Europa League Final: The 5 Things We Learned As Sevilla Beat Roma on Penalties

Sevilla continued to assert their authority in the UEFA Europa League, beating AS Roma in the final to win their seventh crown in Budapest on Wednesday evening.

Gianluca Mancini's own goal cancelled out Paulo Dybala's opener as the three-hour-long scrappy game was settled by the dreaded penalty shootout.

Sports Brief takes a look at the five takeaways from Sevilla's crowning moment on the back of a turbulent season.

Sevilla remain unscathed in UEL

The Andalusian club is to the Europa League what Real Madrid is to the UEFA Champions League. This was their seventh triumph in their seventh final in Europe's second-tier club competition.

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After going down in the first half via a perfectly struck Paulo Dybala goal, Sevilla clawed back into the game after recess and never looked back until the final spot kick was converted by Gonzalo Montiel, the man who scored Argentina's World Cup final-winning penalty.

At this juncture, it is safe to say that the La Liga club are the landlords of this competition, and have every right under the sun to feel entitled to winning the trophy anytime they make the final.

Mourinho loses impeccable final record

Jose Mourinho had to surrender his perfect record in European finals to Sevilla in Budapest when his Roma side lost on penalties. The defeat was Mourinho's first-ever defeat in the grand finale of a European competition.

After inspiring the Giallorossi to Conference League success, the club's maiden European trophy, the former Real Madrid and Chelsea boss was seeking to become the first manager to win the Europa League with three different clubs, but Sevilla had other ideas.

The defeat means Mourinho's gamble of putting all his eggs in one basket failed this time. There will be no European nights in the Eternal City for Mourinho and his charges next season- that is, if he still remains at Roma.

Mendilibar's tactical masterstroke

José Luis Mendilibar, only in the Sevilla job for three months and on a mission to rescue a team threatened by relegation, was coaching his 965th game, but only his fifth in Europe. The experienced gaffer weaved his tactical magic to inspire a comeback which was completed by their penalty shoot-out success.

But before then, his raft of changes in the second half proved to be a masterstroke. Sevilla's blunt attack in the first half was replaced with unerring precision with the introduction of Lamela and Suso, which resulted in the equalizer.

The 62-year-old became the fourth manager to win this trophy with Sevilla, per the Guardian.

Controversy rocks final

A gruelling night of European action continued for three hours and past midnight to determine the winner between Sevilla and AS Roma.

Like almost every other final, the game was rocked with controversy. First, referee Anthony Taylor had to overrule his initial penalty call in the 75th minute after a VAR review. The Englishman then became an 'enemy' to the Romanistas, who felt they deserved a penalty of their own after a cross struck a Sevilla defender's hand.

As if that was not enough, Gonzalo Montiel's initial missed penalty was retaken, much to the chagrin of Mourinho and his charges, who levelled expletives at the referee and his officials after his side lost.

Mourinho throws medal away

Jose Mourinho has been accused of having a 'sour loser' attitude, and this was epitomized by his moment of 'madness' when he rushed ahead of his players to take his silver medal, before throwing it into the crowd.

To be fair, the Portuguese tactician had invested his all in the final and was banking on his proven track record in such games. It was therefore understandable how and why Mourinho vented in such a manner.

The medal was caught by a lucky young fan in the stands. This is not the first time the 'Special One' has pulled such a stunt. He also threw his Premier League winners' medal into the stands after guiding Chelsea to their first English top-flight success after five decades.