Written by Harry Gillies.
In the final act of a European season, a lack of Spanish teams is certainly off script. This century, Spain’s clubs have amassed a copious haul of trophies, winning a combined 24 major European titles. But the nation’s grand clubs will be absent from this year’s Champions League and Europa League finals, with attention switching to the Spanish managers who have revolutionised teams around Europe. As for the Conference League Final, one barrio team has a shot at making history.
There was something ominous about Real Madrid President Florentino Perez when he announced his Super League masterplan to the world five years ago. In El Chiringuito’s studio, the clinical businessman sat in his chair, casually laying out the idea of a European competition for the richest and most powerful. Having seduced 11 other clubs into his scheme, including Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, the tycoon had every intention of establishing a new elite order, seemingly unmoved by the suggestion that it could devastate European football.
The Super League was officially pronounced dead in February. It is fitting that La Liga’s most humble club have Spain’s only chance at European glory this season. Florentino probably wouldn’t blink if Rayo Vallecano disappeared from the footballing map, let alone never compete internationally – the team from Vallecas are the antithesis of Los Blancos.
Known as ‘the pride of the working class’, Rayo hold a special sense of identity and value for their neighbourhood in Madrid. The squad regularly engages with local people – players even volunteer their cookery skills to community centres. Rayo’s main ultra group, the ‘Bukaneros’, promote various humanitarian causes, leading the way with initiatives against racism and homophobia.
Although a Segunda title is the highest honour in their history, Rayo are not daunted by European heights, having reached the UEFA Cup quarter final in 2001. This campaign, Inigo Perez’s soide have been on a European tour, travelling to Sweden, Slovakia, Turkiye and Greece along the way, but it is back in Vallecas where many problems lie. Players must contend with a poor playing surface and changing rooms that have been mocked by opponents, while the Bukaneros endure the facilities of a crumbling stadium.
But if we overlook the unglamorous setting, Rayo’s campaign embodies what the Conference League should be about: a small left-wing club – whose fans reject the capitalist grip on football – can still have its own European journey. A similar description would fit Crystal Palace, Rayo’s opponents in the final.
Naturally, Perez’s impressive work has not gone unnoticed, with Villarreal now said to have won the race for the 38-year-old. In his debut European campaign, the man from Pamplona could become the first manager to place the Conference League trophy in the cabinet of a Spanish club.
On a fateful night in 2017, the Camp Nou public witnessed a remarkable 6-1 Remuntada over PSG – delivered by an inspired Neymar Juniot. The Parisians believed they had the last laugh, first luring the Brazilian genius away from Catalonia that summer for a world record fee, before claiming Barca’s greatest ever for their own, as Lionel Messi arrived in 2021. Pairing the South American duo with Kylian Mbappe, PSG had apparently formed a front three that, together, simply had to step out onto the grass and conquer world football.
Yet again, another incarnation of a Galactico project failed, with the European Cup continuing to elude the French giants. All along, the one man PSG desperately needed was part of Barça’s Remuntada, but he was standing suited in the manager’s box. Luis Enrique joined PSG in 2023, as Neymar and Messi passed through the exit door.
From an anti-fascist, neighbourhood club in Madrid, to a Qatari-owned super team in the city of light, there are core values that Luis Enrique would demand from any squad. He persisted for a season with Mbappe, using ‘up in your face’ motivational speeches about how Michael Jordan stopped at nothing to track back.
Mbappe’s eventual departure changed PSG’s history forever, and for the better. Luis Enrique cleared out those who failed to grasp his principles, building a youthful, pressing team. Every player works for the man next to him and faithfully follows the manager’s intense methods. His tenure is a salient example that the right team spirit matters far more than buying up superstars. A catalogue of players have been transformed under Luis Enrique’s guidance; Ousmane Dembele’s metamorphosis from a talented but timid Barca winger to a Ballon d’Or winner drove the Parisians to last season’s treble.
Seeing Dembele flourish is one source of exasperation at Barcelona. Julian Alvarez choosing PSG over the Catalans might be another. But what surely pains Culers is the time that has passed since Luis Enrique led the club to its last European triumph in 2015. If PSG defeat Arsenal in Budapest, he will join Zinedine Zidane as one of the two managers to defend the modern Champions League.
Barca is still the club of Lucho’s heart, as shown by his little punch in the air upon hearing El Clasico’s result. The love is mutual, and perhaps someday, will lead to his return to Camp Nou.
Thinking of Unai Emery must stir a profound nostalgia among Sevilla fans. His tenure brought three consecutive Europa League titles, establishing an almost absurd expectation on the Andalusian club. In the decade since his departure, he won the competition again with Villarreal, becoming the tournament’s record winning manager. While Sevilla were twice more crowned Europa League champions, the club’s recent domestic fall has been as tragic as it’s been rapid.
Now for Aston Villa, Emery stands to lift the trophy for a fifth time if his side can get past Freiburg. It would be a historic victory for an old English club, and a minor personal victory over English journalists, who, when Emery was Arsenal manager, once mocked his accent.
Every Sevilla fan would dream of Emery coming back to restore the club’s domestic dignity, but the Basque manager has created something special at Villa Park. Only clubs of Europe’s highest echelons could pry him away, with Real Madrid and Manchester United having recently been linked to him. With so many Spanish coaches excelling throughout Europe, great Iberian ideas that continue to shape the game, and beyond any particular situation, there is no end in sight in that regard.
