Breaking my Silence on the Europa League Final #1792

In the end, Sevilla were deserving winners. I take nothing away from their individual performance as a team. They showed the ability to bounce back and got their hands on the trophy a 7th time. Despite how difficult of a season they've had. It almost feels sometimes to inevitable that they would capture the Europa League again. Roma had them under pressure constantly during the half. Dybala scored a brilliant goal that put Roma in front. Not only that displayed exactly why Roma celebrated the way they did when he arrived to the Italian capital in the summer. As we know Sevilla bounced back. Forced Roma into an own goal. Dominated the majority of the match. Roma lost their spark after the first half. It would have been really interesting to see how it would have gone. Had Roma been able to maintain that. Sevilla went on to win on penalties. They may have had a little luck on the way, but Sevilla still took down Manchester United and Juventus among others after dropping down from the Champions League. However, we can't simply ignore elephant in the room. The corruption and favoritism that took place in the Europa League final. Sevilla dominated a good portion of the Europa League final. However, Michael Oliver was not only atrocious from an officiating standpoint decision could have dictated the final results. I'm not going to take away from Sevilla's performance. However, they benefited from Michael Oliver simply not wanting Roma and more specifically Mourinho to win another European trophy. Three incredibly valid penalty claims from Roma had they been granted could have changed the momentum of the game and all ultimately could have affected and prevented Roma's collapse after the first half. Prior to Roma scoring Tammy Abraham struck in the head while in the box. Whether or not the defender from Sevilla intended to do it is irrelevant. The boot made connection with his head before the ball. It is a stone wall penalty to take it a step further in my eyes, it was the biggest infraction on all of the refereeing errors. You simply cannot kick someone in the head and not be called for anything. Of course Dybala scores his goal. Roma have a 1-0 lead. Then near the end of the first half. Roma move the ball into the box as Lorenzo Pellegrini is dropped. Instead of giving what was a fairly clear penalty. Michael Oliver made the decision. Not only was it not a penalty but he booked Lorenzo Pellegrini for a dive. The third infringement came at the very end of the second half. At this point Sevilla had already equalized with extra time approaching. There was a clear handball from Sevilla in the 83rd minute. It was struck into the box and hit the defender's hand. Had he stayed still in his position with his arms at his side There would be no complaint. However, the Sevilla defender moved his hands away from his body try not to be touched. While his intent was innocent if you move your hands out of a natural position if it then touches the arm it is a penalty. We have seen so many times this season not only in the various leagues but in the Europa League Call this a penalty. However, on this moment with this magnitude with a referee that is not a fan of the Roma coach, he decides not to give it nor check it. Then Eric lamella put forth in extremely dangerous tackle. A clear red card and it wasn't given. We know the rest of the story. The penalty wasn't given Sevilla win on penalties. There's no doubt there mistakes made by Jose the order of the shootout and the substitutions he may throughout the game. However There's no doubt regarding the mistakes and the horrible officiating. That's not to mention that it was being officiated differently for each team. When Roma was booked for the same exact foul Sevilla. There's no denying with the impact of the red card, the three penalties could have been. Especially the ones in the first half we can gauge. Which of these decisions are the worst ones. However, the no call on Lorenzo Pellegrini could have cost Roma the Europa League.

Roma has plenty of reasons to complain. To feel done wrong in one way or another. However, we can't simply blame Michael Oliver for his decisions and call it a day. As much as the decisions that were made could have affected things. Roma's performance allowed this to happen just as much. While it is difficult to deal with bad decisions as they're happening in live time. Roma went from top of the world from 45 minutes away from a European trophy to losing a final in a devastating fashion. Roma had total control the outing. Through 45 minutes, Roma held a 1-0 lead through Paulo Dybala as he had Roma in Dreamland. Bono had to step up and Make some big saves in the first half or it could have been even worse for the Spanish side. The Italians got into dangerous areas and pushed the backline in their own box trying to expose some vulnerability. Sevilla had one shot in the first half Ratic deep strike that hit the post. That was the extent of it. Aside from Roma's penalty claims in the first half, they were essentially running riot on Sevilla. They deservely built their lead. Everything was going according to planned. Until everything started to fall apart. They had all this spark in that first half and then Sevilla started to dominate. Huge amounts of possession. Huge amount of danger as they came into the Roma box often. Roma's defensive tactic was not all that effective. Even though Chris Smalling had a match for himself. As a cohesive unit, the defensive performance that we saw in the semi-final did not track. It wasn't before too long that Sevilla had themselves in the area forcing an own goal. Believe it or not, the third own goal they have benefited from this Europa League. With everything that's being considered here, even though technically it wasn't on goal. They forced Roma into that situation and defensively Roma wasn't exactly getting better throughout the game. Occasionally Roma got forward with Abraham and Dybala. Spinazolla found his way to be effective at times but the goal never came. Jose has taken a lot of heat recently and in my opinion unjustifiable. He is football has often been criticized. However, he has taken Roma to back to back European finals ending the trophy drought as Roma fans We are not concerned about playing attractive football. Result is what is important. What Jose has brought to Roma is something extremely different. He took Roma from purgatory and changed the things that the club struggled with all with out many distractions or dressing room issues. However, Jose made some mistakes throughout the second half and beyond. Dybala and Tammy Abraham were both taken off in the second half. Dybala recently recovered from injury and I suppose Jose could have been looking out for him. To take off Abraham in that moment who was an error. Even though Andrea belotti nearly found the back of the net on a free kick shortly after being subbed on to take out Roma’s two most dangerous players seem to be a bit of mistake . Sevilla looked like they were going to cash in extra time. Roma had a couple moments but not nearly enough to win it. In the penalty shootout Roma was already in a very mysterious situation as Bono has been a penalty shoot out hero twice this season at the World Cup. The penalty order had the first three penalty takers was Cristante, Mancini and Ibanez. Bove was subbed on minutes from the shootout El Shaarawy had entered action in extra time as well. Lining up three defensive players to take the first three kicks was a huge mistake and it showed. Cristante being chosen I don't have a problem with. He has made penalties in the past and is able to sink them when needed. However, two center backs following that made not a lick of sense. I assumed that Bove and El Shaarawy would have been on the list considering the timing of when they were subbed. In my view Roma’s 5 penalty takers should have been El Shaarawy Cristane Bove Belotti and Zalewski not necessarily in that order but those would be the five that make the most sense. Jose made a mistake with the substitutions and with the order of the penalty takers. We all know the rest of the story. Mancini and Ibanez both miss and Sevilla or crowned Europa League champions for the 7th time. Despite all the controversy surrounding it Sevilla deserved it. However, had the match been officiated correctly, the game could have changed and maybe is a different result but sevilla's individual performance can't be knocked. Jose isn't the reason Roma lost but we can't just ignore the mistakes that were made.

Outside of everything that transpired in the Europa League final on the pitch, I want to touch on something a little different. I am a romanista. While I've supported this club for my entire life. I tried to give a different perspective. Regardless of my emotions through each result, I try to give an alternative perspective but also a very honest one. Whether or not Roma win lose or draw one breaking it down. I try to put my emotions aside. Not always but to tell a accurate perception of the matches I have to come across and attack it with an unbiased perspective. Me being Roma fan you get a very real interpretation through each game. However, at the end of the day this is my club. I am a romanista as much as anyone else. The emotions of the moment was almost too much to take. After everything we fought for with everything that was sacrificed was all for that moment. Last Wednesday night was supposed to be about an overjoyed individual that has suffered so long with his club. Finally getting the glory along with supporting Roma during the dark times. When Roma won the conference League last season, it was a surreal moment. It was an emotional day throughout. The final whistle pierced into my soul as I broke down with the emotions of finally seeing my club lift a trophy. While the conference League may not have, the respected deserves. The previous two seasons had been underlined with darkness. A European trophy being in Rome was hard to even imagine. As the season came on on stride. The acquisition of Dybala and what has been a rather up and down season. Injuries drained out Roma’s champions league ambitions. That was it once it started to slip. Roma prioritized this. Went through some difficult challenges along the way. Including a goal line clearance by Cristante in the semi-final against the Germans and the 89th minute goal by Paulo Dybala against the Dutch. The argentine's goal saved Roma from elimination as they went on to win an extra time. There's so many particular moments associated with this campaign that we just felt that this was going to be ours. Sevilla may have been the kings of this competition, but Jose doesn't lose European finals. As they say it only needs to happen once. However, the emotions of the moment the amount of Roma fans that made the trip to Budapest It was supposed to be a day in a moment celebration. What we ended with was heartbreak. All of us were in dreamland when Dybala opened the scoring. By the end of it it was heartbreak and a feeling of cruelty. With the controversial decisions made and to lose on penalties was a gut punch. As a Roma fan, I have lost my fair share of finals. I've seen my team go to the Copa Italia final and lose on five different occasions. I've seen Roma lift that competition twice. I've even witnessed them lose in the final and back to back seasons over the finals losses that have experienced. More times than not. We were not expected to win. Lost to Inter Milan three times AC Milan once. The worst coming in 2013 though against Lazio a match that's still haunts me to my very soul. As I say, losing a final isn't a completely unfamiliar feeling. However The last time Roma lost a final was 10 years ago. Having waited so long to get to a final win last season and get to another final and lose the way we did was an emotional and heartbreaking moment. I had difficulties just getting out of bed after the final. It mentally. Wrecked my soul. I'm still broken up about it now. It has been long enough to wear. I'm not thinking about it constantly, but the moment of losing a final like that. To a team, that's not better than us to a coach. That's not better than Jose to a referee that could have very well denied Roma. The trophy then to lose on penalties is just such a horrible feeling. Penalties as a neutral or a beautiful thing and very entertaining. Being inside of a European final and losing it on penalties is a pain that very few can even begin to understand. At some point this will feel like ancient history. We had a brief moment of clarity as dybalas emotional reaction to losing showed the world that he really understands what It means to wear the shirt and that Dybala's Future is here in Rome. But overall it was a ruthless experience that brought all of us to tears.