Happy Europa League final week everybody!
To celebrate the culmination of UEFA’s secondary continental competition, that is due to take place in Seville between Eintracht Frankfurt/West Ham and Rangers/Leipzig, we are delving into three recent finals and changing the entire course of footballing history.
May 18, 2016: Jurgen Klopp wasn’t even a year into his job and already was in his second final as Liverpool manager. Klopp hoped it wouldn’t go the way of his prior final with the club, two months previously in a League Cup final penalty shootout defeat to Manchester City, or in the way of his previous finals as a manager, where he lost three with Borussia Dortmund. In Basel, Liverpool lined up against Sevilla, the record four-time champions and the Spaniards were on course to win the trophy for the third year in succession. They did so, and Liverpool would have to wait three more years for a trophy.
August 21, 2020: Antonio Conte was in his first European final as a manager. The Italian was in charge of Inter, and continued a rotten Champions League record by leading the Nerazzurri to group stage elimination. In Cologne they met, of course, Sevilla, who hadn’t won the trophy since that match we were just talking about four years prior against Liverpool. Romelu Lukaku scored the winning goal, but unfortunately, into his own net as Sevilla won their sixth Europa League title.
May 26, 2021: and no, for once, Sevilla weren’t in this final. Taking their place as Spanish representation, however, were Villarreal. The Yellow Submarine were into their first-ever European final and met Manchester United. The Spaniards would win on penalties and, eleven months later, appear in their second Champions League semi-final, a competition Villarreal only qualified for because of their win in this competition. Manchester United sacked another manager six months later, Ole Solskjaer, before beginning reboot #74 after the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.
#MUFC #UEL
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Voice: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
Words: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
Edit: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
What If Football is a form of footballing storytelling that takes the audience down a different path to our current reality.
What If Football covers football in all forms, from the Premier League to the Champions League, European football and the EFL as well as international tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championships.
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