Sampaoli’s Sevilla threaten Madrid’s title charge
>> MADRID: Jorge Sampaoli’s chances of landing his dream job at Barcelona may have come and gone, but he could still hand the Catalans the La Liga title on a plate should Sevilla shock Real Madrid today.
Madrid are in the driving seat for their first league title in five years as they also target a first La Liga and Champions League double since 1958.
Zinedine Zidane’s men are level on points with Barcelona at the top of the table, but have three games remaining to the Catalans’ two.
However, thanks to Barca’s better head-to-head record, any Real defeat will put the title race back in their rivals’ hands.
The spectre of Sevilla boss Sampaoli adds an extra edge to an already vital encounter.
The Argentine has been fulsome in his praise of Barca’s Lionel Messi and Neymar since moving to Sevilla, which fuelled speculation he could take over the vacant position at the Camp Nou next season.
However, with Barca expected to turn instead to Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde, Sampaoli still looks set to fulfil his ambition of coaching Messi by taking over as Argentina boss at the end of this campaign.
And what better way to endear himself to Messi than by severely denting Real’s title challenge?
Madrid, though, are brimming with confidence after withstanding an Atletico Madrid onslaught to reach their third Champions League final in four years on Wednesday.
Sevilla look set to finish fourth but need one more point to guarantee a return to the Champions League and to win their last two matches to have any chance of ousting Atletico for third.