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Bacca proves too hot to handle for plucky Dnipro

By Toby Davis WARSAW (Reuters) - Sevilla's Carlos Bacca is a striker at the peak of his powers and no amount of preparation by Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk coach Myron Markevych could stop the Colombian making his mark in Wednesday's Europa League final. Dnipro's European adventure ended in a 3-2 defeat at Warsaw's National Stadium, with Bacca the prime executioner, scoring with two expert finishes including the late winner. Markevych expected Bacca to have an impact and set his team up accordingly but there was little they could do to stop the striker, whose tally is now seven in this season's competition, from ending their hopes of winning a maiden European trophy. "We had worked a lot on it, we knew Bacca would play as a very aggressive attacker," Markevych told reporters. "Unfortunately today we let him do that... Dnipro had gained a reputation as one of the competition's most rugged and well-organised sides, having scrapped through to the final, upsetting many more fancied sides along the way. In Brazilian Douglas, they had a towering centre half who had kept the likes of Napoli and Ajax largely at bay. But Sevilla, who have now won the competition more than any other club, proved more testing opponents. BACCA PRAISED "Before this game Douglas was one of the best defenders in Europe," Markevych said. "I would say he was constantly one of the best players of every round, perhaps today was not his best game. "But if an attacker scores two goals, perhaps you can say the defender did not cope. But today you have to praise the attacker (Bacca), he played very well." Dnipro had overcome several obstacles to reach the final, not least having to play home matches in Kiev some 500km away due to the fighting raging on the doorstep of Dnipropetrovsk. They had few standout names in their squad and relied on defensive organisation to get them this far. Should they want to kick on next season, Markevych was adamant that team spirit could only take them so far. "To fight for the championship, to play at such a level in Europe, we need to get more good players," Markevych said. "Only then can we suggest something like that (winning the Europa League)." (Reporting by Toby Davis; Editing by Ken Ferris)