Page 2 - Sevilla
- July 22, 2016
22nd July 2016. By Edward Stratmann.
After losing Grzegorz Krychowiak to PSG for a whopping £28.56 million and Ever Banega to Inter Milan, their two most influential midfielders from last season, Sevilla have quickly gone about bolstering their ranks in this area of the pitch ahead of the new season.
Under exciting new coach, Jorge Sampaoli, who won the 2015 Copa America with Chile (the first in their history), the club have signaled their intent by bringing in some hugely gifted yet entirely suitable players.
To play within Sampaoli's high octane, attacking system, the Argentine manager clearly wants players that are dynamic, fit, aggressive and full of intensity. "Undoubtedly I am a person who is tremendously passionate about attacking" he insisted.
"For that we need a rebellious group. We need a lot of spirit spread to the group of players so we try to make this team respected throughout Europe, as it is now. I hope I can fulfil the expectations that the - May 22, 2016
22nd May 2016. By Edward Stratmann.
With his side trailing 1-0 at half time in their Europa League final clash with Liverpool at St. Jakob-Park, Sevilla coach, Unai Emery, got his team talk spot on, inspiring his players to go on and win the competition for an unprecedented third time in a row.
"We organised our minds at the break and we knew why we had reached this stage," he said. "We had to remember that the neutral pitch was the Sanchez Pizjuan, that we were in Seville. And the team took off."
Considering Sevilla had failed to win all of their matches away from home in La Liga, his words made perfect sense. And they must have struck a cord with their chief creative weapon, Ever Banega, who's had a frustratingly inconsistent year and is reportedly on the verge of leaving for Inter Milan, for after the break he lifted his game accordingly to match the enormity of the occasion.
While he was still industrious in the first half, the enigmatic Argentine really - May 12, 2016
12th May 2016.
Sevilla made Europa League history a year ago, beating Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3-2 in the championship match to clinch their fourth title. It was a record-breaking moment for the Spanish soccer club, putting them above Juventus, Inter Milan, and Liverpool in the annals of UEFA's second-tier European club football tournament. Now, following an exciting semi-final round, Sevilla will seek to defend their Europa League title against Liverpool, who themselves are looking to tie the four-title record.
A Premium Match-up
Needless to say, the final-which is scheduled for May 18th at St. Jakob-Park in Switzerland-will be one of the highest-profile in the history of the Europa League. Rarely do we see such heavyweight battles in the Europa League.
Sure, Sevilla and Liverpool aren't the top teams in their home countries and would probably struggle to make it out of the groups in the Champions - April 28, 2016
28th April 2016. By Greg Lea.
When the draw for the semi-finals of the Europa League was made a fortnight ago, the majority of Liverpool fans reacted well to being paired with Villarreal. Shakhtar Donetsk, another potential opponent in the last four, had impressed in defeating Schalke, Anderlecht and Braga in previous knockout rounds, with many Reds supporters also pleased to dodge Sevilla, the defending champions who have triumphed in the competition twice in the last two years.
A glance at the La Liga table would suggest the confident reaction to the draw may have been misplaced, however: Villarreal have amassed nine points more than Sevilla this year and, if you share the common belief that the table never lies at this late stage of the season, are thus a better team than Unai Emery's side. Rather astonishingly, Sevilla have still not won a single game away from home in the league, with just two matches left for them to rectify that record as they attempt to - April 23, 2016
23rd April 2016.
A year ago, Sevilla FC made history by becoming the first football club ever to win the Europa League four times. Equally remarkable, the win marked the second time that Sevilla had won back-to-back UEL titles, as the team had won their first three titles in 2006, 2007, and 2014, respectively. Now, with just four teams left standing in Europe's secondary club football competition, Sevilla are looking to make history once more, by winning the tournament for a third time in a row.
Already, Sevilla is the only team ever to win two Europa Leagues back-to-back, and they've done it twice. If any team is going to win three in a row, it's only fitting that the Red and Whites would be that organization.
The Semi-Final Draw
Not that Sevilla has the easiest path to the top of the podium. Competition is heating up in the 2015/16 Europa League-to the point where the Red and Whites only just - March 28, 2016
28th March 2016.
Could Sevilla be on a crash course for a third consecutive title in the UEFA Europa League? Will Jurgen Klopp be able to coach a victory out of Liverpool as his new team faces his former club? These are just two of the fascinating narratives that are at play as the Europa League barrels into the quarterfinal round.
This year's UEL round of 16 was a bloodbath for many of the tournament's most promising performers. Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United both fell out of contention, putting a huge dent in the chances of a Premier League team winning some European silverware this year. Lazio, following a nine-game undefeated run in this tournament, lost big in their second-leg match against Sparta Prague. That defeat, coupled with an early Champions League loss for Juventus, means that no Serie A squads are still active in either UEFA tournament. And Valencia, after a remarkable 10-0 aggregate against Rapid Wien in the round of 16, lost in extra time to Athletic - February 18, 2016
By Greg Lea.
It was a rule change that, in hindsight, should really have been introduced sooner. When Uefa decided in 2014 that future winners of the Europa League would automatically qualify for the following season's Champions League, the tournament was given a new dimension and its participants another incentive to take it seriously.
Sevilla were the first club to benefit from the amendment, with their 3-2 triumph over Ukranian outfit Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the final last May allowing them to enter the group stage of Europe's primary club competition this term despite only finishing fifth in La Liga. The Rojiblancos, who have won the tournament in each of the last two years and four times since 2006, are in a similar position this time around, too: ahead of the first leg of their round of 32 tie with Molde on Thursday, Sevilla's best chance of qualifying for the Champions League is by winning the Europa League once again.
In that respect, Unai Emery's - February 12, 2016
The second leg matches of the 2015/16 Copa del Rey semifinals both ended in draws, with Barcelona tying 1-1 against Valencia and Sevilla hitting a 2-2 stalemate with Celta de Vigo. Judging from a snapshot of just those two games, you could make the observation that the semis were close. They weren't.
Indeed, both Barcelona and Sevilla won so big in their first leg games that they were easily able to coast into the finals. Barcelona crushed Valencia 7-0 in their first match, with Luis Suarez scoring four goals and Lionel Messi netting three. Sevilla, meanwhile, beat Celta Vigo 4-0, with Kevin Gameiro providing a brace and Adil Rami and Michael Krohn-Dehli netting one goal apiece.
The Second Leg
The two at-home victories left the challenging - January 17, 2016
We're only just reaching the quarterfinals for the 2015/16 Copa del Rey, but the tournament has already brought its fair share of surprises. From the controversial disqualification of Real Madrid in the middle of the round of 32 (for fielding an ineligible player) to the surprisingly great showing from some of Barcelona's up-and-coming young talents, this year's Copa del Rey has offered entertainment and discussion in equal measure. Now, with the slate for the quarterfinal officially announced, we're checking back in with the tournament to assess the likely outcomes of the next run and whether or not FC Barcelona are a shoe-in to win the CDR title once more in 2016.
The Quarterfinal Draw
As is customary for the Copa del Rey, most of - December 20, 2015
With the group stages concluded for both the 2015/16 Europa League and Champions League tournaments, UEFA announced the round of 32 draw for the UEL on Monday, December 14th. In addition to top group stage contenders from earlier in the Europa League (like Napoli, Rapid Wien, and Tottenham Hotspur), the round of 32 will also include the third-placers from the Champions League (including football clubs like Manchester United, Olympiacos, and Bayer Leverkusen).
The combinatory nature of the Europa League knockout stage always serves to inject some extra excitement into the proceedings. However, it also serves to make the round of 32 especially harder to predict. With that in mind, we are taking a look at the draw for the round of 32 and trying to decipher which teams will progress and which teams won't.
