Former Tottenham ace finally wins ‘unbelievable’ first trophy after Spurs exit

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Erik Lamela was delighted to pick up the first major trophy of his career after leaving Premier League underachievers Tottenham Hotspur for Sevilla with Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side triumphing over Roma in Hungary

Jose Mourinho had never before been beaten in a European final. Sevilla, meanwhile, had won all six of their Europa League/UEFA Cup finals. So something had to give on Wednesday night; Mourinho’s Roma taking on the tournament specialists at the Ferenc Puskas Arena. 

And despite Mourinho’s attempts to drag the game into the weeds – Roma’s so-called ‘game management’ bordering on the obscene at times – trying to wrestle Sevilla hands off ol’ familiar is almost akin to fighting the laws of gravity. 

There was an inevitability about Sevilla’s success in the Hungarian capital; triumphing via a tense penalty shoot-out after Gianluca Mancini’s own goal cancelled out Paolo Dybala’s superb first-half opener. 

And Erik Lamela certainly lived up to his end of the bargain. The Argentine international rattled home his own spot-kick, thus paving the way for the first major trophy of his entire career at the age of 31. 

Sevilla beat Roma in Europa League final

“It was a tough game. Not easy to play. We weren’t in our best way because they played this game well. It was difficult to find the space,” an emotional Lamela tells BT Sport. 

“This is amazing. I can’t ask for more. This feeling is unbelievable. We’re going to enjoy it.”

Insert your own ‘Spurs’ pun here.

Alongside Bryan Gil – the Tottenham misfit returning to Sevilla on loan in the January transfer window – Lamela only needed to leave his North London home behind in order to get his mitts on something shiny and silver. 

In fact, since Tottenham last won a trophy – the 2008 EFL Cup – Sevilla have picked up no fewer than six pieces of silverware.  

No one has won Europe’s second-tier club competition more than them. And it’s not even close. Taking their tally to seven, Sevilla have now claimed the Europa League more than twice as often as the tournament’s next-best sides; Liverpool, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Juventus claiming three successes apiece.