Sevilla promise Boro pain from Spain

Middlesbrough can forget about coming from 3-0 down to beat Sevilla in the UEFA Cup final.

With all due respect to Basle and Steaua Bucharest, the Spanish side are far too canny to suffer a bout of overconfidence or an attack of nerves should they find themselves in that position in Eindhoven next week.

In fact, Boro simply cannot afford to give Juande Ramos’ counter-attacking team any sort of lead if their sensational quarter-final and semi-final comebacks are to be capped by their first piece of European silverware.

The Andalucian outfit boast one of the meanest defences in Spain’s Primera Liga and, unlike their opponents, look to be on course for a place in next season’s competition regardless of the outcome of the final.

Ramos has done a remarkable job picking up the pieces following Joaquin Caparros’ defection to Deportivo La Coruna in the summer and the sale of star players Julio Baptista and Sergio Ramos to Real Madrid.

These losses had many fans bracing themselves for a demoralising centenary year but, like Boro, they could barely contain their excitement after becoming the first Andalucian side to reach a European final.

The jubilation was emphasised by club president Jose Maria Del Nido, who broke the habit of a lifetime when substitute Antonio Puerta netted the extra-time winner in their semi-final with bookies’ favourites Schalke.

“In my years as president I have never celebrated a goal but this time I jumped with joy,” he said.

Such scenes of jubilation had much in common with those at the Riverside following Boro’s semi-final win over Steaua as both sides made up for their disappointing last-16 exits of 2005.

But that really is where the similarities end between the journeys the teams have taken towards the final.

While Boro’s passage has been full of almost unprecedented drama, Sevilla’s progress has been relatively serene and, worryingly for Steve McClaren’s men, in arguably the tougher half of the draw.

Preserving a record that makes them the only side on the continent never to have suffered a home defeat in 27 European ties, they eased through a tricky first-round clash with German side Mainz and into the group phase.

There they topped a pool including Bolton, whom they held 1-1 at the Reebok Stadium in December.

A trip to Russia to face Lokomotiv Moscow was comfortably negotiated in the last 32, followed by a recovery from a first-leg loss to beat Lille 2-1.

They emphatically avenged their group defeat against Zenit St Petersburg in the last eight before Puerta settled the tightest of semi-finals with Schalke.

The 21-year-old midfielder was a fitting goalscorer for a club that prides itself on its youth development.

Owned by the fans, Sevilla has one of the most renowned training academies in the country, which has produced many famous players.

Inevitably, developing talents are often poached by the giants of Spanish football. Sergio Ramos became the second most expensive teenager, behind Wayne Rooney, in history when Real Madrid parted with €27m for him last summer.

Sevilla are also very much a family club, emphasised when Puerta said: “Up in heaven is my grandfather who was a big Sevilla fan and this goal was for him.

“I am a youth-team player and have been a Sevilla fan since I was little.”

But the Andalucians are far from a team filled with academy products. They have made full use of the transfer market to draft in the likes of Javier Saviola on loan from Barcelona as well as luring Frederic Kanoute from Tottenham at the start of the season.

The Mali international scored five goals in their European campaign before missing the semi-final second leg through injury.

At the back, they boast outstanding Brazilian Daniel Alves, who has been linked with a move to Juventus, while another youth-team player, Jesus Navas, is the star in midfield.

Navas missed the start of the season after receiving treatment for anxiety attacks but if he and his team-mates keep their heads against Boro, they are more than capable of capping their centenary year in style.