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The spotlight is firmly fixed on serial Europa League winners, Sevilla, after another enthralling night of European football in which the Julen Lopetegui-coached Spanish team overcame Inter Milan 3-2 to win a record-extending sixth crown in the second-tier continental competition.
However, despite the poignancy surrounding home-town hero Jesus Navas lifting the trophy for the champions or Ever Banega shining in his final game for the club, or even the evocation of the tragic losses of Sevilla heroes Jose Antonio Reyes and Antonio Puerta, it was the narrative surrounding Julen Lopetegui that stood out on a dramatic night.
Julen Lopetegui- A condemned man
Even though Julen Lopetegui had got and lost two of the most high-profile coaching jobs on the planet with the Spain national team and Real Madrid, the former goalkeeper is, in reality, the proverbial football journeyman who has lost more than won during a chequered career.
A youth coach with prolonged and successful spells with age-group Spanish teams, Lopetegui's first senior appointment was with Rayo. He was sacked by the second-tier club after only his tenth match.
His spell at Porto, the perennial Portuguese champions, also ended in disappointment. He took them to the Champions League quarter-finals, only to be hammered 6-1 by Bayern. He couldn't even bring the league trophy home and was on the road again.
It was perhaps a surprise that Spain gave the reins to Julen Lopetegui to resurrect the national team after a great era had come to an end and the La Roja were in a crucial rebuilding phase. It was a job he won perhaps because of his loyalty to the Spanish Federation over the years. And he rose to the occasion like none other.
Spain, under the former Real Madrid and Bara goalie, played an unusually high-octane brand of attractive football and won nine of their ten World Cup qualifiers, emerging as one of the pre-tournament favourites. They did not lose a single of their 20 games under Lopetegui, beating high-profile teams including France. Yes, France, who would go on to win the World Cup trophy in Russia months later.
Then, ecstasy and agony struck one after the other. First, Lopetegui was offered the dream job of coaching Real Madrid just before the World Cup. Then, the Spanish Federation surprised one and all in a decision spurred by indignation rather than logic by sacking the coach before the tournament.
Reeling from the disappointment of not getting to coach the team he had built in the biggest tournament of the world, Lopetegui moved on to Madrid to take up his biggest challenge yet, It would prove to be the start of a nightmare that continued unabated for 14 matches.
When Barcelona toyed with Los Blancos at the Nou Camp in a 5-1 victory, one knew that Julen Lopetegui's time at the Bernabeu was all but over.
He had lost two coveted jobs in record time, in short he had fallen from the summit to the bottomless pit of the harsh and unforgiving world of elite football.
Sevilla and succour
Not many thought that Julen Lopetegui will be given another chance at the highest level so soon, but football is a strange game and Sevilla took the gamble on the condemned man.
As Luuk De Jong headed in Sevilla's second in breathtaking fashion on Friday in Cologne, everyone in the Seville camp erupted in joy, except Julen Lopetegui who walked back to the dugout. Moments later, Diego Godin had equalised, as if to prove Lopetegui's stoicism right.
He only erupted in joy at the final whistle, embracing his coaching staff after a job well done.
Best work away from the limelight
Though Julen Lopetegui had already taken Sevilla to fourth place in the Spanish League, he had worked under the radar for most of the season. Probably the journeyman does his best work away from the spotlight.
Many casual observers of the game might even have been surprised to see him prowl the touchline as Sevilla coach in the semi-final against Manchester United. The larger world had well and truly forgotten him post the huge negative press he had got following his successive, high-profile sackings, but Julen Lopetegui had not given up on the game.
Incredulous as it may sound, this is also Julen Lopetegui's first ever piece os silverware and he has won it with a team built on a shoe-string budget. A team he had moulded to fight as a unit every time they took the field and whatever might be the situation.
As he said at the end of the final, his players never give up, it seems that is also true for the manager.
Also read: Juventus success reliant on the liberation of Andrea Pirlo
