2022 UEFA Europa Conference League Final
Match programme cover
Event2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League
Roma Feyenoord
Italy Netherlands
1 0
Date25 May 2022 (2022-05-25)
VenueArena Kombëtare, Tirana
Man of the MatchChris Smalling (Roma)[1]
RefereeIstván Kovács (Romania)[2]
Attendance19,597[3]
WeatherSunny
23 °C (73 °F)
51% humidity[4]
2023 →

The 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League Final was the final match of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League, the first season of Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. It was played on 25 May 2022 at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania,[5][6] between Italian club Roma and Dutch club Feyenoord.

Roma won the match 1–0 to secure the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League title, the first club from Italy to win a UEFA competition in 12 years.[7][8][9] As they had already qualified for the group stage of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League via their domestic league performance, that competition's access list was rebalanced, with Feyenoord qualifying for the group stage instead of play-off round as the third place in the 2021–22 Eredivisie. If Roma had not qualified for the Champions League or the Europa League through their league performance, they would have received a place in the Europa League group stage instead.

Venue

The Arena Kombëtare in Tirana hosted the final.

The match was the first UEFA competition final to be played in Albania. The 21,690-seat Arena Kombëtare is the home stadium of the Albania national team, as well as clubs Dinamo Tirana and Partizani. Construction of the stadium began in 2016[10] and was completed by November 2019.[11]

Host selection

A bidding process was launched by UEFA to select the venues of the finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2022 and 2023. Associations interested in hosting one of the finals had until 20 February 2020 to submit bid dossiers.

Bidding associations for 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League Final
Country Stadium City Capacity Notes
 Albania Arena Kombëtare Tirana 22,500 Bid for 2019 and 2020 UEFA Super Cup
 France Stade Geoffroy-Guichard Saint-Étienne 41,965 Hosted matches at UEFA Euro 1984 and 2016, 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup
 Greece Pankritio Stadium Heraklion 26,240 Hosted matches at 2004 Olympic football tournament
 North Macedonia Toše Proeski Arena Skopje 33,460 Hosted 2017 UEFA Super Cup

Arena Kombëtare was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting on 3 December 2020.[12][13][6][14]

Background

A graffito in honour of Jose Mourinho in the streets of Rome

This was Roma's third final in a major UEFA competition, having lost the 1984 European Cup final to Liverpool and the 1991 UEFA Cup final to fellow Italian club Inter Milan, who were the most recent Italian club to reach a European final – losing in the 2020 UEFA Europa League final.[15] Roma was seeking to win their first trophy since the 2007–08 Coppa Italia, and a first European title for an Italian side since Inter won the 2010 UEFA Champions League final. Their head coach José Mourinho, having become the first manager to reach European finals with four different clubs – including the aforementioned 2010 Champions League final, was seeking to become only the third manager – after Udo Lattek and Giovanni Trapattoni – to have won all three existing major European trophies, and the first to achieve the UEFA treble by winning the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League, and UEFA Europa Conference League (in place of the now-defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup).[16]

This was Feyenoord's fourth final in a major UEFA competition, having won the 1970 European Cup final and both the 1974 and 2002 UEFA Cup finals. The first Dutch club to reach a European final since Ajax lost the 2017 UEFA Europa League final to Mourinho's Manchester United and the most recent to win a European title, they were seeking to join Juventus, Ajax, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Manchester United as the only clubs to have won all three existing major European trophies, and the first to achieve the UEFA treble by winning the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League (again in place of the Cup Winners' Cup). Their head coach Arne Slot was seeking to become the first Dutch to win a European trophy since Dick Advocaat with Zenit Saint Petersburg in the 2008 UEFA Super Cup.[17][16]

The two sides previously met twice in European competitions, in the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League round of 32, with Roma won one and drew one.[18]

Road to the final

Further information: 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Italy Roma Round Netherlands Feyenoord
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Qualifying phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Bye Second qualifying round Kosovo Drita 3–2 0–0 (A) 3–2 (H)
Third qualifying round Switzerland Luzern 6–0 3–0 (A) 3–0 (H)
Turkey Trabzonspor 5–1 2–1 (A) 3–0 (H) Play-off round Sweden IF Elfsborg 6–3 5–0 (H) 1–3 (A)
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
Bulgaria CSKA Sofia 5–1 (H) Matchday 1 Israel Maccabi Haifa 0–0 (A)
Ukraine Zorya Luhansk 3–0 (A) Matchday 2 Czech Republic Slavia Prague 2–1 (H)
Norway Bodø/Glimt 1–6 (A) Matchday 3 Germany Union Berlin 3–1 (H)
Norway Bodø/Glimt 2–2 (H) Matchday 4 Germany Union Berlin 2–1 (A)
Ukraine Zorya Luhansk 4–0 (H) Matchday 5 Czech Republic Slavia Prague 2–2 (A)
Bulgaria CSKA Sofia 3–2 (A) Matchday 6 Israel Maccabi Haifa 2–1 (H)
Group C winners
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1 Italy Roma 6 13
2 Norway Bodø/Glimt 6 12
3 Ukraine Zorya Luhansk 6 7
4 Bulgaria CSKA Sofia 6 1
Source: UEFA
 Final standings Group E winners
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1 Netherlands Feyenoord 6 14
2 Czech Republic Slavia Prague 6 8
3 Germany Union Berlin 6 7
4 Israel Maccabi Haifa 6 4
Source: UEFA
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knockout phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Bye Knockout round play-offs Bye
Netherlands Vitesse 2–1 1–0 (A) 1–1 (H) Round of 16 Serbia Partizan 8–3 5–2 (A) 3–1 (H)
Norway Bodø/Glimt 5–2 1–2 (A) 4–0 (H) Quarter-finals Czech Republic Slavia Prague 6–4 3–3 (H) 3–1 (A)
England Leicester City 2–1 1–1 (A) 1–0 (H) Semi-finals France Marseille 3–2 3–2 (H) 0–0 (A)

Pre-match

Identity

The logo of the 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League Final was unveiled at the group stage draw on 27 August 2021 in Istanbul.[citation needed]

Ambassador

The ambassador for the final was former Albanian international Lorik Cana.[citation needed]

Officials

Romanian referee István Kovács officiated the final.

On 11 May 2022, UEFA announced Romanian István Kovács, a FIFA referee since 2010, would officiate the final. Kovács officiated six matches in the 2021–22 Champions League, three matches in the 2021–22 Europa League and one group stage fixture in the 2021–22 Europa Conference League season. He served as a referee at UEFA Euro 2020, where he officiated one group stage match. He also was a referee at the 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He was joined by his fellow countrymen Vasile Marinescu and Ovidiu Artene as assistant referees. Sandro Schärer of Switzerland served as the fourth official, while German Marco Fritz was appointed as the video assistant referee. Fritz's compatriots Christian Dingert and Bastian Dankert served as the assistant and support VAR officials, respectively.[2]

Match

Details

The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.

Roma Italy1–0Netherlands Feyenoord
  • Zaniolo 32'
 Report
Arena Kombëtare, Tirana
Attendance: 19,597[3]
Referee: István Kovács (Romania)
Roma[4]
Feyenoord[4]
GK 1 Portugal Rui Patrício Yellow card 84'
CB 23 Italy Gianluca Mancini
CB 6 England Chris Smalling
CB 3 Brazil Roger Ibañez
DM 77 Armenia Henrikh Mkhitaryan downward-facing red arrow 17'
DM 4 Italy Bryan Cristante
RM 2 Netherlands Rick Karsdorp downward-facing red arrow 89'
LM 59 Poland Nicola Zalewski Yellow card 66' downward-facing red arrow 67'
AM 22 Italy Nicolò Zaniolo downward-facing red arrow 67'
AM 7 Italy Lorenzo Pellegrini (c) Yellow card 37'
CF 9 England Tammy Abraham downward-facing red arrow 89'
Substitutes:
GK 87 Brazil Daniel Fuzato
DF 5 Uruguay Matías Viña upward-facing green arrow 89'
DF 15 England Ainsley Maitland-Niles
DF 24 Albania Marash Kumbulla
DF 37 Italy Leonardo Spinazzola Yellow card 90+4' upward-facing green arrow 67'
MF 17 France Jordan Veretout upward-facing green arrow 67'
MF 27 Portugal Sérgio Oliveira upward-facing green arrow 17'
MF 52 Italy Edoardo Bove
FW 11 Spain Carles Pérez
FW 14 Uzbekistan Eldor Shomurodov upward-facing green arrow 89'
FW 64 Ghana Felix Afena-Gyan
FW 92 Italy Stephan El Shaarawy
Manager:[note 1]
Portugal José Mourinho
GK 1 Netherlands Justin Bijlow (c)
RB 3 Netherlands Lutsharel Geertruida
CB 18 Austria Gernot Trauner Yellow card 25' downward-facing red arrow 74'
CB 4 Argentina Marcos Senesi
LB 5 Netherlands Tyrell Malacia downward-facing red arrow 88'
CM 26 Netherlands Guus Til downward-facing red arrow 59'
CM 17 Norway Fredrik Aursnes
CM 10 Turkey Orkun Kökçü downward-facing red arrow 88'
RF 14 England Reiss Nelson downward-facing red arrow 74'
CF 33 Nigeria Cyriel Dessers
LF 7 Colombia Luis Sinisterra
Substitutes:
GK 16 Romania Valentin Cojocaru
GK 21 Israel Ofir Marciano
GK 30 Netherlands Thijs Jansen
DF 2 Norway Marcus Holmgren Pedersen upward-facing green arrow 74'
DF 13 Netherlands Philippe Sandler
DF 25 Netherlands Ramon Hendriks
DF 32 Netherlands Denzel Hall
MF 6 Netherlands Jorrit Hendrix
MF 28 Netherlands Jens Toornstra upward-facing green arrow 59'
FW 9 Iran Alireza Jahanbakhsh upward-facing green arrow 88'
FW 11 Netherlands Bryan Linssen upward-facing green arrow 74'
FW 23 Sweden Patrik Wålemark upward-facing green arrow 88'
Manager:
Netherlands Arne Slot

Man of the Match:
Chris Smalling (Roma)[1]

Assistant referees:[2]
Vasile Marinescu (Romania)
Ovidiu Artene (Romania)
Fourth official:[2]
Sandro Schärer (Switzerland)
Video assistant referee:[2]
Marco Fritz (Germany)
Assistant video assistant referee:[2]
Christian Dingert (Germany)
Support video assistant referee:[2]
Bastian Dankert (Germany)

Match rules[19]

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level
  • Twelve named substitutes
  • Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time[note 2]

Statistics

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Roma assistant manager Salvatore Foti was shown a yellow card (59').
  2. ^ Each team was given only three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time.

References

  1. ^ a b "Smalling named official UEFA Europa Conference League final Laufenn Player of the Match". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Referee teams appointed for 2022 UEFA club competition finals". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Full Time Summary Final – Roma v Feyenoord" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Tactical Lineups – Final – Wednesday 25 May 2022" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  5. ^ "UEFA Europa Conference League: all you need to know". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Tirana to host first UEFA Europa Conference League Final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Roma 1 Feyenoord 0". BBC Sport. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Roma 1–0 Feyenoord: Zaniolo strike wins the first Europa Conference League final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Roma 1-0 Feyenoord: Europa Conference League final – as it happened!". Guardian. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Fillon zyrtarisht prishja e stadiumit Qemal Stafa" [The demolition of Qemal Stafa Stadium has officially begun] (in Albanian). Albanian Public Television. Albanian Public Television. 9 June 2016. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  11. ^ "2022 UEFA Europa Conference League final: Tirana". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  12. ^ "EPO plans to submit bid to host UEFA Europa Conference League final". AGONAsport. 28 December 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  13. ^ "UEFA Executive Committee agenda for December meeting". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  14. ^ "Tirana to stage first Europa Conference League final in 2022". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 December 2020.
  15. ^ "Roma-Leicester | UEFA Europa Conference League 2021/22". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 5 May 2022.
  16. ^ a b "UEFA Europa Conference League final: Roma vs Feyenoord". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 5 May 2022. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022.
  17. ^ "Marseille-Feyenoord | UEFA Europa Conference League 2021/22". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 5 May 2022.
  18. ^ "UEFA Europa Conference League: Final head-to-head records". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 5 May 2022. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022.
  19. ^ "Regulations of the UEFA Europa Conference League, 2021/22 Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  20. ^ a b c "Team statistics" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.

External links

UEFA Europa Conference League
2021–22 in European men's football (UEFA)
AS Roma matches
Feyenoord matches
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