In recent years we’ve seen two historical runs in Europe’s premier club competitions. One consistently mentioned amidst the backdrop of Real Madrid’s embarrassing fall from the summit earlier this week, and then the other, a seemingly forgotten reign over the Europa League by Sevilla FC.
The man who preceded over the impressive Sevilla reign, Unai Emery, has a simply incredible record in the competition. In the six seasons Emery has managed a team in the Europa League, he has failed to reach the quarter-final stage on only one occasion, which came during his spell at the Mestalla.
Emery had his first taste of Europa League action in the then-named UEFA Cup during the 2008/09 season. Managing a Valencia team featuring the likes of David Silva, David Villa, Fernando Morientes and Pablo Hernandez, the Spaniard was only able to reach the round-of-32 stage before bowing out on away goals to Dynamo Kyiv.
Emery’s Valencia reached the quarter-final stage the following season, losing to eventual winners Atletico Madrid on away goals. Falling afoul to Atletico Madrid once again two seasons later at the semi-final stage, this would be the last losing season in the Europa League for Emery.
Emery left his position at Valencia having finished third in La Liga as well as being knocked out of the UEFA Cup at the semi-final stage. Joining Spartak Moscow after his departure from Valencia, his time in Russia was certainly short-lived. Despite signing a two-year deal in May 2012, Emery was sacked on November 25th, 2012 after a 5-1 home defeat in the Moscow derby to Dynamo Moscow.
Here started a run of 13 successive knockout tie victories for the Spanish side. After returning to Spain in January 2013 replacing Michel, Emery created a Sevilla Europa League dynasty. A Sevilla team featuring the likes of Ivan Rakitic, Jose Antonio Reyes and Carlos Bacca reached the final, having seen off fellow Spanish teams Real Betis and Valencia along the way, with the latter coming in the semi-final on away goals.
Defeating Benfica on penalties in the final, Sevilla extended the curse of Bela Guttmann to a 52nd year after an eighth consecutive European final defeat for the Portuguese giants.
The second successive title came as Sevilla twice fought from behind to beat Dnipro of Ukraine in the final. A Dnipro team featuring Yevhen Konoplyanka and former Blackburn man Nikola Kalinic fell to a 72nd-minute winner from the aforementioned Carlos Bacca. The victory was a record fourth title for Sevilla, Jose Antonio Reyes also became the first player to win four UEFA Cup/Europa League titles in the process.
A third successive title came as the Spanish side once again clawed back from a deficit to win the Europa League. Trailing Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool 1-0 going into half-time, Emery’s team came out in the second half and blew away their English opponents in Basel.
Goals from Kevin Gameiro and Coke sealed an emphatic second-half performance as Sevilla recorded a fifth Europa League title. The result made history for Emery on a personal level, with the Spaniard joining Giovanni Trapattoni as the only managers to win three Europa League titles. The third title with Sevilla also crowned Emery as the first manager in history to win three UEFA Cup/Europa League titles with one club.
As Unai Emery once again finds himself at the round-of-16 stage in the Europa League, will he be able to weave his magic once more, with the Gunners trailing 3-1 to Stade Rennais after tonight’s first leg?
78 games, 43 wins, 24 draws, 11 defeats and three Europa League titles for Unai Emery, a truly incredible record for a maestro of Europe’s secondary club competition.
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