Luuk de Jong has insisted he was primed to play his part in a sixth Europa League triumph for Sevilla after helping them see off Inter Milan.

The former Borussia Monchengladbach and Newcastle striker reprised his heroics when, after his winner had dumped Manchester United out of the competition at the semi-final stage, he scored twice in the Spaniards’ 3-2 final victory over Antonio Conte’s men in Cologne.

De Jong told BT Sport: “It’s incredible. We’ve had such tough games all tournament, but we have played so well as a team. You could see it during the tournament, we were really a team, like a family.

Commenting on De Jong’s contribution, he added: “Luuk is a very good player. He was waiting for his moment and he arrived at the right moment.”

Inter keeper Samir Handanovic vowed he and his team-mates would bounce back from their disappointment on a night when Carlos might have been sent off for the challenge which led to the early penalty.

Handanovic told www.uefa.com: “We are very disappointed but we have to move on. We just hope to play many other important games like this in the future. The foundation is there.

“Next season we will restart from a good foundation. Tonight we did not do exactly what we planned. It’s a pity but I congratulate Sevilla, they are a very good team and they proved it once again.

“We have to move on. You can learn a lot from defeats.”