Sevilla coast to Europa League semifinal win, Dnipro grind their way to the final

One team won handily on Thursday, and another had to grind out its win, but now we know who’s going to be playing in the Europa League final in Warsaw on May 26. It’s maybe not the matchup people expected at the start of the tournament, but Sevilla and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk have both run brilliant campaigns and fully deserve their semifinal triumphs over Fiorentina and Napoli.

It was another defensive masterclass from Dnipro in the first half, stonewalling everything Napoli threw at them with ease. Napoli struggled badly to build up dangerous play, with captain and midfield star Marek Hamsik inexplicably on the bench and therefore unable to exploit the vulnerabilities to quick passes through the middle that Dnipro were showing. Instead, Napoli tried to play direct football to get the ball to their front four, which played right into Dnipro’s hands.

On the rare occasions that Napoli actually did manage to get something dangerous brewing in attack, Denys Boyko stood strong in goal and saved anything that came at him. It helped that every shot Gonzalo Higuain -- who was incredibly poor for most of the semifinal tie -- took was either way off target or straight at him, but Boyko made some impressive saves and was well deserving of all the plaudits he’s been given.

The second half started out with some moderate promise for Napoli, but that promise was quickly beaten into the dirt. Yevhen Seleznyov took advantage of a breakdown in Napoli’s defense to find space and get on the end of a gorgeous cross from Yevhen Konoplyanka and left Mariano Andujar spinning in the process, putting Dnipro up and leaving Napoli fans frustrated in the process.

The Italians always needed a goal in this match, so Dnipro’s strike didn’t change much in that regard, but their efforts to push for an equalizer were left every bit as frustrated as they had been for the rest of the tie. They had plenty of opportunities to score on set pieces, but lacked the players on the pitch to take advantage of them. Duvan Zapata would have been a helpful substitute to bring on to capitalize, with his strong physical play and massive size advantage on Dnipro’s defense, but he was mysteriously left off the bench. Instead, Rafa brought in Henrique, a defender who has underperformed all season long.

Suffice to say, it didn’t work.

Now Dnipro are headed to their first ever European final, while Napoli’s season-long frustrations are left to continue.

Fiorentina didn’t let their heavy aggregate deficit get them down in the early goings, launching forward at speed over and over again to try and start closing the gap. Sevilla defended well, though, and kept Fiorentina from scoring on their early chances. Most notable was an excellent save from Sergio Rico on a Gonzalo Rodriguez header from close range, keeping the Italians at bay and biding their time.

They wouldn’t have to wait long. Set piece defense has plagued Fiorentina all season long, and it did again Thursday in a big way, gifting goals to Carlos Bacca and Daniel Carrico and ending any vague hope that the viola had of causing an upset.

You’ve got to give Fiorentina credit for one thing, though: they never once stopped fighting. Even in the closing minutes of the match, they kept pushing all-out, but couldn’t crack Sevilla’s defense. Even when they earned a penalty, they couldn’t score, with Josip Ilicic skying his shot over the bar.

In the end, Sevilla easily earned the chance to defend their crown, trying to become the first side to defend the Europa League trophy since they pulled off the feat in 2007. Can they do it? Dnipro will be a tough opponent, but this Sevilla side is very good. With the Champions League on the line, they’ll be in for a heck of a fight.