Uefa Cup Final: Middlesbrough emerged yesterday as a devastating power whose opponents flee their path. That, at least, was how Sevilla purported to consider the side they meet in the Uefa Cup final tonight.
The captain and centre-half Javi Navarro, who generally terrorises forwards, stood in awe of the Premiership side as "a goal-making machine". Pre-match posturing is normal, but these were not merely the usual ploys.
Silly as it seems for a team that has finished 14th in the Premiership, Boro's reputation is not wholly detached from reality. The recoveries through three second-half goals against Basel and then Steaua Bucharest were certainly not fictitious. Sevilla coach Juande Ramos called them "a very dangerous rival," adding "even if they are behind they will have the hope of another miracle".
Steve McClaren would not leave the topic alone either. "We are capable of scoring," he said. "Throughout the evening Seville will live in fear of that." A cool assessment would confirm Boro will have more firepower on the pitch and bench, since the La Liga side should begin with just one striker in Luis Fabiano, supported by Javier Saviola, unless Frederic Kanoute can persuade Ramos he is fit to start after returning from injury.
It may all turn out to be a mirage but McClaren is the England manager elect who could trigger an assertion of his country's ascendancy at the PSV Stadion. A win here followed by another for Arsenal against Barcelona would see a season end with two European trophies in the hands of English clubs for the first time since Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur lifted the European Cup and Uefa Cup after penalty shoot-outs in 1984.
McClaren is not above highlighting his part in this provisional revival. There was stage-management yesterday as Chris Riggott and Stuart Parnaby joined him for a press conference. Each testified to his gifts in youth development, though he initially worked with the former as a coach at Derby County. At least McClaren took care, as well, to speak of the investment that brought Mark Viduka and Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink to the Riverside in 2004, ahead of the club's first season in the Uefa Cup.
Ramos spoke respectfully of his opposite number and if the Middlesbrough manager's career is placed in the right light it can look comely. With a win tonight, he will have succeeded in every domestic and European competition, whether in his present post or as Alex Ferguson's assistant during the Treble-winning year of 1999.
It would feel apt if his final match with Middlesbrough put the Uefa Cup in his hands. These reveries, though, might turn out to be farcically deceptive.
Sevilla have had a far better season and their return to at least the Uefa Cup next season was confirmed with a 2-0 win at Malaga on Saturday. Unlike Middlesbrough, they have had to sell stars, including Jose Antonio Reyes and Sergio Ramos, but that has not broken their stride.
After Basel and Steaua Bucharest it might be unwise to predict what will happen to McClaren's team, but there was plausibility to Riggott's conjecture. "If we keep a clean sheet," said the centre-half, "we fancy the forwards we have got up front to score in any game." Sevilla are robust with Navarra and Julien Escude, brother of the tennis player Nicolas, blending as a centre-half partnership in front of goalkeeper Andres Palop. Hasselbaink, Viduka, Stewart Downing and any attackers brought on will have to be at their most destructive.
Fireworks from the forwards are needed if this is to be a night that lights up Middlesbrough's history.
Middlesbrough v Sevilla Eindhoven, 7.45 On TV: RTÉ 2, ITV
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