Sevilla on the cusp of European history




Another glorious weekend of football came to an end across Europe with Manchester United delaying Leicester’s title party and Dortmund piling on the pressure on Bayern in Germany. The top three in Spain continued their quest for the La Liga with victories while Juventus and PSG continued their winning run after already being crowned champions of Italy and France.

Sevilla FC on the cusp of European history

Sevilla FC on the cusp of European history

All eyes now turn to the Champions League games where Real Madrid and City are tied after the stalemate in Manchester, and Bayern have a tough task on hand needing to break Atletico’s rigid defence. Jurgen Klopp put out a second string side in the league with Liverpool needing to overturn a one goal deficit against Villareal in the Europa semis. But one team that caught my attention are Spain’s Sevilla. The Los Rojiblancos needed a late penalty from Gimenez to tie the scores, but they welcome Shahktar with the comfort of having scored two away goals.

No team has won the Europa Cup/UEFA Cup three times in a row and Spain’s oldest team have a golden chance to create history. This feat has been achieved only twice in the Champions League/European Cup. Real Madrid, led by the legendary Di Stefano and Puskas, dominated the continent with five successive triumphs in the late 50s while Bayern won three in a row in the 70s under Beckenbauer, and if Sevilla manage to go all the way this year, they will be joining a very elite club.

It may be said that winning a cup competition on the bounce is easier than winning the league but if a team has built a strong squad, it is possible to be dominant in a country for over a period of time. Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United have all done the league hat trick in England,  probably the toughest league in the world. Juventus just clinched their fifth consecutive Serie A title. However, in a knockout competition, there are too many variables; a chance of having an off day is much higher. No team has won the FA Cup, the oldest cup competition in football, three times in succession. No team, not even the mighty Brazil during their golden era, could do a World Cup hat-trick.

It hasn’t been a smooth ride for Sevilla this season. They were in the Champions League courtesy of their Europa triumph last season and finished third in the group of death behind Manchester City and Juventus. A nail-biting shootout against Bilbao followed by a tricky trip to Ukraine. If Sevilla do manage to lift the trophy in Basel in a couple of weeks, then it’ll be a trophy well deserved and will find themselves in very elite company.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Monish Menon

Author:

Hi, I am Monish Menon from Hyderabad and currently working at Franklin Templeton Investments as a Compliance Business Analyst. Sport has always been my passion since I was a kid and I invest all my non-existent free time by watching, playing, writing and analyzing various sporting events across the world. Apart from being a diehard Manchester United fan and a Ferrari supporter, I believe that Roger Federer is still the best tennis player and Sachin Tendulkar is God. I play club cricket and I also am a part of my organization’s cricket and football squad. Being such a sports fanatic, writing about it is something that came naturally to me and I am glad that I got an opportunity through thesportsmirror.com to share my thoughts with the rest of the world. For other articles written by me, you can visit my blog at www.monishmenon.wordpress.com

Cricket

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti enjoys gully cricket in Jaipur

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti enjoys gully cricket in Jaipur

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on February 4th, 2024

Jaipur, 04 February 2024: US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti was in the pink city on Saturday where the Ambassador dropped by Rajasthan Royals’ home stadium ..

Football

New York New Jersey will host the FIFA World Cup 26 Final

New York New Jersey will host the FIFA World Cup 26 Final

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on February 5th, 2024

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy celebrated today’s announcement that the Host Region of New York New Jersey (NYNJ) was awar ..

Tennis

Leander Paes inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame

Leander Paes inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on December 19th, 2023

Former doubles world No. 1 Leander Paes was recently elected to receive the Ultimate Honor in Tennis – induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame &# ..

F1

Life Lessons learned from Sports & Fitness #TOSBDay

Life Lessons learned from Sports & Fitness #TOSBDay

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on September 26th, 2016

Held on Sept 1st, The Outstanding Speakers’ Bureau (TOSB) Twinterview consisted of sports panelists such as Mark Gallagher (Public Speaker on F1 race), Shayam ..

Boxing

Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker set for huge showdown

Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker set for huge showdown

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on February 15th, 2018

It looks like it will be a scintillating couple of months for fans of elite boxing. There is the prospect of the rematch between Gennady Golovkin and Saul ‘Ca ..

Other Sports

The 2023-24 Season of the Los Angeles Clippers: A Mid-Season Review

The 2023-24 Season of the Los Angeles Clippers: A Mid-Season Review

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on February 15th, 2024

As the 2023-24 NBA season approaches the All-Star break, the Los Angeles Clippers have emerged as a formidable force in the Western Conference, showcasing their ..

One stop guide to all the latest sports news, reviews, opinions, fixtures and live scores from India and around the world.

Copyright © 2024 | The Sports Mirror