In the early morning of February 18, Beijing time, the first leg of this season's Europa League knockout play-off ushered in a focus battle, Sevilla home against Dinamo Zagreb. In the end, Sevilla relied on the joint goals of Rakitic, Okampos and Martial to win 3-1 and advance to the quarter-finals with one foot, impacting the seventh Europa League title in the history of the team.
In the history of the Europa League, Sevilla has won 6 titles, ranking first in history, and achieving 3 consecutive titles from 2014 to 2016, which is also unprecedented.
This season, Sevilla ranked third in the Champions League group stage, missed the knockout round, qualified for the Europa League knockout play-off, big data predicts that Sevilla is crowned Europa League probability of only 7%, tied for sixth, not very optimistic about winning the championship.
Play-offs against Croatian league side, Sevilla have beaten Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 at home and 1-0 away in the 2016 Champions League group stage.
In the opening 12th minute, Sevilla won a penalty and Rakitic hit a steady shot to help the team make a fantastic start 1-0. In the previous four games of the season in which Rakitic scored, Sevilla remained unbeaten with 1 win and 3 draws.
In the 40th minute, after Dinamo Zagreb equalised, Sevilla quickly rebounded. In the 43rd minute, Ocampos swept straight into the net from the penalty area to help Sevilla rewrite the score 2-1.
In the 45th minute, Sevilla advanced the attack at high speed, and Manchester United veteran Martial completed the final blow to extend the score 3-1.
In the second half, Dinamo Zagreb was unable to score again, and finally lost 3-away to Sevilla, close to being eliminated.
A 3-1 home lead in the first leg allowed Sevilla to advance to the quarter-finals with one foot. Once in the Europa League arena, show the strength of the champions, worthy of the title of "King of the Europa League".