WARSAW, Poland
The UEFA Europa League Final game is set to kick off Wednesday in Polish capital Warsaw between seasoned Spanish side Sevilla and finals newcomer Ukrainian club Dnipro, as the Spaniards seek to write their names in the history of Europe’s second-tier football competition.
The winners of 2006, 2007 and 2014 trophies, Sevilla will compete to be the first team to win four Europa League titles, as Dnipro eye their first championship.
Dnipro is the second Ukrainian side that has advanced to the Europa League finals after Shakhtar Donetsk, which won the trophy in 2009.
On their way to Wednesday's final, Dnipro eliminated Italian heavyweights Napoli in semifinals, whilst Sevilla knocked the other Italian club Fiorentina out of the tournament in semis.
Colombian striker Carlos Bacca is the ace of Sevilla in the upcoming showdown, having scored five goals in 14 Europa League appearances this season.
Dnipro winger Yevhen Konoplyanka is the key player for his team. The 25-year-old Ukrainian regular is the most valuable player on the team with a market value of 16 million euros, according to transfermarkt.com.
Konoplyanka scored a goal and produced three assists in 14 matches this season.
Dnipro may lack three players tussling with injuries before the final: Defender Ondrej Mazuch, midfielder Serhiy Kravchenko and forward Roman Zozulya.
On the other hand, Sevilla defender Nicolas Pareja is likely to miss the game due to a lingering knee injury. There are no suspended players in either team.
The match will start at 20:45 CET (1845GMT) at the National Stadium Warsaw in Poland. English Martin Atkinson will be the referee, assisted by Michael Mullarkey and Stephen Child.
