This afternoon Sevilla will return to the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, the place where 17 years ago they touched the sky and their first UEFA Cup. However, this season the Andalusian team is far from its best version and from the positions that would give it a place in the Europa League, a tournament in which it is a specialist. Proof of this are the five trophies that it keeps in its showcases, the last of which was achieved in the 2019/2020 season.
Jorge Sampaoli's team arrives at this round of 32 match with a considerable advantage, having beaten the Dutch team 3-0 in the first leg at the Ramón-Sánchez Pizjuán. Although Sevilla knows the scene of today's game well, this will be the second time that both teams meet.
Before a tie that promises to be very interesting, Monchi, Sevilla's sports director, has expressed his feelings about returning to the city where in 2006 Luis Fabiano, Maresca (2) and Kanoute gave the team their first Cup of the UUEFA against Middlesbrough.
"The city itself already brings magnificent memories to mind, the beginning of what this Seville continues to be. It is impossible to be here and not remember that, with a different Seville but one that laid the foundations for what has been achieved since then. Arriving at the stadium, looking at where I saw the game, how the stadium was that day... those are many memories. I'll keep the first and the last one (in Cologne against Inter) due to the circumstances that took place, but Eindhoven was breaking the ice after many years without titles, and more so in Europe. For any Sevilla player it has to be a historic moment in their life as a fan", Monchi recalled.
However, the man from San Fernando does not trust the result and sees difficulties in the match. "Of course I see them. Obviously it's a good result but not definitive, and even more so without the double value of goals away. Before, if you scored a goal here they had to score five for us, and it's not like that anymore. I imagine they'll come out pushed for his fans and with the intention of getting into the tie as soon as possible. We did not forget that they had a stick there, Bono made several good saves and we suffered a lot in the first 20 minutes. We would be wrong to think that everything is done", he declared .
Sevilla will play the knockout rounds of the UEFA Europa League for the eighth time. They have lifted the trophy in four of their seven previous appearances (in 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 and in 2019/20). This, added to the fact that they have only lost three of their 25 ties in this phase of the competition, make them the most successful team in the tournament.
PSV, for its part, has been the top-scoring team in the Europa League group stage this season with 15 goals, two more than Fenerbahçe, Feyenoord and Freiburg, group champions, and seven more than Arsenal. who finished above them in Group A.
Considering that PSV have been eliminated in their last eight two-legged ties having lost the first leg, and that Sevilla are winless in nine away games in Europe, this afternoon's meeting between the two teams promises to be the most attractive.
The Andalusian team seeks to be crowned king of the Europa League again and also gain confidence in the face of the league competition where it has staged a slow recovery that has moved it away from the relegation places where it reached the end of 2022.
