Sevilla 3 - 2 Inter, the final in numbers

The day after our defeat in the Europa League final, we take one last look back at the game in Cologne, which ended in a 3-2 defeat to gift Sevilla the Europa League.

GODIN ON THE SCORESHEET IN TWO EUROPEAN FINALS

Let’s start with Diego Godin, a man of experience and charisma, who had already won this competition on two occasions with Atletico Madrid. His headed goal in Cologne pulled the game back to 2-2: such an important goal to level the scores and pull the momentum back into the Nerazzurri’s favour. Headers, a real specialty of Godin’s, have been fundamental for Inter this season, making up 26 of the Nerazzurri’s goals (the highest number in Europe’s Top 5 leagues). Our Uruguayan veteran scored a header in another European final, back in Atletico’s 4-1 loss to Real Madrid in the 2014 Champions League final.

With last night’s goal, Diego Godin became just the sixth player in history to score in both a European Cup/Champions League final and a UEFA Cup/Europa League final, after Steven Gerrard, Hernan Crespo, Dmitri Alenichev, Allan Simonsen and Pedro.

- Steven Gerrard | UEFA Cup final 2000/01 [Liverpool 5-4 Alaves AET], Champions League final 2004/05 [Liverpool 3-3 AC Milan AET, Liverpool won 3-2 on penalties] - Hernan Crespo | UEFA Cup final 1999/2000 [Parma 3-0 Marseille], Champions League final 2004/05 [Liverpool 3-3 AC Milan AET, Liverpool won 3-2 on penalties] - Dimitri Alenichev | UEFA Cup final 2002/03 [Celtic 2-3 Porto AET], Champions League final 2003/04 [Porto 3-0 Monaco] - Allan Simonsen | UEFA Cup final 1974/75 [B. Moenchengladbach 0-0 Twente, Twente 1-5 Moenchengladbach], Champions League final 1976/77 [Liverpool 3-1 B. Monchengladbach] - Pedro | Champions League final 2010/11 [Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United], Europa League final 2018/19 [Chelsea 4-1 Arsenal] - Diego Godin | Champions League final 2013/14 [Atletico Madrid 1-4 Real Madrid], Europa League final 2019/20 [Sevilla 3-2 Inter]

LUKAKU’S GOALS AND HIS ILL-FATED DEFLECTION

Romelu Lukaku had the bad luck of turning Diego Carlos’ overhead kick past Handanovic and into the Inter net. A slap in the face for all of Inter and for our Belgian frontman who has been so key for us all season, constantly on the scoresheet in this year’s Europa League. He scored in both legs against Ludogorets, against Getafe, Leverkusen, Shakhtar (twice) and even managed one against Sevilla last night. With the opening goal in the final, Lukaku climbed to 34 goals in his debut season: the last Nerazzurri player to score that many in their first season at Inter? Ronaldo in 1997/98.

The other big statistic comes from his goals in cup competitions: along with his seven goals in the Europa League, Lukaku scored two in the Champions League group stage (against Slavia Prague and Barcelona), finishing up on nine in Europe: this is the highest number of goals scored in Europe in a single season for any Inter player in history, level with Roberto Boninsegna (Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1969/70) and Hernan Crespo (Champions League 2002/03).

THE FINAL: SEVILLA’S TITLE, GOALS AND OTHER STATS

This was Sevilla’s sixth UEFA Cup/Europa League title from as many finals.

After twelve minutes had gone, it was already 1-1 in Cologne: only the 1991 UEFA Cup final between Juventus and Fiorentina produced two goals in a shorter space of time (1-1 after ten minutes).

For only the second time in history, Inter managed to score at least two goals in six consecutive European matches. The first time was back in 1964, when the Nerazzurri won the European Cup for the very first time.

Inter conceded three or more goals in the same match for just the fourth time this season, after the two games against Sassuolo and the one against Borussia Dortmund.

For the first time ever, Inter conceded at least three goals in the final of a European competition.

Luuk de Jong is only the third player in history to score at least two goals in five separate Europa League seasons since the competition was rebranded.