La Liga team performance: Sevilla lose a pair of stoppers, aim to break up the big three again

Sevilla had a big dream of breaking the big three (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid) last season, and for a long time they succeeded. It was still second in the winter and practically the only one chasing Real for the title. But in the spring came a big drop in results and performance, and Sevilla fell to their traditional fourth place.

The executive team

Sevilla’s coach is Julen Lopetegui, a great strategist and former goalkeeper. He came to the Andalusian capital after a stint at Real Madrid, and he also previously coached the Spanish national team. He is very close to players who are willing to die for him on the pitch, he can get his team incredibly fired up, helped by the raucous environment at the Ramón Sanchéz Pizjuán.

Goalkeeper

The clear number one is Bono, who played the vast majority of games last season. It was the 31-year-old Moroccan goalkeeper who forced Tomas Vaclik out of Sevilla. Serbian Marko Dmitrovic will continue to play the role of a reliable number two.

Defence

Sevilla suffered a huge blow here. The complete stopper duo Julés Koundé (Barcelona) – Diego Carlos (Aston Villa), which was one of the best in the league, left. Thanks to them, Sevilla had the best defence in the whole competition, conceding only 30 goals. It will be almost impossible to replace them.

Sevilla have only brought in 30-year-old Brazilian Marcão at stopper so far, it is likely that one more stopper will come. Otherwise, the only other original stopper position in the squad is Karim Rekik. However, Thomas Delaney has also featured here in the preparation and has claimed a place in the starting line-up with his performances.

On the right flank, there is a stalwart in the form of ageless captain Jesus Navas. The 36-year-old speedster is entering his 16th season at Sevilla, and he has also bounced to Manchester City for 4 seasons.

There is very decent competition at left-back. Until now, Argentine Marcos Acuña has been playing regularly there, but Sevilla brought Brazilian Alex Telles from Manchester United. The technical Spanish league certainly suits him much better than the physical Premier League.

Backup

Lopetegui has quite a selection here. He can use Nemanja Gudelj, Thomas Delayne, Fernando, Oliver Torres and Joan Jordan, on whom he relies heavily, as shield midfielders. He has Ivan Rakitic on the wing and also Papa Gomez, who can play from the wing.

And then there’s the fresh signing after his stint at Real Madrid, five-time Champions League winner and magician with the ball, Isco. In Spain, it is rumoured that Isco is Lopetegui’s “footballing son”, in fact, in the national team he built the whole team around him and the 30-year-old gave his best performances under him, betting on him even at Real Madrid. So he certainly didn’t come to Sevilla on the bench.

Attack

Sevilla have decent competition in attack as well. Yussuf En-Nesyri and Rafa Mir will compete for the spearhead striker position. Lucas Ocampos, Erik Lamela, Jesus “Tecatito” Corona and Suso will fight for the wing positions. All four have the quality to make the starting lineup and Papu Gomez can still play on the wing and Munir El-Haddadi is also available.

Lopetegui’s team is thus very strong in midfield and attack, but they need to strengthen the defence, where the stopper position is still on fire.

The ideal line-up

Bono
J.Navas – Delaney – Rekik – Telles
Gudelj – Rakitic
Isco
Lamela – En-Nesyri – Tecatito

Ranking tip:: 4th place

Source:: Sevilla, La Liga