Sevilla and AS Roma face each other in Budapest in the UEFA Europa League final tomorrow in a game that could save both clubs seasons. On the one hand, we have the record holder Sevilla seeking their seventh Europa League trophy and on the other, Roma is looking for their first Europa League trophy and to win a European trophy for the second consecutive year.
Although Sevilla is the most prestigious team in this competition, Roma have a manager who never lost a European final and who is pursuing his sixth European title: José Mourinho. If we had to describe Romas team in one word, we would define them as pragmatic or objective while Sevilla are a team that like to hurt the opposition by having possession most of the time.
It will be exciting and very interesting, from a tactical perspective, to see this clash and to do a post-game analysis between two different philosophies from two different countries.
In this tactical analysis, well try to unveil both of the teams tactics and lineups and, besides that, look at their strengths and weaknesses.
Potential lineups
Firstly, as a goalkeeper, the Moroccan Yassine Bounou is the main candidate.
Yet, for the left-back position, Sevilla has a massive setback for this final. Marcos Acuña wont play because he was suspended in their last European game against Juventus. The 30-year-old Brazilian Alex Telles is the most likely candidate to occupy this left-back position.
Even though Nemanja Gudelj and Loic Badé will probably play as centre-backs, we have some apprehension regarding the Frenchman who compromised his team in the goal suffered in such a decisive game against Juventus. With that said, the manager José Luis Mendilibar could opt for a more experienced player like the Dutch Karim Rekik.
Due to his high experience and quality, Jésus Navas is the most probable player to perform as a right-back. In the midfield, they are expected to play Fernando, Ivan Rakitić slightly ahead, and Oliver Torres as the offensive midfielder.
The left winger will could be played as usual by the technician Bryan Gil, while the right wing position is way more competitive. In fact, there are three main candidates: Lucas Ocampos, Suso and Erik Lamela. However, we think that Lucas will be in the initial XI due to both his physical and defensive commitment. Finally, it is more than likely that, the goalscorer of Sevilla, Youssef En-Nesyri, will be the first choice as a striker.
Sevilla (4-2-3-1): Bounou; Telles; Gudelj; Badé; Navas; Fernando; Rakitić; Óliver; Gil; Ocampos; En-Nesyri
On the other hand, similar to other Italian teams like Inter or Juventus, the Giallorossi are expected to play with three centre-backs in a 3-4-1-2 system. The experienced Portuguese Rui Patrício will be in goal and the back three will, in all likelihood, be played by the most capped centre-backs: Gianluca Mancini, Chris Smalling and Roger Ibañez.
The decision concerning the fullbacks is conditioned by José Mourinhos game approach, in other words, we expect a prudent and conservative Roma, and as it goes, we also expect fullbacks that can give their team a larger defensive consistency. With that said, we foresee Zeki Çelik as a right-back and Leonardo Spinazzola as a left-back, setting aside more offensive options like Nicola Zalewski and El Shaarawy.
Due to the importance of this game, we anticipate a physical and experienced midfield with Nemanja Matić and Bryan Cristante lower on the pitch. Ahead of these two, the captain Lorenzo Pellegrini is the most likely option to perform as an offensive midfielder.
On the front, Tammy Abraham will, in all likelihood, play as the most advanced element of Romas team. As a Tammy attack supporter, we also have several options with Paulo Dybala being the one with a higher chance of playing, due to his offensive quality. However, his physical conditions can influence Josés choice, with Andrea Belotti or even El Shaarawy as alternatives.
Roma (3-4-1-2): Patrício; Çelik; Mancini; Smalling; Ibañez; Spinazzola; Cristante; Matić; Pellegrini; Dybala; Abraham
How and where Sevilla can hurt the Italians?
As demonstrated by the above image, Sevilla are a team that like to hurt the opposition by having the ball most of the time (ranked in the 76.1 percentile %), contrarily to Roma who, as a whole, during a large part of the game is out of possession (ranked in the 38 percentile %).
We can preview a game where, for the majority, Sevilla will have more ball and that will be moments where the Spanish team will overload Romas defensive line forcing them to descend their lines. This strategy increases Sevillas chances to score in the final. However, theyll face a team that is used to defending with lower lines for long periods of time, and as it goes, it will not be easy.
They will try to penetrate into Romas box via short passes or
