In the last seven games Sevilla FC have played in the Europa League, in four of them they have been second best, quite often by a long way. However, two decent performances, one extraordinary one and a spirited resistance have helped them to lift a trophy that they could well believe is their own, and which they will defend in the coming season.
Against local rivals Real Betis in the last-sixteen, Sevilla went down two nil at home and looked out of the competition. Outplayed by the team who was bottom of the league, they squandered the rare chances they created and looked certain to be heading out of the tournament. In the return leg they turned the tables with the same score at the Benito Villamarin, meaning the tie had to be decided on penalties. When it looked like Betis would walk the shootout, incomprehensible misses and a contender for the worst penalty ever handed the tie to Sevilla. Losing at home to your bitter rivals is as painful as it gets, and Betis would never recover from that blow.
After destroying Porto, in the semi-finals Sevilla FC did all the hard work in the home leg, taking a two-nil lead to the fortress of Mestalla in Valencia. Again Sevilla were off the pace in the second leg, with Valencia making good use of their greater desire to take charge of the tie with just seconds on the clock. When it looked all over, M'bia pounced on a poorly defended throw-in to send the side from the Andalusian capital to the final in Turin.
No doubt many of Sevilla's older fans will be keen to visit their local GP once the celebrations have died down, more than one Valium prescription has probably also been needed as Emery's team seemed intent on doing things the hard way. And yet there were still two more strokes of luck in their campaign. Firstly, Juventus would fall at the hands of Benfica and miss out on home advantage. Secondly, on the night of the final, Sevilla's goalkeeper, Beto, decided to have the night of his life.
Sevilla looked nervous and out of place for most of the encounter, though did create serious problems for Benfica in the middle part of the first half, the Andalusians were glad to hear the whistle at the end of the first and second forty-five minutes. Benfica were the better side over the 120 minutes and only fine saves from Beto prevented them from ending their curse in normal time. All of Sevilla's hopes were pinned on an unusually below-par Ivan Rakitic who was often stifled by the well-ordered Portuguese defence, yet still managed to provide inspiration and pick up the man of the match award. Bacca spent more time on the floor than on the ball, making you wonder if a mispronunciation of his name (translating as cow in Spanish) meant you might be forgiven for thinking he was predicting rain in Turin.
All of this might make you also consider Unai Emery to be a technical genius, or simply the luckiest man in football. He certainly deserves credit for turning the team's season around, especially when it looked like he may be out of the door at Christmas. When it comes to the penalty shootout, what has happened on the park for the previous two hours often pales into significance, and Benfica were about to prove that being best on the night is no guarantee of taking home the pot. Sports psychologists will tell you that nine times out of ten, a player's body language before they take a spot kick tells you the chances they have of putting it away. Two of Benfica's penalties saw the players dawdle over the ball, clearly unsure of where to put it and giving the advantage to the goalkeeper. Perhaps Beto was around nine yards away from Cardozo when he made the save, but if the referee says nothing, and then the keeper has to use every trick in the book.
All four of Sevilla's penalties were well taken and confidently struck, curiously, the quality of self-confidence seemed to be lacking on their part for the most part of the encounter, but when it was most needed, Sevilla showed they had enough grit and determination to see the job through, defy mathematics and make room for another pot in the cupboard.