El Sevillaso!

For the second time in a week Sevilla was knocked out of a competition by an aggregate score of 5-3. But the embarrassing loss in Andalucia looks light years worse than the drubbing they took at Camp Nou over the weekend. The 4-3 loss at the hands of an inferior Braga side could have very real consequences for Sevilla.

While taking a 3-1 lead into the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup and then watching it nullified as Sevilla was torn to shreds by Barcelona must have stung, there really wasn't much more than bragging rights at stake. The Spanish Super Cup is essentially a one-off trophy for the purpose of bragging rights and start of the season festivity. It is not at the top of any teams history and winning it does not come with any tangible benefits for the season. And besides, Barcelona are arguably the best team in the world and there aren't many teams that could have withstood the battering they laid on Sevilla.

Missing out on the Champions League at the hands of Braga is a different story altogether. When Manolo Jimenez was shown the door last spring after three years on the job it was strongly rumored to have been because the club could not afford to miss the CL in 2010-2011 and it really did not look like they were going to make a serious run for a top four finish. This is not meant in the casual or figurative sense like "we can't afford to keep losing", but literally, in the sense the club has serious financial commitments it is hazardously close to not meeting. Antonio Alvarez did a great job of salvaging the domestic campaign and brought home the Copa del Rey as an encore. But that could be irrelevant in the very near future after they got bumped from the premiere European competition. As of now the club is saying it is not the time to make a change, and it makes sense to let tempers cool. But when a clearly more talented team with more experience and resources loses both legs of a play-off, something will likely change.

The reason I am interested in this beyond the mild shock of seeing a Champions League neophyte knock off a side we have come to regard as solid and professional, is because a possible firesale in Sevilla could change the dynamic of other races in Europe. Over the summer Madrid openly courted Jesus Navas and appears to have been rebuffed under the premise that Sevilla needed him to get into the group stage, or possibly further. Now he is cup tied and his usefulness to a team like Real Madrid is limited. The same can be said for Luis Fabiano who was linked to a big money move to Marsielle (which seemed suspicous to me but apparently there was some truth to it), if a big offer comes in he could still move but teams that can afford those kinds of players are generally fighting on multiple fronts. This squad is loaded with other good players that could be missing pieces somewhere. Guys like Diego Capel, Perotti, Negredo, and Kanoute. That might be the silver lining if Sevilla's financial situation is indeed dire: they have devalued their chips in a failed gamble, but still have enough of them to soften the blow.