The history of Sevilla in Europa League Finals

On Wednesday, Sevilla will face Roma at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest in the UEFA Europa League Final.

This’ll be los Nervionenses seventh appearance in a Europa League Final, with this article looking back at those previous successes.

UEFA Cup Final 2006: Sevilla 4-0 Middlesbrough

Back in 2005, Sevilla were not at all considered a successful club in European football.

They hadn’t won any domestic silverware for 57 years while, on the continent, their sole quarter-final appearance had come in the 1958, beaten by the all-conquering Real Madrid in the European Cup.

This though was all about to change.

After reaching the UEFA Cup round of 16 the previous season, los Nervionenses would begin in the competition’s third qualifying round, following a sixth-place finish in La Liga.

There, led by new manager Juande Ramos, they dispensed with Mainz, before topping a very cosmopolitan group that contained Beşiktaş, Zenit Saint Petersburg, Vitória de Guimarães and Bolton Wanderers.

Next, Sevilla beat Lokomotiv Moscow both home and away, before producing a remontada against Lille, thereby reaching the club’s first European quarter-final for almost half a century.

There, they were reunited with Zenit, comfortably advancing 5-2 on aggregate, before a much tougher victory over Schalke, in which the late Antonio Puerta was the tie’s only scorer, coming deep into extra time.

So, two surprise finalists would meet in Eindhoven, with English club Middlesbrough having also upset the odds to reach a maiden European Final.

On the night, Sevilla were vastly superior than Steve Steve McClaren’s men, running out 4-0 winners.

Luís Fabiano broke the deadlock, before a quick-fire brace from Enzo Maresca, followed by Frédéric Kanouté poking home a rebound, completing the rout.

Sevilla hoisted aloft the UEFA Cup for the very time that night at Philips Stadion, but they were only just get started.

UEFA Cup Final 2007: Sevilla 2-2 Espanyol- Sevilla won 3-1 on penalties

The following season, Juande Ramos’ team began the defence of their trophy against Atromitos, before finishing second in their group, pipped to first place by AZ on the final matchday.

Los Hispalenses then smashed Steaua București, needed extra time to eliminate Shakhtar Donetsk and then swatting aside Tottenham, weathering a late fight-back from Spurs at White Hart Lane.

Daniel Levy and the rest of the Tottenham hierarchy were so impressed by what they’d witness that they would appoint Ramos as manager a matter of weeks later.

Before then, he would guide Sevilla to back-to-back finals, coming from a goal down to prevail in an all-Spanish affair against Osasuna.

Another La Liga club, namely Espanyol, awaited them in the final at Hampden Park.

Despite the fact this match, as is always the case, took place in mid-May, given that it’s Glasgow, it was absolutely bucketing down with rain all night.

This, in part, led to a chaotic match which ended 2-2 after extra time, with Adriano and Frédéric Kanouté twice giving Sevilla the lead.

Goalkeeper Andrés Palop was the be the hero though, saving three of Espanyol’s four spot-kicks, as Sevilla retained the UEFA Cup.

UEFA Europa League Final 2014: Sevilla 0-0 Benfica- Sevilla won 4-2 on penalties

Fast forward seven years and the Unai Emery era is about to begin.

In January 2013, following the sacking of Míchel, Emery took over a Sevilla side battling against relegation, guiding them to ninth by winning eight of ten home matches, not winning a single game away.

This, initially, was not enough to see them qualify for UEFA competition.

However, sixth-placed Málaga were banned having failed to comply with FFP regulations, a decision that was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Then, on 11 July, Rayo Vallecano had their UEFA licence removed by the RFEF, due to ongoing financial issues and debt.

So, only after both Málaga and Rayo were thrown out, Sevilla were handed a Europa League third qualifying round berth at six weeks notice.

Despite this, los Nervionenses smashed both Mladost Podgorica and Śląsk Wrocław 9-1, before topping their group unbeaten.

They then made light work of Maribor, to set up an el Gran Derby round of 16 clash with fierce rivals Real Betis.

Both matches were won 2-0 by the visitors, José Antonio Reyes and Carlos Bacca on target in the second leg, meaning a penalty shootout was required.

Vitolo missed Sevilla’s first spot-kick, but they did manage to score the other four, meaning, after Betis’ fourth struck the upright, Beto’s save silenced the Benito Villamarín, as they knocked out their city-rivals.

In the quarters, los Nervionenses came from a goal down to smash Porto, before another all-Spanish tie again Emery’s former club Valencia.

Sevilla looked set to cruise through, winning the first leg 2-0, but then found themselves 3-0 down at Mestalla, following a complete collapse.

In the 94th minute, they won a throw, which Coke launched into the area, Federico Fazio won the flick-on and Stéphane Mbia bundled the ball home.

This saw Sevilla progress on away goals, sparking wild celebrations from the Sevilla supporters, staff and players, none more so than Emery himself.

In the final in Turin, they met a Benfica side who’d reached back-to-back Europa League Finals, dumping out hosts Juventus in their semi.

After a game of few chances, just like the 2007 final, this one went to a shootout.

Bacca, Mbia, Coke and Kevin Gameiro all held their nerve from 12 yards, while Beto was able to deny both Óscar Cardozo and Rodrigo, as Sevilla reclaimed the trophy.

For Benfica, this was their eighth successive defeat in a European Final, dating back to Béla Guttmann’s 100-year curse of 1962.

In contrast, this would simply be the start of more success for Sevilla.

UEFA Europa League Final 2015: Sevilla 3-2 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk

In 2014, the holders actually nearly exited in the group phase, failing to win any of their away games and only advancing by defeating Rijeka on the final matchday.

After that though, Sevilla found their mojo, scoring 18 goals in eight knockout matches as they swept aside Borussia Mönchengladbach, Villarreal, Zenit Saint Petersburg and then Fiorentina.

The only knockout game they didn’t win was in Russia, with Kevin Gameiro’s 85th minute equaliser snatching a 4-3 aggregate victory.

Their opponents in Warsaw were to be Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, who’d upset the odds to get there, doing so despite having not won a knockout phase tie for 25 years beforehand.

Just two years after the final, Dnipro were relegated from the Ukrainian Premier League due to financial issues, before actually going bankrupt as a fourth-tier amateur side in 2019.

Before all of that, Dnipro went toe-to-toe with Sevilla at Stadion Narodowy, leading early, only for Grzegorz Krychowiak to equalise.

Carlos Bacca was to be the hero of the night, scoring twice, lashing home the decisive goal that made it 3-2, having been played in by Sevilla.

That night, los Hispalenses became the first club to win this competition on four occasions, surpassing Inter, Liverpool and Juve’s total of three.

UEFA Europa League Final 2016: Sevilla 3-1 Liverpool

In 2015, for the very first time, UEFA introduced the rule that the Europa League winners would qualify for the Champions League group stages, with Sevilla very much benefiting, following a fifth-place finish in La Liga.

The Sevillistas found themselves in a tough group, alongside Juventus, Man City and Gladbach, losing four matches in a row, before snatching third, at Gladbach’s expense, by beating Juve 1-0 in the last game.

This saw them drop back into their preferred European competition, where they knocked out Molde and FC Basel, before a victory over Athletic Club, coming after penalties.

Both legs ended 2-1 to the away side, with Sevilla prevailing 5-4 in the shootout at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán.

In the semis, they faced Shakhtar Donetsk, overcoming the Ukrainian side 5-3, with Kevin Gameiro scoring thrice across the two legs.

The final at St. Jakob-Park was proper Europa League heritage, with three-times winners Liverpool the opponents; the Reds were slowly rebuilding under new manager Jürgen Klopp.

It was Liverpool who led at half time in Switzerland, only for Gameiro to equalise mere seconds after the interval, before right-back Coke scored an unlikely brace to snatch a 3-1 win.

The three-peat was secured, with Unai Emery becoming only the second manager, after Giovanni Trapattoni, to win the Europe League three times, a record he’d later break with Villarreal.

UEFA Europa League Final 2020: Sevilla 3-2 Internazionale Milano

If you’ve completely forgotten about the behind-closed-doors Europa League Final of 2020 don’t worry... you’re not the only one!

In July 2019, Julen Lopetegui was unveiled as Sevilla’s new manager, having been ignominiously sacked by Spain just two days before the 2018 World Cup, before lasting only 14 games as Real Madrid boss.

As usual, los Rojiblancos cruised through the group phase, winning their first five matches, before a very nervy away goals victory over Cluj, with the Romanian side missing a golden chance to win it right at the death.

Then, something you may have heard of, Covid-19 struck Europe, with Roma unable to travel to Southern Spain for their first leg on 12 March.

The whole world completely shut down the following day before, 147 days later than originally scheduled, the pair would meet in front of no supporters in Duisburg.

Goals from Sergio Reguilón and Youssef En-Nesyri saw them overcome Roma, with Lopetegui’s team then ousting Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United, both courtesy of late goals.

The final, played at an eerily empty RheinEnergieStadion in Köln, was a surreal experience, but Sevilla and opponents Internazionale Milano did serve up an entertaining game.

Semi-final hero Luuk de Jong scored twice, but Antonio Conte’s Inter battled hard, meaning the score was 2-2.

The decisive moment would then come with just 15 minutes to play.

Éver Banega’s free-kick wasn’t properly cleared, before Diego Carlos’ spectacular bicycle kick turned into his own net by Romelu Lukaku.

Given the circumstances of the pandemic at that time, this is by far the least-heralded of Sevilla’s six Europa League triumphs, but it maintains their 100% winning record in finals.

This forthcoming Wednesday, they’ll take on Italian opposition again, this time Roma, seeking a record-extending seventh Europa League title at Puskás Aréna in Budapest.