Sevilla's winning traditions, Inter's 22 years without a title and Lukaku's unique streak: what you need to know about the Europa League final

The protracted 2019/20 UEFA European Cup season is approaching its final stage. The winner of the Europa League will be determined first. On August 21, Sevilla and Inter will play in the final match of this tournament.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the game had to be moved to Cologne at the Rhein Energie stadium. For one of the largest cities in Germany, this will be the first experience in organizing the European Cup final, although such an opportunity could have presented itself earlier. In 1986, Cologne should have hosted Real Madrid in the second leg of the UEFA Cup final, but due to the behavior of the fans in the previous game, the club was punished by the transfer of the meeting to West Berlin.

This will be the first face-to-face meeting for Sevilla and Inter, although both teams have enormous European experience. Suffice it to say that it is the Spanish club that is the most titled in the history of the Europa League and the UEFA Cup. The Andalusians have won this tournament five times. They also own a series of three victories in a row from 2014 to 2016. If Julen Lopetegui's charges, who have not yet achieved success as a club coach, win again, they will have twice as many trophies as the group of teams that share the second place in the list of the best.

One of such three-time winners of the second most important European Cup is Inter Milan. His success in the UEFA Cup came in the 1990s, and has never made it to the finals since then, although he won the Champions League in 2010. Specifically in the Europa League, Milanese never made it past the round of 16 until they hit the playoffs this season.

The path of Antonio Conte's charges to the final turned out to be very bright. As a member of the Champions League, they began their performance in the playoffs of the competition and won all five matches with a total score of 13: 2, never scoring less than two goals per game and successively defeating Ludogorets, Getafe, Bayer Leverkusen and Miner".

Lopetegui's team also fully deserved to play in Cologne - they started from the group stage and during this time suffered only one defeat from APOEL in a meaningless game of the sixth round. In the playoffs, their statistics were less impressive than those of the Nerazzurri, but at the same time, their opponents were more formidable. Roma, Wolverhampton, Manchester United - they all finished the fight after the meeting with Sevilla.

In terms of the game, Inter, perhaps, deserves the title of favorite in the upcoming final. In addition, Romelu Lukaku scored excellent form, who set a record for the Europa League - he scored in ten matches in a row. In total, Inter scored 111 goals during the season, which was the club's best result over the past 90 years.

However, for such teams it is Sevilla that can be a very dangerous opponent. She can rebuild during the match, act as the first number and quickly open up at the expense of the flanks. The defense of the Andalusians can only be envied - in the last ten meetings in all tournaments, she allowed only two conceded goals from the field. The top scorer of the team, Lukas Ocampos, even saved them from a goal, when the main goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik was injured during the confrontation with Eibar.

An unusual fact about Sevilla is that it has not yet lost in the era of the coronavirus. Her last defeat dates back to February 9, and in the next 20 matches the team either won or were content with a draw. Even if its roster is not as stellar as that of Inter, it is perfectly prepared for the Europa League final.

Sevilla does not experience any personnel problems. Questions could be raised by the goalkeeper's position. In the cup matches, Lopetegui always released Buna instead of Vaclik. But it seems that the coach will prefer the Moroccan for the most important game of the season. With his saves in the meeting with Manchester United, he deserved to defend the goal in the final.

You shouldn't wait for a reshuffle at Inter either. Conte, who has never won a European title as a coach, has relentlessly adhered to the principle that the winning line-up does not change. He won all three matches after the restart of the Europa League with the same set of players entering the field from the first minutes. And if the presence of Lautaro Martinez at the forefront of the attack could still raise questions, since he went into the shadow of Lukaku, then in the game with Shakhtar he finally justified his presence in the starting application and scored three points (2 + 1) for performance ...