Thousands line streets for Sevilla homecoming
Monday, May 23, 2016
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Coke was as irrepressible with the microphone in Seville as he was with the ball in Basel as Unai Emery's men enjoyed their by now traditional UEFA Europa League homecoming.
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On a warm evening in the south of Spain, Sevilla's history-makers paraded their record-breaking third consecutive UEFA Europa League trophy in front of their jubilant fans throughout the city.
Last year, club president José Castro joked that the city's mayor should "pencil us in" for victory celebrations and city hall would have been wise to heed his advice as Unai Emery's men recovered to beat Liverpool 3-1 last Wednesday.
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There was no time for celebrations immediately after returning from Basel because of Sunday's Copa del Rey final date with Barcelona in Madrid. They succumbed 2-0 to the ten-men Catalan giants, but spirits were nonetheless high among players and fans on Monday evening as the city centre was painted red and white.
First stop was ONCE – Spain's national organisation for the blind - where children were invited to touch and pose with the trophy. Next they headed towards the Puerta Jérez square, where thousands greeted the side with a cappella renditions of club song El Arrebato and We are the Champions.
Club captain José Antonio Reyes, Vicente Iborra and Daniel Carriço – among others – helped to decorate the square's fountain in the club's colours and geed up the crowd while two-goal final hero Coke was given the task of wrapping a Sevilla flag around the statue of the goddess Hispalis.
From there it was a slow journey down the Avenida de Constitución to the city’s famous cathedral and then city hall, with thousands more supporters spurred on by master of ceremonies, Coke. Emery and Reyes wrestled the microphone off the skipper to pay tribute to the fans before the squad re-boarded the bus for one final stop: a packed Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán.