On Wednesday night, Sevilla won their third successive Europa League title, beating Liverpool 3-1 in the final in Basel. This was their fifth European trophy in ten years, known as “La Quinca”. This consistent European glory, as well as the two Copa del Rey titles won in that time, was the latest climax in their stunning rise from the depths of despair at the turn of the 21st century.
In 2000, Sevilla finished bottom of La Liga, accumulating just 28 points over the course of the season. At that time, playing in Spain’s top flight was by no means a minimum expectation—they had only been promoted from the Segunda División one year previously—but the club was in a terrible financial situation and possibly at risk of extinction should affairs not be handled carefully.
Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo, known as “Monchi”, a 31-year-old former Sevilla goalkeeper who had only recently retired from football, was appointed director of football. He was given the task of sorting out the club’s finances and then finding a way for it to be able to run sustainably in the long-term. To say he achieved both things is an understatement.
He chose to rely upon the club’s youth set-up for success both on and off the pitch. At the time, though neither was in the first-team, Sergio Ramos and José Antonio Reyes were the academy’s most exciting prospects. They were later sold for nearly £40 million between them. The pair were just the start in a long line of players either from the youth team or bought on the cheap who would go on to be sold for massive profits.
Since the sale of Reyes to Arsenal in 2004, the likes of Ramos, Júlio Baptista, Frederic Kanouté, Dani Alves, Jesus Navas, Luis Fabiano, Seydou Keita, Alvaro Negredo, Ivan Rakitić, Alberto Moreno, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Carlos Bacca and Aleix Vidal have been bought for very little and usually sold for a lot. This buy high, sell low philosophy has been worked to devastating effect by Monchi in the last two decades, and generated Los Rojiblancos hundreds of millions of Euros.
However, even Monchi couldn’t prevent Sevilla’s financial troubles from returning. In April 2013, the club announced that the whole squad was up for sale due to their debt struggles. At that time, the Euro was seriously struggling and Spain was one of the countries most heavily affected. Clubs in La Liga suffered, with many descending into debt, not least Sevilla, whose summer overhaul resulted in nearly £70 million added to the coffers but the squad being slashed to the bone.
New manager Unai Emery, who had previously achieved success at economically-struggling Valencia, managed to re-build the squad immediately—with the help of Monchi, of course—despite having so few resources. Though the club will struggle to have players like Sergio Ramos and Dani Alves at their disposal on a regular basis from now on, it is stable financially and thriving on the pitch.
That is the most impressive thing about Monchi’s reign: despite the club’s best players being sold on a yearly basis to achieve this incredible financial recovery, Sevilla have been able to win regular trophies.
Between 1946 and 2006, Sevilla didn’t win a top flight trophy. Since then, nine major pieces of silverware have been paraded around Andalucia, all of which—bar the 2010 Copa del Rey—came in two separate eras under Juande Ramos and Unai Emery.
In 2006, when arguably the club’s best ever team were in their pomp, Sevilla reached the UEFA Cup final and thrashed Middlesbrough 4-0 to win their first major trophy in 60 years. The following year, Ramos’ men not only retained their crown, but won the Copa del Rey, beating Getafe 1-0 in the final.
After the “double” in 2007, the members of that legendary team gradually left the club and in the next six years the only silverware came in the 2010 Copa del Rey. Nevertheless, that period between 2006 and 2010 was one which will be remembered fondly by Sevilla fans.
The last three years have made that era look average in comparison. When Unai Emery took over as manager for the 2013-14 season, he inherited something of a makeshift squad which was built more with profit than silverware in mind. He managed to turn it into a group of winners—one which never relied upon individuals, meaning that when players were inevitably sold it would not affect results too drastically.
His first season in charge was a great success both domestically and in Europe. In the league, Sevilla came fifth—an improvement on last season’s ninth-placed finish. In the Europa League, Emery’s men went on an impressive run to the final; a run which included an impressive 4-1 victory over Porto in the quarter-final second leg. They won the final on penalties, beating Benfica 4-2.
More success followed. Another fifth-placed finish in 2014-15 did not show how much progress the team had made. Los Rojiblancos accumulated 76 points, thirteen more than the season before, and were only two points away from finishing third. In the Copa del Rey, they reached the quarter-final before being knocked out by Espanyol. It would be in the Europa League that Sevilla’s finest moments came once again, as they battled past Borussia Mönchengladbach, Villarreal, Zenit Saint Petersburg and Fiorentina in the knockout rounds to beat Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3-2 in the final and claim a second successive European trophy.
This season was something of a disaster in the league. They finished seventh, picking up only 52 points and failing to win a single game away from home. They were in the relegation zone for much of the early part of the season, and failed to progress to the knockout round of the Champions League.
However, it was in the cup competitions that Emery thrived once again. Not only did Sevilla wrap up a third successive Europa League win yesterday, they will face Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final on 22nd May. Should they win the match it would be an incredible achievement, but even if they are not able to beat the league champions it will not cast a shadow over their brilliant European campaign.
What next for Emery and Sevilla? It is hard to improve on three consecutive European trophies, but they are unlikely to get complacent, such is the mentality that Mochi has drilled into the club. A drastic improvement in the league will be needed next season, but it will once again be in Europe where they will want to have success.
Winning the Europa League means qualification for Europe’s premier competition, the Champions League. Emery will be desperate to improve on this year’s group stage finish by progressing to the knockout rounds, and from there Sevilla can only dare to dream. Winning the tournament outright will be an almost impossible task, but if they can reach even the quarter-final, it will be another successful chapter in this incredible story.
