Sevilla – Espanyol: The moment to make the leap that Sevilla didn’t even expect

This is how the Sevillista feels when he goes this rainy January afternoon to the Sánchez-Pizjuán and so do those players from the Nervionense squad, who have seen the possibility that a season that had suffered a serious setback at this very beginning of the year with the elimination in the King’s Cupcan now change their destination in the League if for the first time the team coached by Garcia Pimienta is capable of linking two consecutive victories in the championship. In fact, with the calendar in hand, it is time to find out what this Seville is for.

Because the general feeling was going in other directions. Let the year pass without too many scratches on the dented sheet metal of the Sevilla’s body. They did not even trust this winter market, which is bringing more surprises than expected. It was known that the club wanted to make two or three adjustments, at the same time that there was fear of a possible weakening of the squad with a sale that was as unpopular as it was economically necessary. Badé has been one step away from leaving for the Aston Villa. The French central defender was the one who declined the juicy proposal when the last steps were being taken for the Seville a surplus value from other times was put into his pocket. Everything came to nothing. It was also surprising that Lukebakio did not even want to listen to what the market is proposing. It wasn’t the time to go out. Both footballers exemplify what the current Sevilla is. A very young team, with just the right references on the grass, but that is capable of attracting and protecting its best players in an ecosystem where they feel calm. Involved with a project that has just been born, but which they will have to abandon when the time comes so that it can continue taking steps forward, a situation that remains to be seen since in this business the ball rules.

The coach does not want to throw the bells into the air. He is satisfied with the image shown by Sevilla in Montilivi. The first time that his team was able to stand up to and even overcome a well-armed rival, who knows what he is playing and who is several steps above. The results of the first round had been too clear: Sevilla could beat opponents from the lower zone in their stadium, while bleeding, even in front of their people, against those fighting for the European positions. Change that movie in terms of who could be your adversaries in a hypothetical fight for a greater objective than a calm permanence. Or maybe it’s too much to ask of a Seville where instability and setbacks are within its current DNA, little given to permanent illusions and much of those fleeting ones that only cause discontent in the fan, tired of seeing how the fall of his team is not able to stop.

Within the match against Spanishwho is feared more than a more powerful rival due to that classic concern of stumbling on the least expected day, the coach must decide how to solve two weight losses on his team. The sanction of Pedrosa will be covered again by Kike Salas. The youth player will experience his first start after breaking the scandal of the alleged crime of being involved in a gambling issue. The absence of Isaac Romero It does force other threads to move. Iheanacho He will not play, so Pimienta does not have pure forwards except García Pascual. Therefore, either move Lukebakio’s position and offer her the lead, leaving him free to appear wherever he wants, or place a player more accustomed to fighting between the center backs. Could be Little or the aforementioned striker of the reserve team (while today he arrives Akor Adams). Disadvantages that further fuel the feeling of fighting against the elements. To think if this time is the good one.