Sevilla's aura in the Europa League is similar to the fear Real Madrid instil into Champions League opponents, says Steven Nzonzi.
Jose Mourinho's Roma were the latest team to fall foul of Sevilla in a Europa League final as the Andalusian side extended their remarkable record of wins in UEFA's second-tier club competition to seven.
Only five teams – Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Liverpool and Bayern Munich – have won more major European honours than Sevilla, who beat Roma 4-1 on penalties after a tightly contested 1-1 draw in Budapest.
Nzonzi, who helped Unai Emery's Sevilla beat Liverpool in 2016 to seal a third straight Europa League crown, believes the club have now created such an air of dominance in the tournament that they can be compared to Madrid, who have won the Champions League/European Cup on 14 occasions.
He told Stats Perform: "I don't know if they are the greatest team, it is hard to say but, of course they are one of the best teams to play in that competition.
"I really feel they have that energy that experience going on in that competition and it makes them win, it reminds me of Real Madrid in the Champions League.
"Real Madrid are another level and the won the Champions League more [times] than Sevilla won the Europa League but [Sevilla are] one of those teams when they are in that competition, you feel like anything is possible and they can win it."
Asked why Sevilla are able to sustain such success in the Europa League, Nzonzi replied: "It's really hard to say because sometimes you play against other teams that are better than you.
"They may play better or on paper have better players than you but you are still the one ending the game or winning the competition.
"I think it's the whole vibe, the whole energy going on, in the changing room, in the club there is a confidence because if you already won it one, two, three, four, five, six times, you have the confidence to win it again and feel that you are the superior team in that competition.
"Then there is the fans. I watched the semi-final and when Juventus played in Sevilla, I looked at the fans and I said, 'They [Juve] are not winning, the fans are just so good'. They are just pushing you so much, it is very difficult for the other team to feel confident.
"I think the big thing with Sevilla is the fans. I feel it is a big part of the energy that is happening for them in the Europa league.
"I remember going to the stadium and having a lot of fans not stopping the bus, but following the bus. [In the 2015-16 final] there were much more Liverpool fans in the stadium, but we still could feel the energy of the Sevilla fans."
Sevilla were embroiled in a relegation scrap in LaLiga until Jose Luis Mendilibar replaced Jorge Sampaoli in March, and while they are set for a mid-table finish, their Europa League triumph means Champions League football beckons next term.
"It feels like the Europa League has big things to do with Sevilla, because it is just incredible," Nzonzi added.
"And I think it is even better because they are not qualifying for the Champions League through LaLiga."
Barcelona must 'work hard' to achieve Champions League glory, says Flick
Hansi Flick tempered expectations of Barcelona's chances of silverware in his first season in charge ahead of facing Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League.
Flick has led Barca to 13 wins from 15 games in all competitions, scoring 50 goals in those games while conceding just 14 times.
Some standout matches have seen Barca thrash Clasico rivals Real Madrid 4-0 while also brushing aside Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League in their last match in the competition.
While Flick understood the fans' excitement after those results, he urged his side to keep their feet on the ground with a long season still in front of them.
"We have to work hard. There are many teams who dream of the same thing, of winning (the Champions League)," Flick said.
"For the moment, we're going to focus on working hard and grinding out, so then we'll see what happens. We have to focus on our goal which is to keep improving.
"A team's form fluctuates a lot over a long season. The important thing is to focus on winning the next match. Sure, after the match against Bayern everything changed.
"But we are just starting. The important thing is how we finish the season. We could say that our goal is to be in the top eight."
Flick, however, insisted he was not surprised by his side's impressive start to the campaign despite enduring a trophyless season last term.
Barca are nine points clear at the top of LaLiga and 11th in the Champions League table ahead of facing Red Star, who are without a win from their three games so far.
"Before we came here we analysed the whole team, every player. We realised that there was very good quality overall," Flick said.
"Another thing to point out is that we wanted to improve how we defend and did small changes in the way we play. The players liked it and they are happy working on it.
"The players play a big role, they are helping us a lot.
"The start was already good on the pre-season in North American and the players are very happy, although there are still many things to improve."
And Barca will be confident of keeping their fine form going against a side that has lost 81% of their matches in the Champions League (P21 W2 D2 L17).
This is the first European meeting between the two sides since October 1996 in the Cup Winners’ Cup, a 1-1 draw with Giovanni cancelling out a Zoran Jovicic's opener for the Serbians.
PSV 4-0 Girona: Dutch side get first win of Champions League
PSV Eindhoven won their first match in the Champions League this season as they thrashed Girona 4-0 at the Philips Stadion on Tuesday.
Ryan Flamingo got the scoring under way after 16 minutes as he turned Malik Tillman's long throw home, despite replays showing that it should have been disallowed as Tillman's foot was over the byline before releasing the ball.
Tillman got himself on the scoresheet 17 minutes later with a fine finish after he arribed into the box unopposed.
Things went from bad to worth for Girona after half-time, with Arnau Martinez receiving a red card 10 minutes into the second half for a second bookable offence.
From then, it was all one-way traffic and PSV might feel aggrieved not to have won by a bigger margin given their glut of second-half chances.
Ismael Saibari was next to put the ball in the back of the net, although his effort was ruled out for a foul in the build-up following a VAR review.
Johan Bakayoko did get PSV's third with seven minutes to go, before a Ladislav Krejci own goal wrapped up the rout in the 88th minute. The result leaves Girona 26th in the table on three points, while PSV are 19th with five points.
Odegaard returns to full Arsenal training ahead of Inter tie
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has returned to full training after spending two months out of action with an ankle injury.
Odegaard has missed 12 matches for the Gunners in all competitions after damaging his ankle ligaments against Austria while on international duty with Norway in September.
The 25-year-old midfielder trained with Arsenal ahead of their trip to the San Siro to face Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Mikel Arteta's side have, however, struggled in Odegaard's absence recently, failing to win any of their last three games in the Premier League.
In the seven games that Odegaard has missed in the top-flight, Arsenal's win percentage dropped from 66.7% to 42.9% after going unbeaten in their first three games.
The Gunners have also averaged 1.6 points per game without Odegaard, compared to 2.3 points won with the Norwegian in their ranks.
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