All has been decided before the last match of Group A in the UEFA Europa League. Sevilla FC, once again won in Europe and have now accumulated 15 points from 15 on a cold night at home. Qarabag came with the intention of being hard to break down, but Bryan's strike along with Dabbur's effort later one, left the team from Azerbaijan with no points. APOEL mathematically secured their passage to the next round also after their second win in five games tonight.
Changes were expected, and they came. With all the work done, Lopetegui gave starts to those who haven't played as much. Carriço returned after his injury and a lot of the players who are expected to play at home to Leganés on Sunday were left out of the squad. Coming in after 4 wins out of 4, they knew that the work was done but that didn't mean that they would be taking their foot of the pedal. As for Qarabag, they set up defensively with a backline of 5 who proved difficult to break down.
It was a first half where nothing much happened
In fact, it took Sevilla 42 minutes to have their first attempt on Begovic's goal, who turned Munir's free-kick out for a corner. Up until that point, Sevilla had dominated the ball but had nothing to show for their possession. That being said, the visitors didn't have any chances themselves, with their only shot in the first half coming from a long-range strike which Bono dealt with comfortably.