Europa League: Jose Mourinho’s Roma back in European final

Rome, May 19

Jose Mourinho will have a chance to claim a sixth European trophy, although to achieve that his Roma team will have to stop Sevilla from winning a record-extending seventh Europa League title.

Roma reached the Europa League final by holding Bayer Leverkusen to a 0-0 draw in Germany on Thursday following the kind of disciplined defensive performance that Mourinho’s teams have become known for. The Italian club went through 1-0 on aggregate after winning the first leg of the semifinal at home. Roma will face six-time champions Sevilla, which knocked out Juventus with a 2-1 win after extra time to prevent an all-Italian final. Sevilla trailed 0-1 at home in the second half but substitute Erik Lamela set up the equaliser that forced extra time and then headed in the winner in the 95th minute.

The final takes place on May 31 in the Hungarian capital of Budapest.

Mourinho is bidding for back-to-back European titles with Roma after winning the inaugural edition of the Europa Conference League last season. He has won the Europa League with both Porto and Manchester United and also has two Champions League titles. “It’s an unbelievable team, I don’t know if I can ask for more from Roma but these guys deserve something special,” Mourinho said. — AP

West Ham in final of Conference League

Pablo Fornals scored deep into stoppage time for West Ham to beat AZ in Alkmaar 1-0 in the second leg of the Europa Conference League semifinals and send the EPL club to a European final for the first time in 47 years. The aftermath was then marred by crowd trouble when some Dutch supporters tried to storm into the area reserved for friends and family of the visiting players. West Ham will face Fiorentina in the final.

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