Never surrender

The day before the game was incredible.

Feeling the atmosphere at Old Trafford, even with the empty stands, knowing that the next day the stadium was going to be full. Then the match started and... Bang! The magic was gone. Manchester United were crushing us.

I was there on the touchline, in the manager’s area. Totally paralysed. The away leg of the Europa League quarter finals was my first game as a manager in a major European competition. United’s welcome was to give us a thrashing.

I didn't know what to do. The players couldn’t see any way to stop United’s players, either. They were really hurting us with their speed on the flanks, Marcel Sabitzer’s positioning between the lines – he scored two goals – and, above all, their pace. After only 20 minutes, we were 2-0 down. The situation for us was terrible.

So what do you do then? Give up? No. The club’s motto says it clearly: “Never surrender.” Giving up doesn’t work here, especially not in such a special competition for the club. At that time, it wasn’t even worth considering that our priority was to stay in La Liga and that, perhaps, it might be better to put the Europa League to one side.

"Only if the players believe in the manager, but above all in themselves, can you achieve things"

When we arrived in Seville on March 22 2023, the objective was very clear: to stay up. The results had been bad in the league, but the feelings we found when we arrived in the team were almost worse. The players had stopped believing in what they were capable of. That’s why I insisted on stressing the word ‘believe’ in the press conference at my presentation. Only if the players believe in the manager, but above all in themselves, can you achieve things.

At other clubs I had managed where we played for survival, we gave less weight to  second competitions, such as the Copa del Rey, in order to focus on not being relegated. Playing fewer games helps with better preparation for league games. 

That doesn’t work at Sevilla. You can't abandon the Europa League, even if you’re playing for your life in La Liga and United are beating you at Old Trafford.

I don't quite know how, because United could have scored more goals, but we went into half-time only 2-0 down. It was bad, but at that time it was the best we could have had. We went into the dressing room and used the time to talk about how to get ourselves together in the second half.

It also helped that United’s manager, Erik ten Hag, made several changes in the second half. He took off players who were playing very well, to bring on others who, fortunately for us, didn’t play at the same level.

"united are a great team, but they find it hard to bounce back from the blows they take"

That undoubtedly gave us a breather. Once we had that, and although we didn’t play well or get forward with any real clarity, we did find goals with two fluke chances. I say flukes because that’s what they were – two goals from United’s own rebounds. But two equally important goals in the tie for us.

We could have left Old Trafford with several goals against us, and surely out of the competition. But the draw gave us the feeling that, even though we were playing badly, we were capable of scoring goals against United and holding on. A week later, we had a chance at our home stadium, the Ramón Sanchéz-Pjizuán, with the support of our fans.

Everyone was expecting a great atmosphere for the second leg, but it exceeded all expectations. At least for me, because I had never experienced the streets so crowded an hour and a half before a match.

It wasn’t just around the stadium, either. Almost two kilometres from the stadium, the bus was already struggling to move forward. That gave us a lot of strength and motivation. We knew we were going to have the support of the people.

"we had secured safety before the end of the season. no one congratulated us for it"

Then there is everything you have to do right to win the game, and we did everything very well. We played at a high level, we controlled their build-up and, above all, we controlled the speed of their wingers. That was something that had hurt us a lot in the first minutes of the first leg.

On the ball, and after recovering in the counter-press, we were able to capitalise a lot on their mistakes. United are a great team. If things go their way, they are capable of crushing you. However, they are also a team that finds it hard to bounce back from the blows they take. When we scored the second goal – Loïc Badé headed in from a corner – they didn’t pick themselves up.

The 3-0 win over United meant a place in the Europa League semi finals, but it was also a release for the players. Even more so when we achieved safety in La Liga with victory against Espanyol a couple of weeks later. That win was also achieved with a lot of suffering; we had to come back from 2-1 down, which took us to 43 points. In La Liga, getting to 42 points usually secures safety.

We had come to the club with that objective in mind. Now we had achieved it before the end of the season. Nobody congratulated us for it. Everyone’s mind was already set on trying to reach the Europa League final. To do that, we would have to eliminate Juventus.

"Italian teams tend to be more defensive, which makes them difficult to beat – especially if they score first"

We played a great match in Turin, which felt very good. One of the best we played all season. Well into second-half injury time, though, we conceded from a corner to draw 1-1. The goal, scored by Federico Gatti (below), was the last action of the game.

It was the opposite of what had happened away to United. We had played a great match. We had been better than Juventus, but we didn’t win. The feeling when we left the stadium was less optimistic than when we left Old Trafford. We felt less confident than for the second leg against United, partly because of the type of team Juventus are.

United are a team that attacks more, and gives you more chances to hurt them. Italian teams tend to be more defensive, which makes them difficult to beat – especially if they score first. And we saw that very early on. Juve came out at the Sanchéz-Pizjuán a totally different team to the first leg. 

They took the lead in the second half, with a goal from Dusan Vlahovic, but we were able to turn the game around. After Erik Lamela’s goal put us 2-1 ahead in extra-time, we suffered a lot. On the balance of play, though, we were better than Juventus.

"Roma had José Mourinho, AN EXPERT IN PLAYING AND WINNING EUROPEAN FINALS, on the bench. I was a rookie"

Once the game was over, I couldn’t believe we had qualified for the Europa League final. I’ve been a coach for almost 30 years, starting in 1994, and I had never qualified for a European final before.

I decided to go as quickly as possible to the dressing room. I like to do it that way – celebrate with my people, my coaching staff, and the players inside the dressing room. I’m not a person who likes to celebrate in front of everyone. Little by little, the players arrived. I remember the first was Youssef En-Nesyri. We gave each other a big hug.

At that moment, I didn’t think about the final. I only thought about everything that had happened against Juventus. How the team, once again, had not given up. We managed to overcome a goal deficit against a great Juventus.

If the feelings in the build-up to the match at Old Trafford were incredible, the final in Budapest against Roma surpassed everything. I enjoyed every second. The days before, with the people travelling from Seville to Budapest. Also training the day before the match, when we had very good feelings. That gives you courage for the final; you see that the players are ready for such an important match.

If we look at the managers and the teams, Roma had José Mourinho, an expert in playing and winning European finals, on the bench. I was a ‘rookie’ in finals. But if we talk about the teams, the Sevilla players had played in many more European finals than the Roma players. That evened things out a bit.

"this time, i stood to watch as the players celebrated the title"

The match was the least entertaining of the Europa League matches we played, because Roma are a very difficult team to overcome. They are very good defensively, and they play very direct. It’s very difficult to counter-attack against them because they don’t give you the chance. They don’t lose possession in dangerous areas. Only in your half.

Moreover, they took the lead with a goal from Paulo Dybala late in the first half. Again, we were down on the scoreboard. Again, it was against an Italian team.

A move down the flanks, with our typical style of play, led to an own goal from them 10 minutes into the second half: 1-1. From then on, the game became more even. We had chances to score, but we couldn’t find that second goal in normal time. Neither did it come in extra-time, when both teams were very tired.

In the end, penalties decided the final in our favour. We were much more accurate than Roma in the penalty kicks, and Yassine Bounou put in an incredible performance in goal.

When Gonzalo Montiel scored the winning penalty, the people with me on the touchline ran to the centre to celebrate. I stayed on the touchline, in the manager’s area.

This time, the feeling was very different to the one I experienced in the first few minutes at Old Trafford. This time, I stood there to watch from a distance as the players celebrated their title.

The boys deserved it, for all the fight they had shown. They never surrendered.

Author: The Coaches' Voice

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