Joaquín Caparrós changed much for Sevilla FC. The club had been on a steady decline since 1995, dropping to the Segunda
for the first time in 23 years in 1998 and then struggling to rebound.
They returned in 2000 only to finish dead last with 28 points. Then
Caparrós was put in charge. He won the Segunda comfortably in his first season then miraculously in 2001/2 led Sevilla to an 8th
place La Liga finish, their best placing in nearly a decade. With his
foresight and trust in youth products Carlos Marchena, José Antonio
Reyes, Jesuli and shrewd signings of Julió Baptista, Adriano, Daniel
Alves and Renato, Caparrós’ side finished 6th twice before
his controversial firing in 2005. Juande Ramos was the one who bore the
fruits with the dual UEFA Cups and several domestic trophies, but it was
Joaquín Caparrós who built the foundations.
The club, now under the helm of fanatic, über pragmatist Unai Emery, is in reboot mode. They have slipped since those glory years of 2005 to 2007, finishing most recently 9th in consecutive seasons. Just this summer four star players were sold on: Álvaro Negredo and Jesús Navas to Manchester City (26 million, 21 million), Gary Medel to Cardiff (14 million) and Geoffrey Kondogbia to the latest money-bags AS Monaco (21 million). Recruits were brought in, notably Kévin Gameiro (8 million) and talented forward Carlos Bacca (7 million), but the net surplus of 60 million on transfers has not gone to squad rebuilding but towards ailing the club’s financial woes. Sevilla are once again looking to youth, they have the second youngest squad in the league with an average age of 25.4 only behind Villarreal’s median age of 25.3.
You all know the story at home. Martino has worked with the players after their return from international duty and as always the objective is to go out, play well and win. Champions League resumes the next week so as fixtures mount, squad rotation becomes paramount. Some rotation is likely to be seen as we must come to expect under Tata, but he also emphasized that while considering Ajax midweek there is no need what so ever to relax in the league.
Team News
FC Barcelona
Carles Puyol may have close to taking the field but his return date was always set for the match-day one of the UEFA Champions League and it remains so. Along with Puyol are the long-term injuries to Isaac Cuenca and Ibrahim Afellay. As has been the norm, one or two first team players rest every week and tomorrow is the turn of Pedro Rodríguez. Sergio Busquets, who missed out on Spain duty, is declared fully fit. I suspect Alexis may start on the bench due to his 180 minutes for Chile and global traveling giving Tello his opportunity. Alba may also sit in favor of Adriano.
Predicted Starting XI: Valdés, Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba; Fàbregas, Busquets, Iniesta; Tello, Messi, Neymar
Match squad (20, 2 to drop): Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Montoya, Adriano, Piqué, Bartra, Mascherano, Alba, Song, Dos Santos, Fàbregas, Sergi Roberto, Busquets, Iniesta, Xavi, Tello, Alexis, Messi, Neymar
Sevilla FC
They are yet to win in the league with two draws and one defeat. Diego Perotti, once thought to have so much potential, continues with his horrific injury issues and is not available for selection. And he is far from the only absentee name. The shortage of players at center-back continues with three injuries in the names of Federico Fazio, Nico Pareja and Daniel Carriço. Also two wingers in José Reyes and Denis Cheryshev are unavailable. On the positive side for Emery is that Portuegese striker Beto and on loan Chelsea winger Marko Marin return from their respective fitness issues.
Predicted Starting XI: Beto; Coke, Cala, Navarro, Moreno; Iborra, M’Bia; Jairo, Rakitic, Marin; Gameiro
Match Squad: Beto, Javi Varas, Coke, Diogo Figueiras, Fernando Navarro, Alberto Moreno, Cala, M’Bia, Cristóforo, Víctor Machín, Iborra, Jairo, Trochowski, Rakitic, Bacca, Gameiro, Marko Marin y Rabello.
Prediction
Barça are odds on favorites to win somewhere around 3-1, 3-0 or 4-1. FC Barcelona have won the last three matches and are undefeated in the league in six seasons, in fact it was Barça’s very own Dani Alves who last scored a winning goal for Sevilla in 2007. But it’s been tight affairs of late and not long ago in 2011 Sevilla battled to a 0-0 draw with that dramatic, late penalty save from Javi Varas. Emery always makes matches difficult with defensive safety emphasized over all else. His team however is still very much a work in progress and will find it hard to keep a clean sheet while needing to sacrifice safety in pursuit of goals if they fall behind. Barça will want to score early to place the impetus on Sevilla. But like Martino said, international matches cannot be used as excuses so I’d expect a solid motivated performance. Players are not sure of their places anymore and this should show again this evening.
EnriqueSDS is a senior writer and editor for totalBarça, he can also be found in the Twittersphere under @enriqueschoch
The club, now under the helm of fanatic, über pragmatist Unai Emery, is in reboot mode. They have slipped since those glory years of 2005 to 2007, finishing most recently 9th in consecutive seasons. Just this summer four star players were sold on: Álvaro Negredo and Jesús Navas to Manchester City (26 million, 21 million), Gary Medel to Cardiff (14 million) and Geoffrey Kondogbia to the latest money-bags AS Monaco (21 million). Recruits were brought in, notably Kévin Gameiro (8 million) and talented forward Carlos Bacca (7 million), but the net surplus of 60 million on transfers has not gone to squad rebuilding but towards ailing the club’s financial woes. Sevilla are once again looking to youth, they have the second youngest squad in the league with an average age of 25.4 only behind Villarreal’s median age of 25.3.
You all know the story at home. Martino has worked with the players after their return from international duty and as always the objective is to go out, play well and win. Champions League resumes the next week so as fixtures mount, squad rotation becomes paramount. Some rotation is likely to be seen as we must come to expect under Tata, but he also emphasized that while considering Ajax midweek there is no need what so ever to relax in the league.
Team News
FC Barcelona
Carles Puyol may have close to taking the field but his return date was always set for the match-day one of the UEFA Champions League and it remains so. Along with Puyol are the long-term injuries to Isaac Cuenca and Ibrahim Afellay. As has been the norm, one or two first team players rest every week and tomorrow is the turn of Pedro Rodríguez. Sergio Busquets, who missed out on Spain duty, is declared fully fit. I suspect Alexis may start on the bench due to his 180 minutes for Chile and global traveling giving Tello his opportunity. Alba may also sit in favor of Adriano.
Predicted Starting XI: Valdés, Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba; Fàbregas, Busquets, Iniesta; Tello, Messi, Neymar
Match squad (20, 2 to drop): Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Montoya, Adriano, Piqué, Bartra, Mascherano, Alba, Song, Dos Santos, Fàbregas, Sergi Roberto, Busquets, Iniesta, Xavi, Tello, Alexis, Messi, Neymar
Sevilla FC
They are yet to win in the league with two draws and one defeat. Diego Perotti, once thought to have so much potential, continues with his horrific injury issues and is not available for selection. And he is far from the only absentee name. The shortage of players at center-back continues with three injuries in the names of Federico Fazio, Nico Pareja and Daniel Carriço. Also two wingers in José Reyes and Denis Cheryshev are unavailable. On the positive side for Emery is that Portuegese striker Beto and on loan Chelsea winger Marko Marin return from their respective fitness issues.
Predicted Starting XI: Beto; Coke, Cala, Navarro, Moreno; Iborra, M’Bia; Jairo, Rakitic, Marin; Gameiro
Match Squad: Beto, Javi Varas, Coke, Diogo Figueiras, Fernando Navarro, Alberto Moreno, Cala, M’Bia, Cristóforo, Víctor Machín, Iborra, Jairo, Trochowski, Rakitic, Bacca, Gameiro, Marko Marin y Rabello.
Prediction
Barça are odds on favorites to win somewhere around 3-1, 3-0 or 4-1. FC Barcelona have won the last three matches and are undefeated in the league in six seasons, in fact it was Barça’s very own Dani Alves who last scored a winning goal for Sevilla in 2007. But it’s been tight affairs of late and not long ago in 2011 Sevilla battled to a 0-0 draw with that dramatic, late penalty save from Javi Varas. Emery always makes matches difficult with defensive safety emphasized over all else. His team however is still very much a work in progress and will find it hard to keep a clean sheet while needing to sacrifice safety in pursuit of goals if they fall behind. Barça will want to score early to place the impetus on Sevilla. But like Martino said, international matches cannot be used as excuses so I’d expect a solid motivated performance. Players are not sure of their places anymore and this should show again this evening.
EnriqueSDS is a senior writer and editor for totalBarça, he can also be found in the Twittersphere under @enriqueschoch
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