Sevilla, Liverpool set up Europa League title clash

Holders Sevilla and Liverpool swept into the final of the Europa League with convincing home wins yesterday.
Sevilla defeated Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 to reach a third consecutive final while five-time European champions Liverpool overcame Villarreal 3-0 in the semi-final second legs.
Sevilla booked their fifth Europa League final in 11 seasons and are seeking a third Europa League title in a row after a 5-3 aggregate win over Shakhtar.
Liverpool overcame a 1-0 first-leg deficit to crush Villarreal at Anfield Road with Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana scoring decisive second-half goals.
“Wonderful night, brilliant game from my side. What a performance,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said.
“The first half an hour was a big emotion. It was great. The last 15 minutes of the first half we lost patience. The second half plan was to keep going with the emotional football but using the brain a bit more and in the end brilliant.”
In Sevilla, the defending champions took an early lead against Shakhtar through France striker Kevin Gameiro in the ninth minute when he capitalized on a mistake by Maksym Malyshev.
Eduardo took a neat pass from Brazilian Marlos to side-foot level for Donetsk just before the break, but Gameiro struck shortly after the interval and Mariano Ferreira fired in a third just before the hour to put the tie beyond doubt.
Spain were hoping for another all-Liga final in Basel, Switzerland on May 18 after Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid reached the Champions League final, but Villarreal had no answer to a dominant Liverpool.
Liverpool, who had eliminated Borussia Dortmund in a thriller in the previous round, put the visitors under immediate pressure which paid off with an own goal from Bruno Soriano in the seventh minute.
Keeper Alphonse Areola got his hand to a Nathaniel Clyne cross from the right which went in off captain Soriano at the far post after Sturridge just failed to connect.
Villarreal had a better spell after the break but went further behind in the 63rd minute when Sturridge took a pass from Roberto Firmino and found the net with a shot off the keeper and the inside of the post.
Villarreal were down to 10 men in the 71st minute when Victor Ruiz was shown a  second yellow card, and Lallana made it three for the Reds from close range 10 minutes later after fine work down the left from Firmino and a miscued Sturridge shot.
“We knew it would be a difficult night, we knew they could get the away goal but credit to the lads,” Lallana said.
“The lads deserved to be in the final and hopefully we can win it.  You have to show this competition respect and I feel we have done that.”