Chelsea’s unorthodox connections with Sevilla

Considering Chelsea and Sevilla have never competed competitively against one another, this week’s connections profile is slightly more unconventional.

A completely new challenge awaits Chelsea on Tuesday night as it hosts Spanish heavyweight Sevilla for the very first time at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League group stage. In fact, the Blues are yet to face the reigning Europa League champions home or away in their entire history, aside from two friendly fixtures during the ’70s. This is entirely new ground for Frank Lampard to be treading on, and we’ve certainly had to do some digging in order to discover links between the two unfamiliar clubs.

For starters, they both finished fourth last season in their respective leagues; Chelsea with 66 points, Sevilla on 70. The Blues also conceded the same number of goals as the Spaniards scored (54), and drew the same number of games as Sevilla lost (both six). As aforementioned, Sevilla was dominant again in Europe, crowning its record sixth success with a 3-2 victory over Inter Milan. On route to reclaiming the club’s prized possession, Sevilla knocked out a pair of Chelsea’s Premier League rivals, Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Europa League No. 4 was sealed for Sevilla in 2015, thanks to a run to the final that consisted of eliminating Red Bull Salzburg, Villareal, Zenit Saint Petersburg and Fiorentina in the semis. A certain Marcos Alonso featured for Fiorentina across both legs as the Italians lost 5-0 on aggregate. Marcos is not the only Alonso to have an association with Sevilla, either. Marcos Alonso Pena—farther of the Chelsea fullback—played for Barcelona and Atletico Madrid before retiring and turning to management. From here, he took charge of several Spanish sides, including Sevilla between 1998 and 2000. Los Nervionenses were both promoted from—and relegated to—the Segunda Division under his guidance. Meanwhile, Jr. Alonso was rising through the ranks at Real Madrid.

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Speaking of former Sevilla coaches, Tottenham Hotspur fans might recognise the name Juande Ramos, the man who got the European ball rolling by lifting consecutive UEFA Cups in 2006 and 2007. Ramos had similar silverware fortunes during his sole spell in London, leading Spurs to the 2008 League Cup at the expense of Chelsea. Since then, Tottenham has won zero trophies, Chelsea has captured 11.

Virtually the only competition to evade the Blues throughout this period has been the UEFA Super Cup, beaten by Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich in succession. Sevilla can trump this dry spell with three straight defeats from 2014 to 2016, the latest of which against Real Madrid, who snatched a winner in extra time to end the contest 3-2. Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic lasted 73 minutes in this tie, his penultimate campaign with Los Blancos before joining the Blues two summers ago.

Kovacic is not the only current Chelsea player to have overcome Sevilla in the past either. Kepa Arrizbalaga was present for Athletico Bilboa four years ago during a bizarre 3-1 win that saw midfielder Vicente Iborra have a brief stint in between the sticks. Sevilla had used all of its substitutions before Sirigu was sent off for violent conduct, leaving Iborra with the task of stopping the resulting penalty kick, which he failed to do.

Maintaining the Chelsea goalie theme, Willy Cabellero was also involved in a fiery fixture with Sevilla before his move to Stamford Bridge. The Argentine was in goal for Malaga, who won 2-1 at the Estadio La Rosaleda. The three points overshadowed by the 14 cards issued from referee Cesar Muniz Fernandez, including two yellow and a red for Isco. Cabellero was deployed alongside Martin Demichelis, Nacho Monreal, Santi Carzola, Salomon Rondon, Ruud Van Nistlerooy and managed by Manuel Pellegrini, all ex-pats of the Premier League.

Ben Chilwell was twice left on the bench as Leicester City overcame a 2-1 deficit in the Champions League Round of 16, eventually winning 3-2 on aggregate as Sevilla failed to score at the King Power a few seasons ago. Sami Nasri, another to have dabbled with the English division, was given his marching orders with 15 minutes remaining as the Foxes celebrated a historic evening.

A handful of names have bridged the Spanish-English divide, hardly making a splash in the process. Marko Marin, Gael Kakuta and Khalid Boulahrouz all joined Chelsea on a positive pre-tense but left for Spain as sorry acquisitions. Despite being a right back, Boulahrouz wore the No. 9 for the Blues, an early indication this marriage was never going to work. He and Marin were both loaned out to Sevilla, the latter gaining a Europa League winners medal in 2014, 12 months after emulating the same triumph with Chelsea.

What is your favorite connection between the two clubs? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!