Sevilla on cusp of glory
SEVILLA recorded their best first half to a season in the Spanish first division and now they have the chance to go further in the Champions League than before.
Jorge Sampaoli’s side face Leicester in a last 16 first leg tonight at the Sanchez Pizjuan.
There was cautious optimism in Seville when they were drawn with free-falling Leicester and that has only increased since Claudio Ranieri’s team were knocked out of the FA Cup by third-tier side Millwall at the weekend. “It’s a very big game in the history of the club,” Sampaoli said of the clash with the English champions.
Previous coach Unai Emery guided Sevilla to three straight Europa League trophies, but a last-eight berth in the Champions League is a different landmark.
“Over the last few years the club has grown a lot,” said Spain winger Vitolo, one of the key performers this season.
“Ten years ago we were not even in Europe, but the success of the last few years has helped the club internally.”
Despite that internal stability, Sevilla are still seen as a selling club. Last year they lost coach Emery to Paris Saint-Germain and top scorer Kevin Gameiro to Atletico Madrid.
Vitolo will be a target for clubs at the end of the season, but he believes the cogs in the Sevilla machine will keep turning whatever happens. Coach Sampaoli has done so well he has been linked in the media with the Barcelona position if Luis Enrique leaves at the end of the campaign. His style is viewed as different to his predecessor.
“Unai wanted his team to attack, but he was very concerned with the tactical system and with ensuring that the team didn’t concede many goals,” Vitolo said.
“With Sampaoli, it’s totally different. He wants his team to dominate every game, whoever it is against. What he wants is to score a lot of goals and make the fans enjoy it.”
That attacking style of play has some Sevilla fans concerned that it will suit their English opponents.
For all of Leicester’s problems, they may be happy to pick off their opponents on the break. Meanwhile, goalkeeping icons Iker Casillas and Gianluigi Buffon will renew a rivalry going back almost two decades when Porto host Juventus in tonight’s Champions League last 16.
Age is just another number for Spaniard Casillas, 35, and 39-year-old Italian nemesis Buffon. Between them they have 334 caps, 275 Champions League matches, 12 league titles, two World Cups, two European championships, three Champions Leagues, a Uefa Cup and a combined age of 74.
The clash at Porto’s Dragon Stadium will be the 17th in their storied careers. In fact, both were the peerless in the early 2000s and Buffon remains without a doubt the top goalkeeper in Italy.
Last season was one of the most brilliant of his career. Two uncharacteristic slips at the start of this season – against Lyon with Juventus and Spain with the national side – were quickly overshadowed by several top-class performances.
His mind remains sharp and his hands as hard as the marble of his hometown Carrara, with no sign of weariness as he targets a first Champions League title and a final World Cup in 2018 in Russia.
By contrast Casillas has fared less well.” San Iker” lost his place in the national side and had to leave Real Madrid for Porto after 25 years.
His first season in Portugal in 2015 was complicated, with what he termed “some blunders”.
“Maybe I didn’t reach the level I wanted last year, I didn’t feel completely comfortable,” Casillas said in an interview with Uefa.com.
But the three-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid has regained his spark this season basking in glory as he oversees the most solid defence in Europe with just 11 goals conceded. – dpa