Middlesbrough fall to Sevilla in 2005/06 final

In season 2005/06, northeast club Middlesbrough walked tall as they almost surpassed all hurdles in the UEFA Cup competition, only to fall at the last one.

That season, Steve McClaren’s Middlesbrough finished in mid-table in the domestic league as the club focused mainly on their continental excursions, even if the 4-0 drubbing in the final at the hands of Spanish side Sevilla appeared to be harsh on the English team.

Excellent results, especially against teams like Basel and Roma, speak volumes for Middlesbrough’s fine campaign in the UEFA Cup that season.

Season 2005/06

Second qualifying round: MyPa (Finland)-Dundee United 0-0, 2-2 (2-2).

First round: Dinamo Bucharest-Everton 5-1, 0-1 (5-2). Hibernian-Dnipro 0-0, 1-5 (1-5). Middlesbrough-Xanthi 2-0, 0-0 (2-0). Bolton Wanderers-Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2-1, 2-1 (4-2).

Group D: Grasshoppers-Middlesbrough 0-1. Middlesbrough-Dnipro 3-0. AZ Alkmaar-Middlesbrough 0-0. Middlesbrough-Litex Lovech 2-0.

Group H: Besiktas-Bolton 1-1. Bolton-Zenit 1-0. Vitoria SC-Bolton 1-1. Bolton-Sevilla 1-1.

Intermediate round: Stuttgart-Middlesbrough 1-2, 1-0 (2-2). Bolton-Marseille 0-0, 1-2 (1-2).

Second round: Middlesbrough-Roma 1-0, 1-2 (2-2).

Quarter-final: FC Basel-Middlesbrough 2-0, 1-4 (3-4).

Semi-final: Steaua Bucharest-Middlesbrough 1-0, 2-4 (3-4).

Final: (Eindhoven) Sevilla-Middlesbrough 4-0.

Boro formation: Schwarzer, Riggott, Southgate, Queudrue, Parnaby, Rochemback, Boateng, Downing, Morrison (Macca-rone), Hasselbaink, Viduka.

Season 2006/07

In season 2006/07, the British club that had the best run in the UEFA Cup were Tottenham.

The Spurs reached the last eight before going down to holders Sevilla.

Second qualifying round: FK Ventspils (Latvia)-Newcastle 0-1, 0-0 (0-1).

First round: Levadia Tallinn (Estonia)-Newcastle 0-1, 1-2, (1-3). Molde FK-Rangers 0-0, 0-2 (0-2). Hearts-Sparta Prague 0-2, 0-0 (0-2). Salzburg-Blackburn 2-2, 0-2 (2-4). West Ham-Palermo 0-1, 0-3 (0-4). SK Slavia Prague-Tottenham 0-1, 0-1 (0-2).

Group A: Livorno-Rangers 2-3. Rangers-Maccabi Haifa 2-0. AJ Auxerre-Rangers 2-2. Rangers-Beograd 1-0.

Group B: Besiktas-Tottenham 0-2. Tottenham-Brugge 3-1. Leverkusen-Tottenham 0-1. Tottenham-Dinamo Bucharest 2-1.

Group E: Wisla Krakow-Blackburn 1-2. Blackburn-Basel 3-0. Feyenoord-Blackburn 0-0. Blackburn-Nancy 1-0.

Group H: Newcastle-Fenerbahce 1-0. Palermo-Newcastle United 0-1. Newcastle-Celta Vigo 2-1. ­Eintracht Frankfurt-Newcastle 0-0.

Intermediate round: Lever-kusen-Blackburn 3-2, 0-0 (3-2). Hapoel Tel-Aviv-Rangers 2-1, 0-4 (2-5). Feyenoord-Tottenham 3-1 0-0 3-1 (Feyenoord disqualified because of crowd trouble). Waregem-Newcastle United 1-3, 0-1 (1-4).

Second round: Newcastle United-AZ Alkmaar 4-2, 0-2 (4-4). Rangers-Osasuna 1-1, 0-1 (1-2). Braga-Tottenham Hotspur 2-3, 2-3 (4-6).

Quarter-finals: Sevilla-Tottenham 2-1, 2-2 (4-3).