch, winning six games on the trot (11 unbeaten in all competitions) and conceding just once in that amazing run. With Moses likely to depart after Friday’s decider, the on-loan wideman will hope to end his stay with a second Europa League title.
Having failed to pull up trees in Europe since that 2010 Champions League success under Jose Mourinho, it’ll be fitting to start the new decade with their fourth success in the continent's secondary showpiece, ending a 22-year drought.
It won’t be easy with Sevilla’s storied history in the competition since the turn of the millennium, despite the constant changes to personnel in Andalusia.
Furthermore, an incredible 14-game winning streak for Spanish sides in European cup finals since 2001 – when Valencia lost the UCL final to Bayern Munich and Alaves were beaten by Liverpool in the-then UEFA Cup – puts history on the side of the five-time winners.
Without question, the three major Africans likely to be involved in the game desire the trophy. However, unless En-Nesyri and Moses produce colossal performances in the decider, Bono’s impact in the competition has undoubtedly overshadowed the pair’s fleeting influence in winning the trophy for either participant.