Middlesbrough had probably better not bet on coming back from 3-0 down to beat Sevilla in the Uefa Cup final. Basle and Steaua Bucharest might have succumbed to the Riverside onslaught, but the Spanish side have demonstrated in their progress towards Thursday’s final in Eindhoven that they are made of sterner stuff.
Juande Ramos’s counter-attacking team boast one of the meanest rearguards in the Spanish league (their defensive record at the Sánchez Pizjuán stadium is second to none) and, unlike their opponents, look to be on course for a place in next season’s Uefa Cup regardless of the outcome of the final. Only once in this season’s competition — in a 2-1 defeat away to Zenit St Petersburg last November — have Sevilla conceded two goals in a match.
Ramos has done a remarkable job in picking up the pieces following JoaquÃÂn Caparrós’s defection to Deportivo la Coruña in the off-season and the sale of star players Julio Baptista and Sergio Ramos to Real Madrid.
These losses had many fans bracing themselves for a demoralising centenary year but, like Boro, they could barely contain their excitement after becoming the first Andalucian side to reach a European final. The jubilation was emphasised by the club president, José MarÃÂa del Nido, who broke the habit of a lifetime when the substitute Antonio Puerta netted the extra-time winner in their semifinal with bookies’ favourites Schalke. ”In my years as president I have never celebrated a goal, but this time I jumped with joy,” he said.
Such scenes of jubilation had much in common with those at the Riverside, following Boro’s semifinal win over Steaua as both sides made up for their disappointing last-16 exits of 2005.
But that really is where the similarities end between the journeys the teams have taken towards the final. While Boro’s passage has been full of almost unprecedented drama, Sevilla’s progress has been relatively serene and in arguably the tougher half of the draw.
Preserving a record that makes them the only side on the continent never to have suffered a home defeat in 27 European ties, they eased through a tricky first-round clash with Mainz of Germany and into the group phase. There they topped a pool including Bolton, who they held 1-1 at the Reebok stadium in December.
A trip to Russia to face Lokomotiv Moscow was comfortably negotiated in the last 32, followed by a recovery from a first-leg loss to beat Lille 2-1. They emphatically avenged their group defeat against Zenit St Petersburg in the last eight before Puerta settled the tightest of semifinals with Schalke.
The 21-year-old midfielder was a fitting goal scorer for a club that prides itself on its youth development. Owned by the fans, Sevilla has one of the most renowned training academies in the country, which has produced many famous players.
Inevitably, developing talents are often poached by the giants of Spanish football — Sergio Ramos became the world’s second-most-expensive teenager, behind Wayne Rooney, when Real Madrid parted with £18,6-million for him in the off-season. In 2004 José Antonio Reyes was sold to Arsenal for £10,5-million.
Sevilla are also very much a family club, emphasised when Puerta said: ”Up in heaven is my grandfather, who was a big Sevilla fan and this goal was for him. I am a youth-team player and have been a Sevilla fan since I was little.”
But the Andalucians are far from a team filled with academy products. They have made full use of the transfer market to draft in the likes of the Argentinian forward Javier Saviola, on loan from Barcelona, as well as luring Freddy Kanouté from Tottenham at the start of the season. The Mali international scored five goals in their European campaign before missing the semifinal second leg through injury.
At the back they boast the outstanding Brazilian Daniel Alves, who has been linked with a move to Juventus, while another youth-team player, Jesús Navas, is the star in midfield.
Navas missed the start of the season after receiving treatment for anxiety attacks but, if he and his teammates keep their heads against Boro, they are more than capable of capping their centenary year in style. – Â