“Sometimes football is a real bastard,” Luis García said. Seven days earlier Sevilla’s coach had warned that every game was going to be “total suffering, a heart attack”, appealing for his players to have personality even as he admitted that he too had “crapped myself alive” when the opposition attacked, fear invading every thought, terrified that the hope might have been taken from them. A week later, it was, in a way that was as unthinkable as it was somehow inevitable, with a goal that left Sevilla in their darkest place for a quarter of a century. A goal that came from a throw in the 99th minute. Or the 300,000th minute, García claimed.
Nine minutes had been added at Osasuna’s El Sadar Stadium, 19 seconds of which were left and, having led 1-0 until the 80th minute, Sevilla were now clinging to a draw. A point wasn’t much but was something when Osasuna took it. García’s exhausted players didn’t react and over by the bench the manager spun on his heel and threw his hands in the air, anger and anxiety rising inside. By the time García turned back, Osasuna’s Moi Gómez had crossed, unimpeded, and on 98.46 Alejandro Catena headed the winner. Osasuna’s coach, Alessio Lisci, went leaping up the line, with safety secured and Europe a genuine possibility; Sevilla’s crossed it, García marching on to the pitch, every step a stomp, ready to grab someone, anyone.
