Victor Moses Hopes To Reward Antonio Conte With Europa League Title

Victor Moses says Inter Milan will give everything to beat Sevilla in Friday’s Europa League final to reward boss Antonio Conte who he credits as the main driving force behind their performances this season.

Inter endured a disappointing campaign in this season’s Champions League finishing third in their group behind Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund to drop into Europe’s second-tier competition.

But the Italians made the most of their reduced circumstances and have won all five of their Europa League games, including a 5-0 demolition of Shaktar Donetsk in the semifinal to seal a first European final since 2010 when they beat Bayern Munich to win their first-ever Champions League title.

Conte joined Inter last summer and added Moses to his squad in January, reuniting with the Nigerian with whom he won the Premier League title as Chelsea boss in 2017.

The reunion has yielded dividends as Inter finished a point behind champions Juventus in Serie A, their best finish since 2011 – which was also the year they last won a trophy, the Coppa Italia.

Friday’s final represents a chance for Inter to win a first trophy in nine years and although the Italians are viewed as favourites and are three times winners of the competition when it was the UEFA Cup, their opponents Sevilla have real pedigree in the tournament having won it a record five times and have never lost in the final.

The La Liga club are on their longest unbeaten run, with 11 wins and nine draws in their 20 games since 9 February – including wins over Premier League sides Wolves and Manchester United in the previous two rounds.

Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui like Conte, is in his first season in charge but has yet to win a trophy as a manager in spells as head coach of Rayo Vallecano, Porto, Spain and Real Madrid.

And Moses, 29, says he and his teammates will fight to keep Lopetegui without silverware and ensure that Conte ends his maiden season in charge of Inter brandishing the Italians’ fourth Europa League title.

“[Conte] is someone who prepares the games first,” Moses said ahead of the final. “He wants us to give 110% on every game. Then see his reactions during matches, along with those of his staff.

“We want to play and win for him, but in the end, we want to enjoy our football.”

Inter Milan will become the second most successful side in UEFA Cup/Europa League history behind Sevilla if they win. They have come out on top in three of their four previous finals.

They are the first Italian side to reach the final since 1999 – when Parma beat Marseille 3-0 – and are bidding to end an eight-year run of only Spanish and English sides winning the competition.

And Moses who has four appearances in this season’s competition will hope to play his part in enthroning Inter as Europa League champions.