The final of the Europa League is approaching. Jose Mourinho’s Roma and the six-time winner of this competition, Sevilla face each other in Budapest. The team from the capital of Andalusia holds the record for the number of titles in the second-strongest European club competition. Their performances in La Liga this season were often not at the level at which the famous Andalusian red-and-white club should play, so Sevilla were painfully close to relegation at one point. Due to bad results, Jorge Sampaoli was fired, and Jose Luis Mendilibar arrived in his place, who completely revived the team.Sevilla are unbeaten in their last six games in all competitions. Currently, one of the protagonists of the Andalusian team is Erik Lamela (31). He scored the winning goal in the Europa League semi-final against Juventus in extra time and was the scorer in Wednesday’s draw against already relegated Elche. With this goal, the popular “Coco” became the first Argentine to score at least ten goals in Primera, Premier League and Serie A combined.##NAJAVA_MECA_7282150##The former River Plate, Roma and Tottenham player scored eight goals and assisted thrice in 41 official games this season. Lamela elevated his game to the highest possible level at the right moment, just before the Europa League final in Budapest.Mendilibar made a lot of rotations in the position behind the striker during the second half of the season, but lately, Lamela has been the first option in that spot, despite the back problems that are bothering him. Erik was out of action for four months last season due to shoulder surgery, and it took a long time for this creative offensive player to return to at least an approximate form, similar to his time at RomaThe Argentine arrived in Europe in 2011 from River Plate, and Roma paid 17,000,000 euros for his services. Erik scored 19 league goals in 62 games during his time with the Wolfess. After only two years, Lamela signed for Tottenham, and the Giallorossi received 30,000,000 euros from the transfer.Eric Lamela on what’s special about Jose Mourinho:”The person. His way of being and his way of treating others. I think about how he makes the players feel, how he behaves with them. He is a complete coach, humanly and technically.” pic.twitter.com/7TuCooYJeJ— JJ🇯🇵 (@Josejapan1978) May 20, 2023 Frequent injuries in the Spurs jersey did not allow the technically extremely skilled player to fulfill his full potential, although there were some good moments – in 2021 he received the Puskas award (goal of the year) for the famous “rabona” against Arsenal. After the contract expired in the summer of 2021, he joined Sevilla as a free agent and signed a contract until the summer of 2024.
