ClapIt took us a long time to get to the end of the road, but finally, this month saw us crown the winners of this infamous season’s UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
Many clubs remained competitive all the way through until the final, but only two were left standing when it was all said and done: Bayern Munich of Germany and Sevilla of Spain.
Both nations had suffered disappointment with some of their other top clubs dropping out far sooner than had been previously anticipated, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund all failing to live up to the lofty expectations put in front of them by both neutral fans and their own passionate supporters.
Still, when the dust settled, Bayern and Sevilla were the ones celebrating after a season of European football that many of us won’t soon forget.
Bayern Munich 1-0 Paris Saint-Germain
Given the kind of quality both of these clubs possess, and when taking into consideration the insane goalscoring prowess of the German champions, it’s safe to say that this final didn’t quite live up to the hype.
Even with that being the case, though, there was plenty of drama to go around, with the winning goal serving as undeniable proof of that.
Kingsley Coman, who had started off his career in the French capital with PSG, managed to nod home the winning goal that gave Bayern the trophy they’ve been striving for.
It may not have been particularly pretty, but they won’t care one bit about that.
Sevilla 3-2 Inter Milan
When you go up against the kings of the Europa League, in the final of the competition, you’re going to have to come up with something special in order to beat them.
A rapid penalty from Inter in the 5th minute did appear to set them on their way, though, with Romelu Lukaku firing the Italians ahead from the spot. Alas, it didn’t take long for the Spaniards to respond, with Luuk de Jong scoring two headers from two crosses with Banega and Navas providing the assists.
It still wasn’t dead and buried from there with Diego Godin making it 2-2 before the half time whistle blew, and from that point on, the two giants of Europe traded blows until one mistake changed everything.
Diego Carlos, who had committed the foul for the penalty, wound up scoring the winning goal as his bicycle kick was turned into the back of the Inter net by none other than Lukaku himself.
Sevilla had confirmed their status as the greatest side to ever compete in this competition, and they did so by going down the hardest possible route: Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester United and Inter Milan, and bizarrely, they conceded a penalty in all three of those encounters.
Now, the rest of us will look ahead to another season of entertainment – because while it’s important to bask in the glory of Bayern and Sevilla, domestic and European football is already back in our lives.
Buckle up, because the road to Istanbul and Gdansk starts now.
