Ramos recalls Sevilla's UEFA Cup defence
Monday, January 21, 2013
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"Most of their players had never played a European final before," recalled Juande Ramos, citing Sevilla FC's composure as crucial to their 2007 UEFA Cup win against RCD Espanyol.
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Having beaten Middlesbrough FC comfortably to win the 2005/06 UEFA Cup, Sevilla FC followed in Real Madrid CF's footsteps to become only the second side to retain the trophy, beating RCD Espanyol on penalties following a 2-2 draw in Glasgow.
The manner of their victory was less serene than their first, with Espanyol twice striking back in a match that ended 2-2 after extra time. Sevilla goalkeeper Andrés Palop then stole the show in the penalty shoot-out, which his side won 3-1. "Obviously a penalty shoot-out means that both clubs can win," recalls coach Juande Ramos. "But I remember that Palop was quite confident, and our penalty takers were quite confident too and very calm."
Now coach at FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Ramos felt that winning the 2006 final 4-0 in Eindhoven helped give his side that composure. "Matches like that give you a lot of experience, and we were up against Espanyol, where most of their players had never played a European cup final before, which made their players a bit anxious on the pitch," he told UEFA.com. "Sevilla handled that well and Sevilla won deservedly, because they were superior to Espanyol even though the 90 minutes ended in a draw."
Click the video above to hear more from Ramos about that historic night in Glasgow.