Football
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Europa League final set as Liverpool control Villarreal, Sevilla beat Shakhtar

Liverpool will face Sevilla in the Europa League final in Switzerland later this month after both sides cruised to impressive home wins in their respective semifinal second legs on Thursday night.

Jurgen Klopp's men will get the chance to bid for their first continental title in nine years after brushing aside 10-man Villarreal 3-0 at Anfield to earn a 3-1 aggregate win.

Meanwhile, two goals from Kevin Gameiro saw Sevilla build on a 2-2 draw in Lviv last week to overcome Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 at their own Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

Liverpool got off to a flying start at Anfield, where Villarreal midfielder Bruno panicked and put through his own goal under pressure from Daniel Sturridge with just seven minutes gone.

Roberto Firmino and James Milner also came close but the Spanish side rallied and Cedric Bakambu almost grabbed a shock equaliser on the stroke of halftime.

But Liverpool poured on the pressure after the break and grabbed a second goal when Sturridge poked the ball through goalkeeper Alphonse Areola's legs just past the hour mark.

And after Victor Ruiz was sent off for a second yellow card, Adam Lallana pounced to grab Liverpool's third and seal their trip to the final in Switzerland.

Liverpool will face a tough task to dethrone Sevilla, who once again saved their best for the competition by cruising past Shakhtar Donetsk.

Gameiro took just nine minutes to open the the scoring and despite Brazilian Marlos briefly drawing the visitors level, Gameiro grabbed his second when he rounded keeper Andriy Pyatov two minutes after the break.

Mariano struck a superb third for the hosts, and if Grzegorz Krychowiak had not flashed a late header wide the damage to Shakhtar -- and the warning to Liverpool -- could have been greater.

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