Wild joy at Sevilla after reaching the Europa League final. Thanks to a goal by Erik Lamela in extra time, the Spanish club eliminated Juventus. AS Roma is the opponent in the final. However, alongside the happiness, there was also criticism of the Dutch refereeing at Sevilla.
Danny Makkelie and his team were in charge of the match between Sevilla and Juventus. Pol van Boekel served as the VAR, and in Spain, they hadn't forgotten him. "Earlier this year, he was the VAR for referee Dennis Higler during Internazionale-Barcelona and overlooked a clear handball by Dumfries, resulting in Barcelona not being awarded a penalty," wrote El Mundo Deportivo.
The newspaper pointed out a penalty moment from the first half of Sevilla-Juventus when Oliver Torres went down after a tackle by Juan Cuadrado. "Makkelie did not see it as a penalty, but the most striking thing is that he was not corrected by the VAR. This is especially noteworthy for someone like Van Boekel, who is considered one of the best video referees in the world. He was also active at the World Cup in Qatar."
Technical director Monchi also saw the moment with Torres and was clear about it. "I don't even need to think about it. You see the footage, and the tackle is inside the penalty area. Unless the rules have changed, which I don't think they have, this is a penalty. It was difficult for the referee, and the VAR should have corrected him. But well, it didn't happen, and we have to accept that."
In the end, there was celebration at Sevilla, as they emerged victorious after extra time. The club from the south of Spain is now in the UEFA Cup/Europa League final for the seventh time since 2006. On the previous six occasions, the trophy went to Andalusia. In that regard, Sevilla is the top favorite for the final against Roma.
"We mainly wanted to do our best in this competition, and so far, everything is going well," said coach José Luis Mendilibar. "We have eliminated two big clubs, Manchester United and Juventus, and we will present ourselves as well as possible in Budapest against another good team and a good coach. No one expected us to reach this point, but we did it. We deserve this spot in the final."
