The eternal idol of Sevillismo, Jesús Navas, fulfilled what he said at the end of last season: he is retiring from football and will not continue his extensive professional career with the beginning of 2025. The Sevilla FC legend hangs up his boots after competing at the highest level for several years with a sore hip. Suffering In a complicated situation, like the one your club is going through; That is why he wanted to stay during the first months of this campaign, to help his childhood team in this arduous transition stage. Of course, in this short space of time, the palace has been able to continue breaking records and thus enlarging its legend even more. He beat one of them on October 6, when he came on in the 72nd minute of a ninth league matchday in which Sevilla and Betis faced each other at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán (1-0). This is how the captain from Nervion rose to prominence as the player who has played in the most Sevillian derbies in history.
In total, there have been 28 maximum rivalry duels in which Jesús Navas has participated since he joined the first team with Joaquín Caparrós. Under the direction of the Utrerano, It debuted in the derby of the 2004/05 seasonthe second of that course, at the Benito Villamarín, which ended with a 1-0 local victory. A bitter game for a kid of only 19 years old who was facing his first start in a derby, which he got to play in full. However, that confrontation would mark the beginning of a milestone. And they are fifteen seasons in which Navas has faced Betisboth in LaLiga and Copa del Rey matches; a dynamic only interrupted by the four years he spent in Manchester.
Navas leaves Luis Fernández in a Betis – Sevilla match in the 2004/05 season, the first derby played by the palace
Adding one derby after another – many of them, especially the last ones, wearing the captain’s armband – Navas has achieved what many predicted: becoming the player who has played in the most derbies in history. A goal that has been achieved especially during the last few seasons, in which He surpassed players of the stature of Antonio Álvarez and Pablo Blanco (22), Diego Rodríguez (23), Esnaola (24) and Joaquín (27). It was precisely in that match played in October when the player surpassed the former Betic captain, who previously stood as the sole leader of this list of players with the most Sevillian derbies behind him.
Victorious
Navas is not only the player who has played in the most derbies; it is also the one who has won the most. And while he defended the red and white jersey, the palace man took the victory on twelve occasions against the eternal rival. Some of the most special victories were the 1-0 in Nervión in the 2005/06 season, for being their first victory in a derby; the 0-2 in 2007/08, their first victory at the Betic stadium; the 1-1 at home in 2011/12 -the first as captain-; or the 5-1 in 2012/13, due to how large the score was. Of course, without forgetting the last 1-0 of this campaign, in which a goal by Lukebakio from a penalty served to pay tribute to the Sevilla legend. His own teammates felt that way. That was his derby; his last derby. And the post-match celebration on the field, with Navas raised on shoulders waving his shirt on one of Gol Norte’s corner flags, corroborated it. «It has been tremendous, what you see in training and how we give everything. They played me a video saying that they were going to give everything for me. That’s how it was and I’m proud of them and the fans,” the player himself admitted to the club’s official media after the match concluded.
Navas celebrates the victory against Betis in the last derby, just after the final whistle
By way of contributions, if Navas has something left to do in the derbies it has been to score. Nevertheless, The former Sevilla captain has three assists to his credit in these duels: to Negredo, in the aforementioned 1-1 of the 2011/12 season; Rakitic, as the finishing touch to make it 5-1 in 2012/13; and En-Nesyri, to give his team victory in Sevilla – Betis in 2020/21.
The respect of the greatest rival
And beyond sports, being the player who has played and won the most derbies, if there is something that Navas can boast about after his retirement, it is nothing other than having had the recognition of the rival fans. Not in the meetings themselves, obviously, but in other circumstances. As clear examples, the great ovation he received from Villamarín in the tribute match for Joaquín, or the affection received when he represented Spain and was elevated as the player with the most titles in the history of the National Team, the last one achieving this past summer, with the Eurocup.
On the occasion of the aforementioned tribute to the former captain of Betis, the protagonist of that event did not hesitate to praise the figure of the man who was his rival for many campaigns. “I contacted Jesus because He has been or is an example as a professional and I was very excited that he is with us. He wanted to be on such a happy day for me and I am grateful that a player from the land can be with us on this day,” said Joaquín a few days before his tribute match. At this event, another Betic legend like Rafael Gordillo also He had words of appreciation for Navas: “He is a legend too, from Sevilla. And, look, now they are applauding him“.
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