When Unai Emery abandoned Sevilla in June after three successful seasons, the Europa League champions were forced to undergo an unwelcome coaching shake-up and hired former Chile boss Jorge Sampaoli.
That move has turned into a blessing in disguise for Sevilla.
Under 56-year-old Sampaoli's guidance, Sevilla have lost just once in nine La Liga games and Sunday's 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid lifted the Andalusians to second place - one point behind leaders Real Madrid.
"One is always enthusiastic when the results arrive," Sampaoli told the club's website. "But it usually doesn't come so soon."
Sevilla, who had won the Europa League for the last three seasons under Emery, are also well placed to advance into the knockout rounds of the Champions League as they are level on seven points with Group H leaders Juventus.
With a 100 percent La Liga winning record at their Sanchez Pizjuan stadium this season, Sampaoli appears to be pulling the right strings as the team targets their first league title since 1946.
"We want every team that comes to this venue to know what awaits them," said Sampaoli, who led Chile to Copa America glory in 2015.
"History tells us that (winning the league) is almost impossible. But we have the pride and joy of playing against everyone at their level."
To chase their goals, Sevilla spent 56.2 million euros (50.03 million pound) to bring in 12 reinforcements.
"I'm certain that this new and young team will become a great side," Sampaoli said.
Sevilla president Jose Castro added: "We are going through a magnificent spell. This doesn't come from luck but it's the product of work and perseverance."Sevilla have started the 2016/17 LaLiga season as well as at any time under the coaching of Unai Emery, but now Jorge Sampaoli faces another huge test with Barcelona next up for the Andalusians at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
With Emery on the bench, Sevilla were fearsome at home with a record number of wins over the three seasons he was with the club.
There was a question mark over the arrival of Sampaoli in terms of whether the trend of making the Pizjuan a fortress might be reversed, but in fact it has been quite the opposite.
Steven N'Zonzi's goal to see off Atletico Madrid meant that Sevilla has six wins in seven official home matches already this season.
A campaign which began with defeat in the Supercopa de Espana against Barcelona is now well into October and the locals haven't tasted defeat at home since.
Sampaoli's side have Dinamo Zagreb coming to town in the Champions League first - but then Barcelona return, looking to overhaul their hosts again.Los Nervionenses prolonged their good run thanks to a goal by midfielder Steven N'Zonzi midway through the second half at Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan.
"As of today, Atletico Madrid are the best team in the world," Sampaoli said at his post-match press conference. "I'm very proud of this win and the fact the players are buying into the system."
The ex-Chile boss lauded the overall performance of N'Zonzi, who has quietly grown into a multifaceted star.
"He [N'Zonzi] is fundamental for us to develop our game and not only disrupts the opponents, but also generates scoring opportunities."
Ex-Atletico striker Luciano Vietto drew praise from his compatriot as well, despite not scoring.
"His [Vietto's] generosity and constant effort helps us in many ways other than goals," the coach said.
Regarding the provisional status as LaLiga leaders, Sampaoli declared he remains hopeful Sevilla will compete until the end of the season.
"We played and gave Real Madrid and Barcelona a tough challenge in the UEFA Super Cup and the Supercopa de Espana respectively, and we did the same today," the Argentine mentioned of previous encounters.
"The key for us is to build our own identity.
"We cannot play scared, so we must seek to dominate the game and think about our rival's goal.
"There will be missteps along the way, but we must keep working hard."
When inquired about the formation and substitutions, the Argentinian insisted Sevilla could not be outnumbered to stand a chance in the match.
"We had to defend with one more player than the four attackers they had," Sampaoli pointed out. "The substitutions provided solutions for us, once I saw players were getting tired, I made the decision to sub them off.
"Having the team click in such a short period of time exceeds even the most optimistic of expectations."
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