It had all the earmarks of a romantic European Cup final, and what a classic match it turned out to be. Liverpool, a club founded in 1892, versus Sevilla, founded in 1890 and bearing the title of Spain’s oldest football club.

Liverpool, winners of this competition in 1973, 1976 and 2001, were looking to substantiate an exciting debut season for Jurgen Klopp with European glory and the ensurance of Champions League football at Anfield next season.

Sevilla are to the Europa League as drunk college students are to leftovers in the fridge. They just destroy everything, and there isn't much you can do about it.

Sevilla have a chance to win the UEFA Europa League for the third time in a row. The last team to win it twice in a row was, um, Sevilla. They own this league, having won it more times (4) than any other team (for those interested, Liverpool could tie that record should they beat Sevilla in the final). 

Liverpool couldn't have picked a better time to play their best game of the year. The Red Men completely overwhelmed Villarreal in the second leg of the Europa League semi-finals, 3-0, after losing the first leg, 1-0.

The match saw world-class performances by Emre Can, Nathaniel Clyne and Roberto Firmino in particular, but no one in the squad could be said to have played poorly.

And one man was even more world-class than the rest.

Here's a sampling of miracles Liverpool have managed during the modern (read: Steven Gerrard and newer) era:

Just more than 27 years ago, 96 Liverpool fans travelled to Hillsborough stadium for an FA Cup semi-final match against Nottingham Forest and didn't come back. Tuesday, a jury finally ruled that those 96 people died because of negligence and incompetence from the police and ambulance services.

In case you missed it, Liverpool versus Borussia Dortmund was pretty intense. Liverpool went 2-0 down, then 3-1 down and somehow came back to win 4-3 (5-4 on aggregate). Liverpool were doomed to exit on the away goal rule before a dramatic Dejan Lovren header sent Liverpool through to the Europa League semi-finals and sent the home fans into hysterics. Somewhere amidst the chaotic revelry was Liverpool fan Liamie Marum, who had no idea that he was about to have a Mamadou Sakho selfie surreptitously planted on his phone. 

Jurgen Klopp was brought to Liverpool because of his reputation and history of success. At his former club, Borussia Dortmund, he had taken a team that had known failure for a long, long time and turned them into a title winner and Champions League finalist. Outside of his ability to build a team and teach it his tactical philosophy, he was known for his power of charisma. He knows how to say the right thing in the right way in order to get a reaction from people. 

On June 28, 2012, Mario Balotelli peaked. His thunderous second goal in the first 40 minutes of Italy’s Euro 2012 semi-final clash with Germany highlighted a stupendous tournament for the mercurial striker. Named in the Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament and finishing the joint top scorer, Balotelli’s summer exploits concluded a maniacal season for the Italian.

Joe Allen. Von Miller. Two men with seemingly nothing in common aside from being professional athletes. Two men who share a rare hobby: chickens.

Joe Allen on the front of Chicken & Egg magazine. Fair play. pic.twitter.com/ggbaBfs2Bo

— Paddy Power (@paddypower) March 22, 2016

There are a lot of people who like Daniel Sturridge. There are a lot of people who dislike Daniel Sturridge. There is one young Southampton fan who really dislikes Daniel Sturridge. Here he is during Sturridge's celebration after the Liverpool striker made it 2-0 against the Saints.

Young Southampton fan isn't impressed by Daniel Sturridge's goal pic.twitter.com/94JCMfSk9n