Mentality shift the key to Sevilla comeback, says Emery

Unai Emery said encouraging his Sevilla players to believe they were playing on home soil proved to be the key to their Europa League final win over Liverpool.

Title holders Sevilla went into half-time 1-0 down following Daniel Sturridge’s superb strike, but responded with a stunning display in the second period, with a Kevin Gameiro goal and a double from Coke sealing a 3-1 victory.

And Emery revealed that the key to unleashing his side in the second half was to urge them to consider the clash in Basle to be like any other fixture at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

“It’s a unique satisfaction,” Emery, who has guided Sevilla to a record three Europa League triumphs in a row, told BeIN Sports.

“Now we have to enjoy it, knowing that we have another final on Sunday. The team – and Sevilla – deserve this.

“We organised our minds at the break and we knew why we had reached this stage. We had to remember that the neutral pitch was the Sanchez Pizjuan, that we were in Seville. And the team took off.

11 – Sevilla had 11 shots vs Liverpool, with all but one of them coming in the second half. Hustlers.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 18, 2016

“We had to go forward. We had to be ourselves.

“Liverpool are a great team and with the goal their belief began to grow. But this also happens with us. With the equaliser, we felt strong, we were confident.

“The Europa League has given us a lot. I said that we had to enjoy the final, and to enjoy it doubly if we could win it.”