Fabiano was back in the squad but Negredo got the nod over him to start alongside Kanouté and Zokora was replaced in the centre of midfield by Lolo. Perotti picked up a knock against Mallorca and wasn’t included in the squad meaning Capel started on the left side of the midfield. Drago also once again started in the centre of defence alongside Squillaci as Escudé is making his recovery to full fitness.

Having made those changes to the lineup we still looked strong from the get go with Renato feeding and endless supply of decent balls up to our front pair and Lolo supporting perfectly. Just 5 minutes into the match was all it took for us to take the lead as Renato hit a perfectly placed free kick into the bottom corner out of reach of Iraizoz’ outstretched arms.

Despite taking the lead, we never let up at all as just 15 minutes later, Diego Capel sent Negredo through on goal and our record signing finished with the greatest of ease and showed exactly why he’s not only the club’s record signing but also the highest earner in wages per week. Absolute class.

We carried on like a team who was really hungry; a team who wanted to prove that we’re here to stay and not just one who will let Real or Barça win the league without a massive fight. Like the German national team who is never satisfied with just a simple result but rather in absolutely demolishing their opponents, we grabbed another goal just before half as we had a freekick just outside the box which Negredo struck hard but right at Iraizoz, but the Athletic keeper couldn’t contain the shot as big Fredi Kanouté was there to knock in the rebound.

The struggle continued for our Basque opponents as Amorebieta received a second yellow for a rash tackle on our new star right back, Sergio Sánchez and was sent off.

The sending off made Athletic change their tactics to a more defensive mindset which is why despite being a man up and dominant in possession, it took us about 20 minutes to finally score once again. This time it was another quick play on the flank which saw Lolo feed Negredo on the wing who then slotted it through to Jesús Navas who smashed an unusual left footed shot to the far side of Iraizoz’ goal, way out of the goalkeeper’s reach.

Again it was an excellent buildup in the play which shows that this team really does have what it takes to compete with the big boys of La Liga. This was not only a fantastic result for our own personal results but in smashing Athletic 4-0, we set a La Liga record which is as follows.

No one in the 80 year history of the Primera División has ever won by 4 goals in San Mames.

We are goooooooooood.

This win also gives us the confidence we will need as we travel to Glasgow midweek to take on Rangers in second match of the Champions League qualifying round. A win in Scotland would not only show that we’re strong domestically but also against one of the top side’s in Europe. It would really show the progress that the squad has made under Jiménez despite all the critics over the past few seasons (myself included).

Everything is looking up for us in Nervión, we’ve certainly showed the strength we have since our opening day loss to Valencia at the Mastalla and now even sit 4 points above the team who handed us our only defeat thus far this season.

It’s been clear that we’ve been in the market for a right back after chasing Jesús Gámez for most of the summer and although the deal seems to be done and dusted, Lolo and Duda who were supposed to be heading the other way in an exchange of players, couldn’t agree to terms so the deal fell through. Not to worry though as we have the best sporting director out there in Monchi who clearly had a plan B lined up because just days after Málaga President Fernando Sanz announced that the deal probably wasn’t going to happen, Del Nido and co. are announcing the arrival of Sánchez.

Our right back situation has been a bit of a problem since Alves left before the beginning of last season with Konko and Mosquera failing to live up to his name and the latter now having been transfered back to Mexico. Adriano did a solid job as a stand-in right back but he’s obviously a left footer so it’s not an ideal situation for either him or the team. The arrival of Sánchez probably does signal very limited playing time for Konko who failed to impress during his first season in Nervión last year. In all fairness to him though he did spend a lengthy time on the sidelines due to injury so maybe he will come good this year, we’ll just have to wait and see about that one.

It’s always good when your team buys an aspiring player in the transfer market like we have done with Sánchez, but it’s even better when that player is ecstatic about playing for your team.

“After such a hectic summer in the transfer market, I am finally at where I always wanted to be. It is a pleasure to already be a player of Sevilla FC. For me, the opportunity to enjoy the Champions League with Sevilla is the real prize. The staff and the squad of the club did an excellent job last season and they were rewarded with a third-place finish. I will arrive with a lot of motivation and excitement and I’m ready to help the club reach their objectives, which is ofcourse to win La Liga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey. This team have the aspirations to achieve everything.”

Clearly the boy wants to play for us and that’s definitely an encouraging sign. He also said he relishes the chance to link up with his Spanish teammate Diego Capel who he just had the opportunity to play with in the U-21 Championships.

Other Transfer News
In the same press conference where Sergio Sánchez was announced, Del Nido also took the time to address a couple other matters which have been floating around the papers.

Just to clarify things, Del Nido said that Luis Fabiano was never for sale and his comments yesterday about being happy in Sevilla and continuing for us are comforting for all the supporters and club to hear. He went on to say that he hopes Luis can take his Confederations Cup form and stay injury free throughout the upcoming season to show the world why he’s Brazil’s number 9.

Del Nido also said that all no one should expect any new signings in this window. He did go on to mention that that another player would arrive only if Jiménez required it for our squad. With Koné, Kanouté, Zokora and Romaric out after Christmas due to the African Cup of Nations we’re going to be a bit short up front and in the centre of the park, but then again, we do have a larger squad than needed. This could set the stage for players like Lolo and Chevantón to shine but it really begs the question about whether these players are good enough for a top four team. We’ll find out in about 5-6 months but personally I don’t think so.

I’m happy we sorted out our right back situation which was probably the most important but I still think there’s a few holes in the squad which in turn leave a massive gap between us and teams like Barça and Real.

Today Enzo sat down in a press conference held in Sevilla where he said his final goodbye’s to the fans, the club, and the city. Of course he came in dressed stylishly like a typical Italian and explained that he renewed his contract at the beginning of the year because the way things were going he planned to retire in Sevilla. Of course we know that since his public critique of Manolo Jiménez things have been a bit more difficult for Maresca and he has struggled to see much playing time.

Personally I wish Enzo Maresca all the best in Greece and will never forget the numerous times he has captained this beloved club as well as the unforgettable 2 goals he scored against Middlesboro in the UEFA Cup final way back in 2006 where we cruised to a 4-0 victory. I will also never forget the penalty he smashed in to top off our 3-0 thumping of Barcelona in Monaco to win the UEFA European Supercopa (I’m sure all Barça fans remember this quite well too!).

¡Nos Vemos Maresca!

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Today we travel to Soria to finish off our successful campaign against Numancia but overall it’s a meaningless match – we will finish third regardless and Numancia will be relegated.

There isn’t much to write about this match except for the fact that we will be missing 5 key players; not for any reason other than Jiménez’ decision to rest them. Kanouté, Luis Fabiano, Aldo Duscher, Adriano and Fernando Navarro will all be watching from the stands today as we try to finish off this year on a good note.

The squad for the match will look like this:
Palop, Javi Varas, Konko, Escudé, Squillaci, David Prieto, Dragutinovic, Crespo, Mosquera, Romaric, Renato, Diego Capel, José Carlos, Acosta, Jesús Navas, Perotti, Armenteros, Chevantón and Koné.

Game Notes:
• José Carlos and Armenteros were called up for this one from relegated Sevilla Atlético.
• No Kanouté or Fabiano means Chevantón and Koné will most likely start up top and considering both have been injured for most of the season it will be interesting to see how they perform with no pressure.

Transfer News:
Jiménez stated in a press conference that he has 2-3 midfield targets that he would like to bring to Nervión for next season but made it clear that we will not be held ransom for any deals. Despite having extra cash because of our qualification for the Champions League, Manolo stated that at Sevilla we still have our economic policies and President José Maria del Nido along with Monchi won’t break the bank to bring any certain players in.

When asked about bringing in new strikers for next year he said it all depends on how the injured ones recover and that he will assess that problem mid-summer if need be.

All in all it’s been an entertaining year; there’s no denying that. I hope our boys go crazy against Numancia and send them back to la Segunda in style – Sevilla style.

The club announced today that Jiménez’ contract will be extended for one more year meaning he will stay on until the end of the 2009-2010 season. The board met with President José Maria del Nido explaining the positive’s and negative’s in regards to keeping Manolo on board or finding a suitable replacement. Monchi was apparently the most keen to keep Jiménez on and his opinion, being a highly respectable figure in Spanish football and most importantly in our organization pushed more weight than that of other board members. By the end of the board meeting it was said that a unanimous decision was made in favour of keeping Jiménez for at least another year and putting certain clauses and targets in his contract which could see him stay longer.

I have been a huge Manolo hater this year and sometimes rightfully so; his lack of inspiration and dumbfounding tactics certainly gave the fans and upper management every reason to be concerned.

It seems that all of that has now been forgotten since we clinched third place this past weekend with a 1-0 win over Depor. That in turn secures our direct qualification for next year’s Champions League which was our original and main goal going into this season.

Jiménez took us to the quarter finals of the Copa del Rey where we were demolished by Athletic Bilbao and we also bowed out of the UEFA Cup in the group stages where we finished 3rd behind Sampdoria and Standard Liege. These two massive upsets alone were enough to have us fans out in numbers calling for Manolo’s head but it seems that this overshadowed everything positive he had helped us achieve in Nervión.

We got what we wanted in Champions League football for next season and it’s a bonus to directly qualify so technically this season was a successful one. Not only did Jiménez achieve our goal for this year but it should also be noted that his heart lies deep within the club, something you don’t find in many coaches these days.

This was Jiménez’ first real season in charge after taking the reigns over from Juande Ramos last season when he left us stranded and moved to Tottenham. He was coached us for a total of 90 games, winning 51, drawing 13 and losing 26 which all in all gives him a win percentage of 56.66% – not bad at all. Those statistics alone suggest that he should be kept on as manager but it is not a question about achieving good results, but rather great ones. Outside of the “top two” who of course consist of Barcelona and Real Madrid we are the best team in Spain as suggested in the past several seasons and “good” results aren’t satisfactory enough anymore, we need to be challenging and aiming to push up the table and in Europe.

In regards to the financial aspect of this deal, it is a good bit of business by President Del Nido. Manolo Jiménez is one of the 5 lowest payed coaches in La Liga having previously been in charge of our academy team, Sevilla Atlético. He will no doubt receive some sort of a pay rise but he definitely won’t be turning into Bill Gates overnight meaning we still have expendable cash to play around with in the summer transfer window.

Speaking of transfers, I think we should also note that a third place finish in the league is actually a better result than it appears to be considering we lost Dani Alves, Christian Poulsen and Seydou Keita last summer – three massive pieces to our previous hugely successful squad. Jiménez played the cards he was dealt and although he didn’t always trump when he had the opportunity, he has ended up with the winning hand.

Del Nido however did confirm that we would not have a large budget this year so the odds of actually winning the Champions League are slim but he emphasized that there should be no doubt in regards to the fact that we will definitely strengthen the squad for next year. We have always been known for finding the hidden gems of the world like Fabiano, Kanouté and Alves so I am not worried in regards to our transfer policy going into the summer window, especially having Monchi calling the shots. Our golden days a few years back was a team who had solid chemistry, not filled with superstars and we all know where that took us both domestically and in Europe. If Monchi and Del Nido can add some talent to the squad and give Jiménez sufficient time to integrate them into the squad, we should be looking pretty for next season. Obviously the right-back spot and a solid central midfielder are our main priorities but another striker seems imminent and same with a central defender.

This may not be a bad thing for us and actually with all things considered, I am happy to see Jiménez stay. It is better to imply the same coaching style next year to keep that consistency within the squad rather than bring a total newcomer in and have to start from scratch.

¡¡Qué bien Manolo!!

Today will mark the fourth time we’ve played Depor this season in which we’ve won the previous three matches. We knocked them out of the Copa del Rey with victories both home and away and also in the reverse of this fixture when we came out of A Coruña with a 1-3 victory.

So sure, we’ve had Deportivo’s number this year but this match means a lot to both sides so it won’t be as simple as we may have hoped for. We’re still looking to secure that third spot for direct qualification to the Champions League while Deportivo are looking for a European place of their own, except in the Europa League but also a very slim chance of getting into that fourth spot.

This match will be our last played at home this season and nothing would be nicer than going out in style with an emphatic victory over a solid Depor side. On a night where our beloved ex-captain Javi Navarro will receive a retirement award before the match, we should show the confidence and hunger which he inspired during his time with the team.

Last Minute Updates:
• Kanouté did briefly struggle this week with his fitness but trained normally on Thursday and Friday so he will most likely start today.
• Romaric is suspended for today’s match after getting sent off last week.
• Chevantón makes his return to the squad after being sidelined for most of the season with a knee injury.

The official squad for tomorrow’s match:
Palop, Javi Varas, Konko, Adriano, Squillaci, Escudé, Dragutinovic, Crespo, Fernando Navarro, Maresca, Renato, Duscher, Jesús Navas, Perotti, Diego Capel, Luis Fabiano, Koné, Chevantón and Kanouté.

A win today would solidify us in third place and also allow us to say goodbye to our home fans and know that they can go home happy. We haven’t exactly been convincing at home this season but if Kanouté and Fabiano can link up like they have in recent weeks I can’t see the Depor defense keeping up with us.

Two days ago, Javi came to a decision that he would never be able to regain full fitness in order to play competitively in La Liga again. It truly is a sad day for all Sevillistas who have not only lost one of our best defenders but our leader and captain.

Monchi and Joaquín Caparros brought Javi Navarro to the club back in 2001 when we were a newly promoted side with the most limited of budgets. The then 27 year old was brought in with hopes of bringing “experience” to the side; I wonder if it ever crossed his mind that he would be where he is today, 5 trophies later.

Not many former captains can look back on their career with their club and say that they lead them to 5 major honours including 2 UEFA Cups, 1 UEFA Supercopa, 1 Copa del Rey and 1 Supercopa de España. Truly the star of our golden age where we were ranked the number one team in all of Europe for 2 consecutive years.

Javi established himself as one of La Liga’s hardmen during his 8 years in Nervión with his no nonsense tackling and aggressive mentality. He helped us qualify for the Champions League for the 2007/2008 season but suffered his injury in the process and never fulfilled his dream of lifting the only major European honour he hadn’t achieved with us in Sevilla.

Regardless, Navarro said he hopes to stay on in Sevilla, hopefully landing a coaching role. He had that hunger, desire and passion that we seem to currently lack and somehow integrating him in the team again would only be beneficial.

We have yet to replace Javi in terms of captaincy with Palop not exactly being the best fit in my eyes and that may be one reason for our lack of motivation out on the pitch since Navarro’s absence.

Looking back at his 8 years with us Javi said that winning the first UEFA Cup was his fondest memory because it set the stage for Sevilla to be known in Europe and because it was the beginning of something very special.

I still get goosebumps every time I watch this video and while it doesn’t necessarily highlight Navarro, just look how inspired we looked on the pitch – Javi was the driving force behind that, that was his team to lead.

There comes a time in life where you have to say goodbye, this case is harder than usual. A true legend in every way, the symbol of Sevilla Fútbol Club and the greatest captain this club has ever seen. Definitely a massive part of the history of our club and no one can forget what he has done and the greatness he has helped achieve.

¡Qué grande Javi!
¡¡El mejor capitán del mundo!!

Both teams have a lot to play for, no doubt about that. Valencia are in some serious financial troubles and qualifying for next years Champions League would certainly help their cause but at the same time we have our own goals and ambitions this year and a win in the Mastalla would certainly help us nearly cement ourselves in that third overall league position which we currently occupy by a massive 8 points.

Last weeks defeat to Getafe was a bitter taste of the reality that is La Liga but at the same time maybe it’s good to get that out of our system before playing all the big boys in the coming weeks.

Valencia will no doubt be looking to get revenge on us for knocking them out of the Copa del Rey earlier this season, albeit by what ultimately came down to an offside goal. The reverse fixture early on in the season ended in a boring 0-0 draw in El Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán but I highly doubt it will end like that this weekend because there’s so much to play for.

This may not be a good time for us to play Valencia as it seems they have seemed to recover their solid league form of late but at the same time, we’re Sevilla, we can do whatever we want, whenever we want (or at least so says Jiménez):

“We are capable of beating anyone and we have shown that, it is not coincedence that we are third.”

I doubt last week’s loss to Getafe will affect us that much going into tomorrow’s match as we definitely deserved all three points but were robbed (not to mention we hit the post as many times in that match as we did all season last year).

The only bad news going into the match is that Dragutinovic, Fazio, Renato and Crespo are all out of the team tomorrow due to injuries but Lautaro Acosta and Abdolay Konko have been called up to make up our 21 man squad. Other than that, we have our key players all fit and healthy so there will be no excuses to not play well.

Both teams are going into this match for all three points because of all there is to play for but at the same I don’t really see either of us coming out on top unless Kanouté and Fabiano can make the difference for us. Mata has also been on good form of late for Valencia and him pairing up with David Villa is always dangerous, if we can contain those two I have the utmost confidence that Valencia won’t do a thing.

What interests me is to see who Jiménez will employ on the left wing. Diego Perotti has not only broke through to the first team but even found himself ahead of Diego Capel which is a huge accomplishment for the young Argentine. Adriano has been solid at right back for the past few weeks so it will most likely be between the two youngsters. All I hope is that Jiménez doesn’t employ three central players in a 4-man midfield because as we saw last week – it is not effective. With Renato injured I doubt we will see that but instead I hope we can see Romaric and Maresca in the midfield which would definitely give us numerous attacking options. The key to this match will be to get the first goal and then carry the momentum from there, we can’t let Valencia get that otherwise we will most likely be heading back to Nervión with nothing to show for.

As much as I don’t consider Valencia as much of a threat as they were 3-4 years ago, nor do I think they are as good as we are; they are still a pretty solid squad tomorrow’s match will no doubt be a difficult one.

Fredi Kanouté wasn’t able to work his magic today as he has so often in recent weeks but at the same time, his partner in crime Luis Fabiano was the biggest disappointment. The Brazilian International had a million and one chances to put us ahead but just couldn’t do it; it definitely was not his day.

To start with, Jiménez assembled a rather strange lineup which looked like he had been taking tips from Vicente del Bosque. 3 central midfield players and one winger in a 4 man midfield isn’t exactly conventional nor is it effective as we saw today. Renato, Romaric and Maresca lined up alongside Jesús Navas to make up our core and right from the get-go, you could see it wasn’t working out too well. Despite not playing much in recent months, Enzo played a solid match and was extremely unfortunately (as well and wrongfully) substituted in the 54th minute for Diego Perotti. When the Argentine wonderkid came on though it did give us a bit of width which we had been lacking for the previous 53 minutes of the match.

Regardless though, it was all too little too late and we were left to rue our numerous missed chances at the end of the match as Gavilan scored in the 81st minute to seal our fate.

Our loss to relegation battlers Getafe means they move up into 14th place and out of the relegation zone which is not only good for them but for us as well. How you may ask? Well, it’s simple. Our hated enemies Betis also happened to win today, distancing themselves from the drop but the pressure is now still on because Getafe also won. What seemed like a huge loss for us was actually even worse for Betis.

Luckily enough for us, Villarreal continued to slip this weekend as they lost 0-2 to our fellow Andalucíans, Málaga. This now means for us that we are 8 points ahead of Valencia who have taken that fourth and final Champions League spot away from the Yellow Submarine.

No need to worry Sevillistas, we’re in fantastic shape and just need to relax and focus on next week because quite frankly, thats when the season starts. We take on Valencia in the ever-infamous (and soon to be sold) Mastalla in a match which they would love to get a little payback for when we knocked them out of the Copa earlier this season (albeit on an offside goal, but hey, that’s fútbol). In the three following weeks we then take on Barcelona, Real Madrid and Villarreal so needless to say really that it’s crunch time. As for now, just enjoy the Easter weekend and know that everyone in La Capital is sleeping well tonight.

So it’s needless to say really that even despite what I had to say in my last post, we probably have no chance at the league title this year and since we also dropped out of the UEFA Cup and Copa del Rey, we have one objective – Champions League qualification. We currently sit in third place with a massive 57 points and this combined with the fact that (thanks for the stats Aaron!) Villarreal has lost 3 of their last 4 in the league, Málaga was winless in 4 of 5 before upsetting the Yellow Submarine yesterday afternoon, Valencia has only won 2 of their 7, and Atlético has one of their last four. We have been steadily pulling away for about a month now having won 6 of 7. only the mierda has a longer winning streak, pretty impressive stuff in my opinion. Having said all that, we’re probably in as good a position as any to qualify for next years Champions League but tomorrow’s match against Getafe will either be one where the visitors from Madrid realize they’re probably going down and fight with everything they have resulting in us having to really earn it or we’ll just play like we have of late and add another exclamation mark to “El Sevilla Campeón”.

The reverse fixture last year in Madrid ended 2-0 for us with Luis Fabiano grabbing the first goal and De Mul scoring the second which was also his first ever while wearing the rojiblanco.

Getafe has lost four of their last five league matches and things won’t get any easier when they come to play the (second) hottest team in La Liga right now.

This was always going to be an extremely difficult task for the visitors but it gets even worse for them as Julien Escudé and Luis Fabiano are both back in the squad after their minor injuries which kept them out for last week’s win over Recreativo in Huelva. It looks as if Duscher and Konko are both still recovering from their respective injuries and will be game time decisions by Jiménez as to whether they play or not.

The official squad named for tomorrow’s match is as follows: Javi Varas, Palop, Mosquera, Dragoutinovic, Squillaci, Escudé, Adriano, Fernando Navarro, Fazio, Maresca, Renato, Romaric, Capel, Perotti, Jesus Navas, Luis Fabiano, Koné and Kanouté.

It’s needless to say that our big star Fredi Kanouté will look to keep up his stunning goal scoring form seeing as he’s now made Sevilla history having scored as many as Croatian legend Davor Sukur. With his partner in crime, Luis Fabiano back Getafe’s back line is going to be a very busy one also seeing as Navas has been in-form of late as well. With Navas’ deadly pin-point crosses, Perotti’s or even Capel’s quickness and Romaric’s solidity throughout the centre, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t walk all over Getafe tomorrow.

I think Goal.com (shame on me, yes I know) said it best here.

PREDICTION

Getafe will be fighting for their right to stay in La Primera and have much to lose in this match. Unfortunately for them, they could well lose the match as well. Sevilla are determined to secure their Champions League berth and are much too dynamic a side at home. A buzzing Sanchez Pizjuan should prove to be too much to overcome for Los Azulones.

Sevilla 3 – 1 Getafe

Sounds about right to me folks.