Moroccan Keeper Bounou Shines as Sevilla Clinch Europa League Title on Penalties

Despite a difficult start in the first half, where the Sevillians were dominated and had even conceded a goal to Paulo Dybala, Bounou was the man who kept the team’s hope alive. After the break, the Sevillians came back transformed and equalized thanks to an own goal from Gianluca Mancini, on a free kick from Jesus Navas (Youssef En-nesyri was not far!). From then on, they relied on their goalkeeper’s expertise to resist until the end.

As the deadlock was not resolved after 120 minutes, Seville and Rome had to submit to the penalty shootout. It was in this exercise that Bounou proved himself again. Despite the first successful shot by Roma, Bounou blocked all the following attempts, allowing Erik Lamela, Ivan Rakitic and Gonzalo Montiel to score and conclude the victory for Seville.

This triumph crowns an extraordinary season for Seville, who managed to reverse a very delicate situation. Before José Luis Mendilibar took over the reins, the threat of relegation was looming over the club. They have found the path to victory on the European stage, thus securing their place in the Champions League next season, thanks in particular to another Moroccan, Youssef En-nesyri.