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The tie was not supposed to go their way, but Southampton have made a habit of defying expectations. On Wednesday night they secured a slot in the EFL Cup final by beating Liverpool.
It will be their first major cup final at Wembley since 2003, something they have achieved despite losing manager after manager and seemingly key player after key player.
How have they managed it? Sportsmail has put together a look at a club that have reasonable claim to being one of the best forward planners in the game and revealed how they still succeed every season.
How have Southampton dealt with the loss of managers?
This summer, a recent trend at St. Mary’s was continued. Ronald Koeman was poached by Everton, the second manager in a row that the Saints have lost to another Premier League club.
There seems to be an awareness at Southampton of their place in the top flight. They are not a team that will be battling relegation, but they will always struggle to keep people at the club in the face of more moneyed or more prestigious offers.
Koeman’s departure followed Mauricio Pochettino’s two years prior. The battle for Southampton was not to keep hold of Koeman, but to extract as much from Everton as they could. They knew he would either leave last summer or when his contract expired in 2017.
It would seem difficult to sustain success in the face of constant departures, but Southampton have put safeguards in place at the club. These have allowed them to improve their final position every season they have been in the Premier League. They are constantly assessing their options and are always aware of the available managers who would fit the club.
After Koeman’s appointment, executive director of football Les Reed explained: 'It wasn’t a toss of a coin – “We’ll go for Koeman, oh, we’ve hit the jackpot.” It was a profiling process. What coaches are out there who have the track record that says they’ve been successful at developing young dynamic teams and successful in playing a style which we could call the Southampton style?
‘It was doing the same thing we do with players: due diligence, research, make sure you are going to make the right decision, not make a mistake.’
And while it was regarded as a slip of the tongue at the time, former executive director Nicola Cortese called Pochettino ‘a department head like any other’ while he was at Southampton. They belie the expectation of English football, where a manager is all-powerful, while still acknowledging that they need the right one in the hot-seat.
They are ruthless too, having dismissed Nigel Adkins the moment they realised he could be improved upon by appointing Pochettino.
Puel has done good job… what’s he done and why did he get the job in first place?
When Claude Puel arrived at St. Mary’s following Koeman’s departure he was a relative unknown in England.
But that was more ignorance than anything else. He began the process at Nice that has seen them challenge for the Ligue 1 crown this season. Puel led them to a fourth-place finish last season, a stunning achievement for a generally unfashionable side.
It was at Nice that he demonstrated his ability to get the best out of talent. Hatem Ben Arfa arrived on a free transfer with questions over his form, fitness and general ability after a horrifically difficult season or two.
He left the Allianz Riviera with 19 goals to his name, securing a deal with PSG. This season, without Puel, Ben Arfa has not scored once.
From Josh Sims to Jack Stephens, the latest youngsters are seamlessly fitting in… who are they?
Southampton’s production line over the last 10 years has been notable, with the club constantly churning out players who are capable of featuring in whatever league they are in.
From Gareth Bale to James Ward-Prowse, the Saints seem to have an uncanny knack of bringing through at least one or two players a season.
This year Josh Sims has broken through. Sims, a winger, managed to set up an assist almost immediately after making his Premier League debut. He crossed for Charlie Austin in the first minute of their game against Everton to make a speedy impression.
Jack Stephens had huge boots to fill on Wednesday night, stepping in for the injured Virgil van Dijk. With only two league appearances for Southampton, it should have been a tough task.
Not so - the central defender excelled. It should not have been a major surprise. Stevens has managed to appear 64 times in the Football League at the tender age of 22 - not bad for a central defender.
The club just seem to produce players who slot in perfectly to their system. While none in recent years have been spectacular successes, they do tend to be able to perform when called upon.
Nathan Redmond was excellent – wasn’t he lined up well in advance? How does their excellent transfer policy work?
Southampton have been able to rely on their ‘Black Box’. The Black Box is a state of the art cinema-style suite which gathers data and analysis, allowing them to see how they fit into their tactical system.
For example, they used the Black Box to verify that Dusan Tadic and Graziano Pelle would fit the team when Koeman wanted them signed. Similarly, it allowed them to prove to Koeman that Sadio Mane and Ryan Bertrand would fit his team.
They are also exceptional at understanding when a player has reached the peak of his value. That allows them to sell him on and replace with a number of cheaper options who can eventually pan out. Oriol Romeu was man of the match against Liverpool. He cost just £5million in 2015, signed after Morgan Schneiderlin left the club for £27m.
Redmond’s case is excellent evidence of how Southampton work. He was snapped up for around £10m from Norwich, who were relegated last season. The winger signed despite the club not having a manager at that point.
He was a long-term target. They first tried to snap Redmond up back in 2014 during another managerial transition between Pochettino and Koeman.
Who took over from Nicola Cortese at the top behind the scenes?
So much of the credit for Southampton’s initial success goes to Nicola Cortese, who helped set up the systems that are still in place to this day.
His departure in 2014 could have rocked the club, but Les Reed played a key role by stepping up.
The former Charlton manager - who won just once in seven games with the Addicks - oversees the youth academy, scouting and recruitment, sports science and kit management.
Reed is the continuity amid all the change in terms of management and players. Thanks, in part, to him, it tends to work.
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Claude Puel reflects on the superb performances of 
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