Naturally, Sevilla have been practicing penalties. It is obligatory ahead of a major final, and more so when the opposition are coached by Jose Mourinho, whose Roma have learnt how to keep things tight and stay patient. But this Sevilla, chasing a remarkable sixth triumph in the Europa League – formerly the Uefa Cup – in 16 years, would back themselves in a shoot-out.
Two of those previous Uefa titles were won via penalties. Above all, they have faith in the skill of goalkeeper, Yassine Bounou, known to all as simply ‘Bono’, whose rollercoaster season featured a total shutout in a shoot-out that made history for his country, Morocco.
It was in the World Cup last-16 tie against Spain in Al Rayyan, Qatar. Bono went through it, and the 120 minutes of attrition beforehand, unbeaten. He judged wisely to keep out spot-kicks from Sergio Busquets and Carlos Soler, dived the right way when Pablo Sarabia struck his post and put Morocco through.
What if penalties, or extra-time, are imminent at Budapest’s Puskas Arena tonight, and there’s one very late chance to settle the outcome? Sevilla would trust their centre-forward to seize it. Youssef En-Nesyri’s year, like his compatriot Bono’s, has been a story of late moments of drama.
Take En-Nesyri’s header, deflected past Manchester United’s David de Gea in the Europa League quarter-final, pointing Sevilla towards a stunning recovery. He scored in injury time at Old Trafford, where United had led 2-0 at half-time. “His goal in Manchester was the turning point,” Bono told El Pais. “It tapped into everything this club has with this competition and brought back an energy we’d been lacking.”
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When En-Nesyri then scored in the 81st minute in the second leg against United, the aggregate score rose to 5-2. En-Nesyri, the favoured target for Sevilla crosses, would be drawing defenders towards him in the 95th minute of the semi-final’s second leg against Juventus, the tie locked at 2-2. His run gave Eric Lamela the space and time to take Sevilla to the final.
Sevilla’s two Moroccans, the steadfast backstop, Bono, and the spearhead En-Nesyri, would be entitled to regard a trophy this evening as the perfect finish to an epoch-making season.
In December they were central, fraternal figures at the World Cup, when En-Nesyri’s mighty leap to head the only goal of the quarter-final victory over Portugal and Bono, feted for his heroics, then handed over his man-of-the match award to the striker. By reaching the last four they had set a new high standard for African football, for Arab football, at the sport’s greatest showpiece.
But it has not been an easy year for either. When they set off for Qatar, Sevilla were staring at real peril of relegation from Spain’s top division. They had sacked one manager, Julen Lopetegui, and are finishing the season under a third, Jose Luis Mendilibar. Pre-World Cup, Bono kept just one clean sheet in 15 full matches. En-Nesyri managed no goals in 10 Liga outings. Some supporters had taken to jeering him.
Bono has acknowledged that, much as the Morocco squad cultivated a warm convivial atmosphere in Qatar, he carried anxieties there. He felt particular pressure that Morocco had to play Canada in their last group game.
He was born in Canada, because his father, an academic, was working in Montreal in the early 1990s before returning with the family to Casablanca. Bono was fearful any failure against the Canadians, who Morocco beat 2-1, would prompt unfounded criticism, hints of divided loyalty.
He also had private concerns, ahead of his heroic display against Spain, because he has spent 11 years of his career with Spanish clubs since leaving Wydad Casablanca as a 21-year-old, he might hear angry suggestions, if he slipped up, that he somehow felt beholden to Spain.
En-Nesyri’s impressive World Cup could have taken him away from Sevilla, who he joined in the winter of 2020. Nice made an offer in January, and, like West Ham United’s approach the previous summer, it was rejected. Sevilla look wise in that.
En-Nesyri took his World Cup form into his club football, though as Mendilibar later admitted, he had a mixed first impression of the striker when the new coach arrived in March.
“I thought En-Nesyri looked grumpy,” Mendilibar recalled, describing the relationship that then developed. “He challenges me and I challenge him. He told me he’d get 20 goals this season, and he’s not far off.” En-Nesyri’s 18 goals, despite the poor start, have helped Sevilla clear of the drop.
Mendilibar would drop Bono from his Liga starting XI, but made him first choice in the Europa League. And that’s the competition that could turn a patchy year for the club into a glorious one – and the cup that can make a very special season for Morocco's history-makers feel complete.
