Roma missed out on the chance to win back-to-back European trophies after Sevilla beat them on penalties in the Europa League final.
A goal from Paulo Dybala in the first half had Roma’s pulses racing, but the player who set it up – Gianluca Mancini – went on to score an own goal that took the game to extra time.
After a nervy, intense extra 30 minutes (and more), penalties decided the clash. Sadly, despite Bryan Cristante scoring, misses by defenders Gianluca Mancini and Roger Ibanez allowed Sevilla to win 4-1.
By that point, Roma were physically exhausted, with usual penalty takers like Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini already off the pitch.
Both sides thought they could have had penalties within the game itself, Sevilla for an Ibanez challenge that VAR later found to be clean, and Roma for a handball that was deemed to be from a natural position.
The game was overshadowed by an abundance of yellow cards to players, substitutes and staff members from both sides. After the gritty affair, it was decided by the narrowest of margins.
The 2022-23 Europa League campaign was some journey for Roma, but sadly, they couldn’t cross the final hurdle.
One game remains in the Serie A season, against Spezia on Sunday, after which Roma will know if they will be in the Europa League again next season or the Conference League (which they won last season) instead.
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