An emotional Jesus Navas paid tribute to his team as Sevilla defeated Inter Milan 3-2 to claim a sixth Europa League title.
Sevilla came back from a goal down to claim a memorable win in Cologne through Luuk de Jong’s brace and Diego Carlos’s bicycle-kick.
After Romelu Lukaku’s penalty put Inter into the lead, De Jong’s headers handed Sevilla control before Diego Godin equalized. But Carlos, who conceded the opening penalty in the first place, went from villain to hero by scoring a brilliant winner, which deflected off Lukaku’s foot.
“This squad deserves it,” Navas told Sky Sport Italia.
“We fought all year, experienced the difficult situation, like everyone, tried to get through day by day. The fans deserve it, those who love football like we do and we have to enjoy it.
“Being able to lift the trophy as captain of my Sevilla means so much to me, for friends who are no longer here, like Jose Antonio Reyes.”
The Sevilla captain also paid tribute to manager Julen Lopetegui, who was caught up in the moment himself after winning his first club trophy.
Navas added: “Lopetegui works 24 hours a day for Sevilla, he got the best out of us.”
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