Gone are the days of dominance in the Europa League. Sevilla FC is facing massive financial problems and can barely register any players. Still, thanks to two penalty goals, they managed a 2-1 victory over Rayo in their season opener.
A completely satisfied coach sounds different. That said, with the 2-1 season opener against Rayo Vallecano, Luis Garcia had every reason to be more than satisfied.
His team fell behind 0-1 early on after a hair-raising mistake by new signing and center back Arouna Sangante and secured the victory late in the game. Both goals came on penalty kicks; when Peque scored the winning goal, Sevilla was even down a man following Kike Salas’s red card. In Spain, they call small children “Peque,” though at 1.72 meters tall, Gerard Fernandez Castellano is no shorter than many others. On Saturday, at any rate, he was the biggest. And Coach Garcia rejoiced: “The three points feel good—we’ve got them in the bag.”
Because, strictly speaking, Garcia isn’t in the mood to celebrate. He knows that this season, just like last, the former Europa League powerhouse is once again facing a relegation battle. Gone are the days of seven triumphs—the last one in 2023—in the UEFA Cup and its successor competition. Garcia: “We need to internalize our will to survive as quickly as possible. “
Garcia would rather not say much
A determination he immediately attributed to the, as always, enthusiastic crowd: “We’re going to need our fans; they’re not stupid and know exactly what’s going on here. I know the transfer market is complicated for us, but we currently have only 17 professionals and urgently need new signings. Against Rayo, we played with eight players from our own youth academy. I don’t want to say any more than that; I could, but I won’t.”
And yet there’s plenty to criticize. Because Sevilla FC is, as usual, stumbling headlong through the soccer world; the sale of the majority stake—which was supposed to be a done deal and mark the club’s long-awaited fresh start—crashed and burned spectacularly in early summer.
Sergio Ramos and the Collapsed Deal
Legendary player Sergio Ramos had wanted to buy 85 percent of Sevilla FC through the investor consortium Five Eleven Capital for more than 400 million euros. However, the former Sevilla pro—now 40 and practically at the end of his career—called off the deal after a depressing, thorough financial audit. A return to the negotiating table is considered highly unlikely, even though Ramos stated that he remains interested in the club. So far, any talk of new investors has been limited to the rumor mill.
This is because Sevilla’s financial problems are more serious than initially suspected; last season alone, the club posted a loss of more than 27 million euros, while the figures for 2024–25 were 54 million and for 2023–24 exactly 81.7 million. The total debt burden amounts to around 350 million euros.
Under the league’s Financial Fair Play rules, Sevilla is virtually unable to operate with a payroll of just 22 million euros; key players and experienced professionals such as Nemanja Gudelj, Djibril Sow, Örjan Nyland (to Leipzig), Alexis Sanchez, Adnan Januzaj, Joan Jordan, Juanlu, Akor Adams, Rafa Mir, César Azpilicueta, and even former Bayern Munich player Tanguy Nianzou have all left. New signings, if any, are coming on free transfers or on loan; the most notable ones are Jon Guridi (most recently with Alavés), who just converted a penalty against Rayo, Juan Iglesias (Getafe), and the Scot Robbie Ure (IK Sirius).