Following their October win over Barça, Sevilla secured only four additional LaLiga victories before coach Almeyda’s dismissal at the end of March. The club, once a Champions League regular, now languished in 15th and was in real danger of slipping further. In came Luis García, an experienced Spanish coach with deep LaLiga knowledge. Yet his arrival has failed to stem the slide.
In his first match, early in April, they lost 0-1 at bottom-of-the-table Oviedo. Two weeks later, Sevilla went down 0-2 at second-bottom Levante, although a surprise 2-1 win over Atlético Madrid in between briefly raised hopes. On closer inspection, the result was not that surprising, as Atleti boss Diego Simeone rotated his squad between two Champions League quarter-final clashes with Barcelona, resting nearly all his regulars. No Antoine Griezmann, no Julián Álvarez, no Marcos Llorente, no Giuliano Simeone; Ademola Lookman only entered for the final 20 minutes.
The win was crucial, yet it proved the exception. Two weeks later Sevilla lost 0-2 at second-bottom Levante, and then came the heartbreak against Osasuna: leading 1-0 in the 80th minute, they conceded a late equaliser and, in the ninth minute of stoppage time, a winner. “We are devastated,” manager Garcia said after the final whistle. “They’re crying, they’re deeply hurt,” he said, summing up his players’ state of mind. Left-back Gabriel Suazo choked back emotion: “I’ve got a lump in my throat. I’d give my life for this club.” Captain Nemanja Gudelj simply echoed, “It hurts, it hurts a lot.”
Even before facing Atlético, García had already voiced the club’s predicament. “Sevilla is a great club in Spain and in Europe,” he said, acknowledging the fans’ frustration. Perhaps it is time to admit that the present is no longer as glorious as the recent past.
Sergio Ramos certainly hopes Sevilla will regain that status. The former Real Madrid captain began his career at the Andalusian club and returned for the 2023/24 season. In January, the 40-year-old, who had been without a club since early in the year, tried to orchestrate another comeback at Sevilla—but president Del Nido Jr. blocked the move, arguing that Ramos could not simultaneously be a player and an owner.
The former Spanish international leads an investor group ready to offer nearly €400 million for control of the club, though the deal is not yet done. All parties want to avoid a restart in the second division under one of Sevilla’s most famous sons.
“This is the toughest challenge I’ve ever had to face,” Garcia said recently, capturing Sevilla’s dire straits. “I don’t think I’ve ever worked harder in my life. I’ll give it my all. We’re in intensive care, but we can still pull through.”