Europa League Final 2016: Score, Report and Reaction from Liverpool vs. Sevilla

Sevilla won the UEFA Europa League for the third year in a row on Wednesday as they came from behind to beat Liverpool 3-1 at St Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland, and the club will also compete in next year’s UEFA Champions League as a result.   

Daniel Sturridge’s superb finish gave the Reds a deserved lead at half-time before Sevilla pulled level through Kevin Gameiro seconds after the restart and triumphed thanks to a brace from captain Coke.

After a largely anonymous first half in which they failed to direct a single shot on target, Sevilla exploded into life in the second as Liverpool collapsed, denying the Reds their ninth European trophy.

The first sight of goal fell to Liverpool after a slightly slow start when Emre Can tested goalkeeper David Soria from 25 yards out.

Minutes later, Daniel Carrico acrobatically cleared Sturridge’s header off the line as Roberto Firmino closed in, and soon after, the defender was perhaps fortunate not to give away a penalty when the ball struck his arm.

As for Los Nervionenses, what they lacked in chances created they made up for with commitment in midfield, per football journalist Dermot Corrigan:

Sevilla winning most of the challenges / battles in centre so far, but Liverpool with the better chances…

— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) May 18, 2016

Sturridge came close once more after latching on to Adam Lallana’s pass forward, but Soria was quick off his line to deny him.

Their opponents opted to play far more directly but almost scored a sublime goal through Gameiro, who fired a bicycle kick just wide from a corner.

The Reds took the lead shortly after the half-hour mark through Sturridge, who picked up the ball to the left of the goal and with the outside of his left foot curled a …

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