Europa League Final 2014: Benfica v Sevilla Preview

Spain takes on Portugal when Sevilla and Benfica meet in the Europa League final on Wednesday 14 May 2014 at the Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy. This will be only the second time the two clubs have met in a Uefa competition, the first being back in September 1957 season of the European Cup when Sevilla won the home leg 3-1 and drew 0-0 away in Lisbon.

Both teams have won two European trophies, with Benfica winning the European Cup in 1961 and 1962 and Sevilla winning the Uefa Cup in 2006 and 2007. Benfica have also lost five European Cup finals, one Uefa Cup final and one Europa League final, that being at this time last season when they were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea.

German referee Felix Brych will be in charge of the match and has so far refereed 50 Uefa matches including six of this season’s Champions League games. He will be helped by his fellow countrymen Mark Borsch and Stefan Lupp. The fourth official will be Milorad Mazic from Serbia, and the two additional assistant referees, Tobias Welz and Bastian Dankert, are from Germany. A German reserve assistant referee – Thorsten Schiffner – completes the line-up.

The top scorer for Sevilla in this season’s competition is Kevin Gameiro with five to his name. Benfica’s Lima has also hit the net five times, four in the knock-out stages and once in the Champions League group stages. He also has a good record against Sevilla, scoring a hattrick when he played for Braga in their 4-3 win in a 2010 Champions League play-off.

Benfica’s route to the final

Benfica ended up in the Europa League after only managing a third place in their Champions League group, winning three and drawing one of their six games. They lost out on goal difference to Olympiacos. They faced Paok in the Round of 32, winning 1-0 away and then 3-0 at home. The next round saw them win 3-1 away at Tottenham Hotspur before drawing the home leg 2-2. They faced AZ in the quarter finals, wining 1-0 away and 2-0 at home. The semi-finals saw them win 2-1 at home to Juventus meaning the goalless draw away was enough to see them through.

Sevilla’s route to the final

Sevilla had to work their way through two qualifying rounds, but did so with ease beating Mladost Podgorica and Slask Wroclaw both by the aggregate score of 9-1. This earned than a place in the group stage, and they topped their group with three wins and three draws. In the Round of 32, they started with a 2-2 draw away at Maribor before winning the home leg 2-1. In the next round, they got off to a bad start losing the home leg against Betis 2-0, but they rallied to win the away leg by the same score and then triumphed 4-3 in the penalty shoot-out. They also had a nervous quarter final, losing the away leg to Porto 1-0 before an easier 4-1 win at home. The semi-final didn’t get any easier despite winning the home leg against Valencia 2-0; a 3-1 defeat away meant they only progressed to the final on the away goals rule.

Football betting odds for Sevilla vs Benfica

The bookmakers have Benfica favourites to lift the trophy with odds of 6/5 and 13/10 common for a Portuguese win in 90 minutes. Odds for Sevilla to do the same are in the 2/1 and 9/4 range.