Related items

• Gonzalo Montiel the penalty hero again as Sevilla win seventh Europa League

  Gonzalo Montiel was the penalty hero once more as Sevilla made it a magnificent seven in the Europa League and handed Roma boss Jose Mourinho his first defeat in a European final.

  Mourinho was on track to become the most decorated European manager in history with six trophies when Paulo Dybala defied an ankle injury he has been carrying for the last month to put the Serie A side in front in a scrappy affair in Budapest.

  Gianluca Mancini, who had provided the assist for Dybala, put into his own net as the game finished 1-1 after 120 minutes then missed from the spot, as did Roger Ibanez, before Montiel scored the decisive penalty to secure a 4-1 shootout win for the Spaniards.

  The Argentinian, who scored the winning spot-kick in last year’s World Cup final, initially missed from 12 yards but Rui Patricio coming off his line before the ball was struck meant a retake, and Montiel this time made no mistake.

  While Sevilla claimed a record-extending seventh Europa League crown and qualify for next season’s Champions League, they had to do it in ugly fashion, with regular stoppages in play and players and coaches on both sides spoken to or warned by referee Anthony Taylor and fourth official Michael Oliver.

  There were few openings as both sides started tentatively while there were regular interruptions, with both benches tetchy from the off, aware of what was at stake, and keeping Taylor on his toes.

  The English referee had his first major decision when checking VAR after his countryman Tammy Abraham took a blow to the head but Nemanja Gudelj winning the ball meant no penalty was given.

  The game came to life when Ivan Rakitic was dispossessed in his own half and while Sevilla’s defence seemed to anticipate a foul being given, Mancini took advantage and his through ball allowed Dybala to slot across Bono in the 35th minute. Amid howls of protest from Sevilla, substitute Rafa Mir was booked.

  Lorenzo Pellegrini was cautioned for diving in the area and the constant breaks in play meant seven minutes were tagged on at the end of the first half, when Rakitic’s thundering effort from 25 yards thudded low off Patricio’s left-hand post.

  Erik Lamela and Suso were brought on after the interval as Sevilla flew out of the traps, penning back Roma in their own half. The pressure told in the 55th minute as Mancini turned into his own net as he sought to stop Lucas Ocampos from latching on to Jesus Navas’ devilish whipped cross.

  Sevilla were shown plenty of the ball but Roma almost scored again as a free-kick from Dybala, in his last involvement of the night before he was substituted, saw Abraham stab at Bono and amid a goalmouth scramble, the ball fell to an off-balance Ibanez, who sliced the rebound wide.

  Ibanez’s night might have gotten worse when, with a quarter of an hour left, Ocampos went over the Roma defender’s trailing leg and Taylor pointed to the spot. With Mourinho and his coaches incandescent on the touchline, Taylor rescinded the penalty after a VAR check highlighted minimal, if any, contact.

  It was Roma’s turn to appeal for a penalty soon after when the ball hit Fernando’s arm by his side. Taylor was unconvinced and then, not for the first time, headed to the Roma bench brandishing his yellow card.

  While the names piled up in the official’s notebook, Roma almost had the last laugh but Andrea Belotti, on for Abraham, miscued a volley after a cute free-kick over the wall.

  Fernando flashed wide as the match went to an additional 30 minutes, where both teams seemed reluctant to gamble.

  Mourinho was booked for one of several confrontations with fourth official Oliver but after little action, Chris Smalling almost won it at the death but his looping header in the 10th minute of time added on from a corner came back off the bar.

  The shootout started with Ocampos and Lamela netting either side of Bryan Cristante doing so for Roma but it was first blood to Sevilla when Mancini’s thunderous effort came back off a diving Bono’s legs.

  Ibanez then saw his effort come back off the post and while Patricio seemed to have given Roma a glimmer when tipping Montiel’s spot-kick on to the post, the Portuguese’s encroachment gave the LaLiga player another chance he did not spurn.

• Youri Tielemans confirms Leicester exit

  Youri Tielemans has announced that he is leaving Leicester.

  The 26-year-old joined the Foxes from Monaco on loan in 2019 before signing a permanent deal on a four-year contract.

  Tielemans is out of contract this summer and his departure comes after Leicester were relegated from the Premier League on the final day of the season on Sunday.

  Their relegation came just seven years after being crowned Premier League champions and two seasons since winning the FA Cup against Chelsea, where Tielemans scored a stunning goal to seal victory.

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by Youri Tielemans (@youritielemans)

   

  “Dear Leicester fans, after four and a half special years and with a lot of gratitude I’m bidding farewell to this incredible club,” the Belgium international said in a video on Instagram.

  “From the first day I set foot on this ground, your warmth and passion embraced me.

  “Victory and triumph, love, hope and even defeat, we’ve shared many special moments together.

  “I am forever grateful for your unwavering support, thank you to Khun Top, the board, the staff, the players and fans for having given me and my family a home.

  “This is not a goodbye, but a heartfelt farewell. With pride, love and eternal gratitude, Youri Tielemans.”

• We’ve got to believe we can pull off a miracle – Inverness captain Sean Welsh

  Captain Sean Welsh has told his Inverness team-mates they have to believe they can pull off “a miracle” in what will be the biggest game of his career this Saturday.

  The cinch Championship side are big underdogs for their Scottish Cup final showdown with Celtic, who are bidding to complete a domestic treble.

  Welsh knows it will take a huge effort to pull off an upset at Hampden but the 33-year-old is adamant his team have a chance.

  “It ranks at the very top for me,” said the former Partick Thistle and Falkirk midfielder when asked about the size of the game in the context of his career.

  “It’s not very often you get to play on an occasion like this, especially at my age getting to the latter stages of my career. I am thoroughly looking forward to it.

  “We’ve got to believe, I’ve said that to the lads all week. We’ve got to believe we can pull off a miracle.

  “We don’t just want to go there for a day out and get caught up in the occasion.

  “We know it’s a massive challenge in front of us, but we’ve got to have belief in ourselves.

  “We know we have a good group and we know we are going to be up against it at times in the game but we’ve got to stick together and have that belief that we can do it.”

  Celtic won only two of their closing six Premiership matches as they had the title wrapped up with time to spare, but Welsh dismissed any notion that his team can draw encouragement from the champions’ recent form dip.

  “I don’t think you can look too much into that,” he added.

  “They wrapped up the title early doors and then had a few results they probably weren’t happy with but you saw at the weekend (when they beat Aberdeen 5-0) they can turn it on when they need to. I’m sure they’ll be right up for this.

  “It’s not going to make much difference to us, we know how hard the challenge is going to be.”

  Inverness will have gone more than four weeks without a competitive game by the time they run out at Hampden on Saturday.

  Although Welsh admits it is “not ideal” in terms of maintaining match sharpness, he feels the month-long break has at least allowed them to banish any lingering disappointment after they lost to Ayr in their final Championship fixture and missed out on the play-offs.

  “It was good to get some time to get over what happened in the last game of the season,” he said.

  “That was a difficult night and we were all very disappointed to miss out on the play-offs so the time away was good for us to clear our minds and get over it.

  “We didn’t want that lingering going into this massive game.

  “We’ve come back in refreshed and excited and we’re looking forward to it.”