Jurgen Klopp has been the talk of the town in the red half of Merseyside, after replacing Brendan Rodgers as the Liverpool manager. The charismatic German has injected positivity into his players, and more importantly Liverpool have been playing some good football under Klopp, who will be keen to win his first silverware as Reds manager when his team takes on Sevilla in the Europa League final at St Jakob Park in Basel on Wednesday.
But, winning the Europa League, which will also ensure Champions League qualification, will not be easy for Liverpool, considering Sevilla are the the defending champions.The Spanish side also have similar ambitions of playing Champions League football next season, so the final is much more than a trophy.
Sevilla is the most successful team in the UEFA Cup/Europa League, winning the title four times in the past, and all of them have come in the last 10 years. Sevilla are, in fact, gunning for their third straight title after winning the last two editions, so they do not have to be taught how to win European titles.
But Liverpool might have forgotten about European finals as they last finished runners-up in 2007 Champions League. Liverpool last won this tournament, then known as the UEFA Cup, in 2001. Hence, the present crop of Liverpool players will want to create magic in Switzerland, and add another European trophy to their cabinet.
They do have some special players in the squad to bring that trophy, and their performance in the Europa League has been nothing short of outstanding, defeating teams like Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund. But such wins do not count to anything, if they fail in the final hurdle, like they did against Manchester City in League Cup final this season.
There is some similarity in Sevilla's and Liverpool's style of play, as they both play possession-based football. Both teams have some quality talent in their lineup. If Liverpool possess the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge, Sevilla have their own silky-skilled players in Yevhen Konoplyanka and Kevin Gameiro.
Konoplyanka will be keen to use his pace, and exploit Liverpool's defence, which has sometimes looked erratic under pressure. They have let in easy goals and if the Reds defenders fail to shine in Basel, Sevilla will pounce.
Though both teams possess quality players, teams which absorbs more pressure, and deliver in the ninety minutes, will have a greater chance of winning the Europa League title in Switzerland.
Europa League final 2016 schedule - Liverpool vs Sevilla
Date: May 18, 2016, Wednesday
Time: 8:45 p.m. local time (12:15 a.m. IST, 7:45 p.m. BST, 2:45 p.m. ET)
Venue: St Jakob Park, Basel, Switzerland
TV listings: India: Ten 2 and Ten 1 HD. UK: BT Sport. US: Fox Sports. Spain, Middle East and Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Canada: BeIN Sports. African countries: Super Sport 3 Africa. Malaysia: Astro Supersport.
