Sports en Stuff: Your Sports & News Portal: Match Preview: Sevilla vs Dnipro (Europa League Final)

Two Teams Dreaming Big and Chasing History

Who would've thought that Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk will be heading in this year's Europa League final? The Ukrainian side wasn't expected to reach this far in the competition as this will be their first ever final appearance in a European tournament. Dnipro have managed to reach the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions league in 1985 and 1990, but struggled since then.

Unlike Sevilla, Dnipro is still in a battle in the Ukrainian top flight. They are currently on the third place with a total of 53 points in 25 games. They are looking to win a crucial game against Hoverla on May 30 and revive their hopes for an automatic Champions League spot that they've been aiming for since 1989. Right now, Dnipro are 9 points behind the confirmed champions Dynamo Kiev and 2 points behind second place Shakhtar Donetsk which they've fought on a 3-2 victory last weekend. They've emerged as the champions of the domestic league twice (1983 and 1988) and finished last season in the second spot.

Opposed to the Ukrainians, Sevilla can be called experts in this round of the competition. They've been in this situation a plenty of times, having won all of their three final appearances in nine seasons. The Spanish outfit is also on the quest to grab a back-to-back Europa title and write their name into the history books as the first club to win it four times.

Dnipro are far from being the most dominant and most decorated team in Europe, however, they've already shown that they have what it takes to be a great contender for the Europa League title. They took a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their semifinal match against Napoli in Italy and won 1-0 at home. They were lauded for having a solid back and have not lost any of their last four away games in the contest.

"We can't deny that we have the chance to write history. Of course we are grateful to have that chance, to be able to pursue this," Sevilla's coach Unai Emery told UEFA.com.

"We are aiming to achieve something with this team, with Sevilla. It shouldn't feel like pressure or stop us from executing our game plan against Dnipro. It will serve more as motivation, like a dream we can achieve."

The Red and Whites are the favorites to win as they have won most games in the competition (10) and lost just once. They have trampled Fiorentina in their semis clash with a 5-0 aggregate score. They've also closed their La Liga run with a win against Malaga at Estadio La Rosaleda and finished fifth in the Spanish table with a point separating them from the fourth spot secured by Valencia and 2 points from last year's Champions League champions Atletico Madrid in the second place.

These two teams have never faced in a competitive match, but both are determined not to just win the title, but to get an automatic entry into next season's Champions League.

Myron Markevych's side will be playing without Serhiy Kravchenko and Roman Zozulya who are still both injured while Emery's squad will be missing goalkeeper Beto and defender Nicolas Pareja. The game is on May 28, 02:45 (GMT+8) at Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw.