Tonight Sevilla and Benfica will determine the winner of the Europa League. The finale is shaping up to be quite spectacular in view of the game that both teams show this season. Sevilla and Benfica fully deserved their place in the final, and no doubt the football fans will enjoy an exciting clash between the Spanish and the Portuguese football school.
The season for Benfica was more than successful, winning the Primeira Liga, and a few days later the team will play the final of the Portugal Cup. Last season the League Europe put bitter memories to Benfica supporters. The Portuguese lost the final of the tournament to Chelsea, after a goal in the last minute of the match. Definitely Benfica are hugely motivated to lift the trophy this time.
Sevilla, in turn, also perform very well during the season and have secured their participation in the Europa League. The Portuguese lost some key players in the semifinal as Enzo Perez, Markovic and Salvio got suspensions. Undoubtedly, this brings additional confidence for Sevilla.
It`s extremely curious to know, if Benfica can overcome their "100-year curse". Back in 1962, coach Bela Guttmann, cursed Benfica not to win a European trophy for 100 years. Guttmann led Benfica to two consecutive European titles, but shortly after, he was sacked, because of a conflict related to his salary and therefore he cursed the team not to win an European title in the next 100 years.
So the curse is come half true, as Benfica haven`t won an European trophy for 52 years and lost 7 final games. These losses were more than dramatic, and most of them were with a minimum defeat by 1 goal; Benfica once lost by a penalty shootout, and last year Ivanovic scored the winning goal for Chelsea in the last minute. An interesting story associated with this curse is how Eusebio, who was discovered by Guttmann, went to ask for forgiveness at the grave of Gutman before the European Cup final between Benfica and Milan, lost again with 0:1 for the Italians.
Therefore, for those of you, who believe in this "100-year curse", the odds for Sevilla to win the game are highly attractive.