Sevilla thanks S04 for the support and friendship

The losing away side is very rarely applauded by the home support in European football, however that night in Sevilla saw just that happen. Although S04 had been eliminated, the Sevilla fans chanted and applauded the Schalke players, which at least helped to ease the pain of the defeat. Sevilla went on to win the trophy that season, and FC Schalke 04 were one of the first to congratulate them. That special evening in the Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán was the start of a unique friendship.

The friendship became greater a year later, when Antonio Puerta tragically died on 28th August 2007. Puerta, who scored the winning goal in the semi-final in 2006, suffered a heart attack in a league game against Getafe. The Spanish international was only 22 years old.

The Royal Blues sent their condolences to their friends from Sevilla – obituaries with the FC Schalke 04 logo beside them were printed in Spanish newspapers. There was a minute’s silence at the next S04 home game against Bayer Leverkusen on 31th August 2007 in the VELTINS-Arena. The Andalusians still appreciate this gesture to this day.

Sevilla reach out to Schalke with some special words

Since then, the friendship has continued to grow. The clubs are in regular contact, not just on social media. Sevilla’s trip to Germany for the Europa League tournament this season, which included some games in Gelsenkirchen due to the coronavirus pandemic, has prompted the Spanish club’s president to reach out to S04 with some special words.

“Being in Germany is always nice for us, because that’s where we played our first UEFA Europa League semi-final. It’s even better that we are so close to Gelsenkirchen. 14 years later, we are back playing another semi-final in this country. We’re really proud that we have been able to build a genuine friendship with FC Schalke 04. Schalke will always have Sevilla FC as a brother as that is was Schalke are to us. We are happy to have the club’s support. Since we have been in Germany, we have felt the Royal Blues’ affection and these things have strengthened our connection,” commented José Castro, Sevilla president.

Jochen Schneider, Schalke’s Head of Sport, was happy to hear his Spanish colleague’s words: “A very close partnership and friendship between Sevilla FC and FC Schalke 04 has developed over the past few years – which isn’t a common thing for modern football. We were welcomed with open arms in Sevilla in 2019. A sporting rivalry from 14 years ago has seen us become friends. We would like to wish our friends from Andalusia all the best for their semi-final game against Manchester United.”