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Sevilla wins record 4th Europa League title with thrilling victory over Dnipro

Reuters

For the fourth time in club history, and second in as many years, Sevilla has been crowned Europa League champions.

Two goals from striker Carlos Bacca helped the Spanish side retain their crown by virtue of a thrilling 3-2 win over Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in Warsaw on Wednesday, and in the process made the club the first to win the competition four times.

Sevilla, who defeated Benfica to claim last season's trophy, were tied with Inter Milan, Juventus, and Liverpool heading into Wednesday's contest, as each side has won this title three times.

Now, the Spaniards stand alone.

Their latest victory comes 10 years after they claimed the honor for the first time, as Sevilla also emerged victorious from the competition in 2005-06 - before repeating the following year.

Early in Wednesday's contest, however, it looked as though Unai Emery and company were going to remain fixed on a trio of trophies.

Nikola Kalinic gave Dnipro - the plucky Ukrainian side playing in the first major European final - a lead in the seventh minute. But goals from Grzegorz Krychowiak and Bacca just three minutes apart put Sevilla back on course to retain their title.

Ruslan Rotan scored a delicious free-kick to knot the score at two, but in the end it was Bacca, who scored five goals and set up three in his last six Europa League matches of the season, who was the hero.

Footbalista's post on Vine

In the end, it was a deserving victory for the Spanish club ...

... and they can thank their Colombian striker for it.

"They were more experienced, and I think that showed. But we tried to play our best game," Dnipro manager Myron Markevych said after the match.

"Unfortunately today we allowed Bacca the chance to be aggressive. We made a lot of mistakes in defence. We gave them the third goal. We should have cleared the ball but didn't."

By virtue of their win, Sevilla automatically earns a spot in next season's Champions League.

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