Liverpool v Sevilla: Ultimate Europa League final guide

IT’S the battle of Basel! Liverpool take on Sevilla in the Europa League final on Thursday morning with the winner claiming a Champions League spot. Check out our ultimate guide:

Europa League final.

IT’S the battle of Basel!

European glory and a Champions League spot are on the line when Liverpool take on Sevilla in the Europa League final in Basel, Switzerland, on Thursday morning (AEST).

For Liverpool, it’s their second European final since their historic come-from-behind Champions League win over AC Milan in 2005, following their loss in 2007 to the same opponent.

For Sevilla, history beckons, with the Spanish outfit aiming for a hat-trick of Europa League wins.

Both teams finished their domestic seasons out of the European placings but a win in Basel will catapult them into next season’s Champions League and add $18m to their kitty.

Here is our ultimate guide to the decider:

THE COACHES

Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates his side’s 3-0 second-leg win over Villarreal in the Europa League semi-finals.

CHARISMATIC and tactically astute, two-time Bundesliga winner Klopp, 47, seems to kick every ball as he drives his players on from the sideline.

He has already guided the Reds to a League Cup final since taking over in October and he inspired the team to a thrilling Europa League quarter-final victory (4-3 on aggregate) over his old team Borussia Dortmund at Anfield by exhorting his players to ‘give their grandchildren something to remember.’

That win helped the Reds see some of their potential under Klopp and you can be sure he will have the team fired up to play the game of their lives in Basel.

Liverpool fans are hoping a win in Switzerland will be the start of a real resurgence for the club.

Unai Emery (Sevilla)

Sevilla coach Unai Emery brings plenty of passion to the job.

LIKE Klopp, Spaniard Emery, 44, had a middling playing career but has already made his mark in coaching by guiding Sevilla to two consecutive UEFA Cup wins.

His record in La Liga is also respectable, guiding the Andalusian outfit to fifth place in his first year with the club (2013/14) and following that up with another fifth placed finish in season 2014/15. This season his side finished seventh.

A football obsessive, Emery is addicted to watching video when preparing for games. Former Sevilla player Joaquin said of Emery: “Emery put on so many videos I ran out of popcorn… He’s one of the best managers I’ve had. I worked with him for three years ... I couldn’t handle a fourth.”

However he shares a similar outlook on football to Klopp, saying the game is about emotion.

Emery’s achievements are made more remarkable by the fact Sevilla seems to have to always sell its best players, with Emery having lost stars such as Alberto Moreno (to Liverpool) as well as David Silva, Ivan Rakitic, Jordi Alba and Juan Mata in recent years.

FORM

LIVERPOOL

LIVERPOOL are enjoying something of a renaissance under Klopp but their late season league form has remained fairly inconsistent with a win, a loss and three draws in their last five games of a season that saw them finish eighth in the EPL, 21 points behind winners Leicester.

They drew 1-1 with West Brom in their final round match on Sunday, but Klopp was resting many of his big stars ahead of Thursday’s final.

However Reds fans haven’t been too concerned with late-season EPL results as all attention has pretty much been on Basel since the final whistle of their second leg win over Villareal at Anfield on May 7.

Emre Can will look to dictate the midfield for Liverpool.

SEVILLA

LIKE Liverpool all Sevilla’s attention turned to the Europa League final after they secured their place with a 5-3 aggregate win over Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk.

An up-and-down season that saw Los Rojiblancos finish 39 points behind La Liga winner Barcelona in seventh place was wrapped up with a 4-1 thumping by lowly Granada followed by a 3-1 loss to Athletic Bilbao in the final round on Saturday.

KEY MEN

Liverpool

DANIEL STURRIDGE – A talisman for the Reds, striker Sturridge has battled injury his entire career. However when he is fit and on the park, Sturridge makes thing happen.

Tricky, creative and with a superb eye for goal, if Sturridge gets good service he could turn the game in Liverpool’s favour.

Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge celebrates scoring against Villarreal in their Europa League semi-final at Anfield.

ROBERTO FIRMINO – After a slow start following his $57m move from Germany’s Hoffenheim, Firmino has really hit his straps on Merseyside and finsished the season with 10 goals from 31 EPL appearances.

The skilful Brazilian forward always keeps defenders on their toes with his enormous appetite for running and is a key part of Klopp’s high-pressing style.

PHILIPPE COUTINHO – The Brazilian No. 10 seems to have a special understanding with Sturridge and if the pair get their combinations going on Thursday morning they could make things very difficult for Sevilla.

Coutinho also has the ability to torment opposition defences with his trickery and never seems to score a run-of-the mill goal with his specialty cutting in from the left side of the box and unleashing a curler into the top of the net.

SEVILLA

KEVIN GAMEIRO

Sevilla's Kevin Gameiro celebrates scoring against Shakhtar Donetsk in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final.

Pacy, direct and lethal in front of goal, Gameiro is Sevilla’s go-to man. The striker has scored 20 goals (16 in La Liga) this season for an outfit that scored 51 goals and conceded 50 in La Liga.

EVER BANEGA - The versatile Argentine midfielder controls the tempo for Sevilla and this season also popped up with five goals in La Liga.

Sevilla rely on his passing and vision to feed Gameiro as well as exciting Ukrainian winger Yevhen Konoplyanka.

JOSE ANTONIO REYES - The former Arsenal star looked a spent force before he joined Sevilla in 2012 after an unhappy finish to his spell at Atletico Madrid.

However Emery’s careful man management has seen skilful wide man Reyes return to impressive form and he is captaining the side.

His experience should be a huge boost for Sevilla however he is under something of an injury cloud ahead of the final.

Sevilla rely heavily on Ever Banega’s midfield distribution.

INS AND OUTS

LIVERPOOL - Young Belgian forward Divock Origi has been declared fit for the final. Liverpool are missing Mamadou Sakho through suspension and Joe Gomez through injury. Danny Ings, Jon Flanagan and Adam Bogdan are all ineligible.

SEVILLA - As mentioned above, Reyes is under an injury cloud, while Michael Krohn-Dehli, Jose Benoit Tremoulinas and Marco Andreolli will be missing.

EUROPEAN RECORD

NO contest. Liverpool can boast five European Cup wins to Sevilla’s none while the Reds have won three UEFA Super Cups to Sevilla’s one.

However Sevilla have the edge over Liverpool in UEFA Cup wins (4-3) and are aiming to become the first club to win three UEFA Cups in a row.

HEAD TO HEAD

THIS will be the first time Liverpool and Sevilla will have met in European competition.

LEAD UP AND TOURNAMENT STATS

Liverpool players celebrates after they beat Villarreal to make the Europa League final.

SEVILLA came into the Europa League at the round of 32 stage after coming third in Champions League Group D (topped by Man City with Juventus second).

From there they banished Molde of Norway, Basel, fellow Spaniards Athletic Bilbao and Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk to reach the final.

LIVERPOOL progessed to the round of 32 after topping a Europa League group that included Switzerland’s Sion, Russia’s Rubin Kazan and France’s Bordeaux.

Their run to the final included wins over Germany’s Augsburg, arch-rivals Manchester United, Dortmund and Spain’s ‘Yellow Submarine’ Villarreal.

THE STATS of the two sides in their lead up games show similar rates of possession (Liverpool 55 per cent, Sevilla 53 per cent) while Liverpool are ahead in the goals stakes (18 to 14).

From there, Sevilla show less creativity but far greater accuracy than Liverpool.

Liverpool had 235 total attempts on goal compared with Sevilla’s 102, 87 shots on target compared with Sevilla’s 38 and 84 shots off target compared with Sevilla’s 36.

Liverpool smashed Sevilla in the passing stakes, completing 5891 passes in their run to the final compared with Sevilla’s 3143.

THE STADIUM

Basel’s St Jakob Park.

UEFA has rightly copped criticism for choosing a ground with a capacity of just 35,000, which means thousands of fans of both teams will miss out on being at the game.

However the the steep stands of St Jakob Park are close to the pitch and with at least 10,000 Kopites and an equal number of Sevilla fans expected the place is sure to be rocking.

AUSTRALIAN LINKS

THERE’S a direct and an indirect link with Australia:

Socceroo left-back Brad Smith, Liverpool’s Academy player of the year, is almost certain to be on the bench, while St Jakob Park is the former home of Socceroo Scott Chipperfield, with the Basel hero scoring 69 goals in 269 appearances for the club.

Europa League final - 4.45am Thursday morning (AEST)

Live on Foxtel through beIn Sports

Originally published as Liverpool v Sevilla: Ultimate Europa League final guide