Sevilla have won the Europa League after three second half goals saw them cancel out Daniel Sturridge’s opener for Liverpool.
It is the third consecutive season that the Spanish side have won the competition and gives them a fifth Europa League trophy, all of which have been won since 2006.
A little over 10,600 tickets were allocated to Liverpool fans for St Jakob’s Park in Basel but the travelling Anfield faithful were by far in the majority during the game.
Their side started brightly, Adam Lallana impressing as he drifted in from the right flank, and Liverpool got the goal their first half display had merited on 35 minutes, Sturridge firing in with the outside of his right boot.
Dejan Lovren had the ball in the net moments later but his header from a corner was disallowed as Sturridge lurked in an offside position.
Going into the second half Liverpool seemed well-placed but Kevin Gameiro’s goal after just 16 seconds gave Sevilla a way back into the tie. They did not slow down from there on.
Captain Coke struck twice in the space of nine minutes, the second a controversial finish which the linesman flagged for offside. But the referee disagreed and the goal stood.
From that 3-1 deficit Liverpool rarely looked like pulling off an improbable comeback similar to that they celebrated in their quarter-final win over Dortmund.
Sevilla will now play in the Champions League next season whilst Liverpool will have no European football in a season for the first time since 2013-14
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