19 August 2007 - Sevilla Delivers A Severe Beating

On 19 August 2007, Sevilla won their first Supercopa de España, destroying Real Madrid at the Bernabéu to win 6-3 on aggregate.



Sevilla, the 2007 Copa del Rey and UEFA Cup winners, hosted the first leg on 11 August and scraped out a 1-0 victory thanks to a 27th-minute penalty kick from striker Luís Fabiano. The second leg was hosted by Real Madrid, the 2007 La Liga champions.



A crowd of 69,000 turned out at the Bernebéu and were stunned to see Sevilla increase their aggregate lead in the 16th minute when a scramble in front of the Madrid goal allowed forward Renato to knock the ball home. But just seven minutes later, Madrid midfielder Royston Drenthe beat Sevilla keeper Andrés Palop with a rocket from over 35 yards out.



In the 37th minute, a Madrid handball led to another Sevilla penalty, converted by striker Frédéric Kanouté, who had missed the first leg. Madrid surged back to take a 2-3 lead on the day with goals from Fabio Cannavaro (44') and Sergio Ramos (78'). The 3-3 aggregate score would have seen them take the cup on the away goals rule, but Sevilla pulled away with three late strikes from Kanouté (80', 89') and Renato (88') to claim the victory.



Real Madrid eventually sorted out their defensive woes, giving up the fewest goals in the league en route to the 2007-09 La Liga title, while Sevilla finished fifth that season.

25 August 2007 - Puerta Collapses

On 25 August 2007, 22-year old Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta collapsed on the pitch in the 36th minute of Sevilla's league opener against Getafe. He briefly lost consciousness, but soon recovered and was substituted out the game. He walked back to the dressing room, where he again collapsed and lost consciousness before being rushed to Seville's Virgen de Rocio hospital.

Puerta had recently established himself as a rising star for Sevilla, having scored the extra-time match-winner in the club's 1-0 win over Schalke 04 in the UEFA Cup semi-finals. Sevilla supporters refer to that goal as "el gol quenos cambió la vida" (the goal that changed our lives) because it propelled them into a world-record-setting streak of five trophies in 15 months, starting with the 2006 UEFA Cup Final against Middlesbrough, which Sevilla won 4-0, and including the 2006 UEFA Super Cup, the 2007 Copa del Rey, the 2007 Supercopa de Espana, and the 2007 UEFA Cup Final against Espanyol, in which Puerta scored the winning penalty.

Puerta died on 28 August, his third day in the hospital. Doctors confirmed the cause as multiple cardiac arrests brought on by arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, a hereditary heart disease.

On 31 August, Sevilla played in the European Super Cup against AC Milan. As a tribute, the players from both sides all wore shirts with Puerta's name on the back.