It means when we wear the Spanish flag on our Champions League jersey, we wear it to show why La Liga is the best league in the world. Unlike Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético displaying the negatives of Spanish football, we choose to go abroad and show what La Liga is really all about – beautiful football.

We headed to Germany coming off a defeat this past weekend to the hands of Deportivo la Coruña. Before Depor sent us back to reality however, we had won 7 straight matches in all competitions and were in absolute top form. It scared me a bit that we seemed to become content with that and not get the three points in La Coruña which still displays the difference between us and a top European side. Having said that though, we bounced back against Stuttgart perfectly to show that maybe we do have just what it takes to play with the big boys of Europe.

Stuttgart has been in pretty abysmal form of late considering they haven’t won at home since the start of the Bundesliga season. We knew that counted for nothing going into the match though as any team can get a boost of confidence by playing on Europe’s biggest stage, better known as the Champions League.

A Squillaci double and goal by our prodigal son Navas gave us the victory in Germany to see us have a total of 9 point from three group stage matches thus far. A flawless record is definitely something to boast about considering only three other teams in the competition can relate.

Needless to say that the victory sees us put one foot in the door of the next round as the rest of our group would probably have too much catching up to do.

I’m not going to come out here and lie – Stuttgart were probably the better team over the course of 90 minutes and had it not have been for Squillaci’s first goal to break their momentum, the table may look a bit different than it currently does.

What hurt the Germans was their failure to convert their early chances because after Sébastien’s goal, we may not have dominated that match, but we took control of it. You might be wondering how that makes any sense and luckily enough, I’m here to break it down for you.

Us scoring forced Stuttgart to push up more and gave us the space we love to play in, especially along the flanks. Stuttgart did create many chances by pushing up but we hit them on the counter and made use of our set pieces when given the chance.

On a bit of a side note here – I’m really satisfied with how much progress we’ve made in regards to set pieces over the past few years. When Manolo first took over we were pathetic and it never seemed to amaze me how many goals we could have had if we scored from 1 out of every 3 set pieces like good teams usually do. With quick players like Navas, Perotti, and Capel we have no problem drawing the fouls, we just can’t capitalize off of them.

I almost feel bad for Stuttgart because just as they continued to re-gain control of the match and look as the likelier team to score, Lehmann (who I hate, fyi) failed to control Perotti’s cross giving my personal favourite (as everyone probably has noticed in my obvious favouritism by now) Jesús Navas probably one of the easiest goals he’s ever scored. It was a huge sucker punch to them but I guess that’s how football goes and we’ve been on the receiving end of it good enough so yeah, I was pretty ecstatic when I saw us up at 2-0.

From there on in we were in cruise control and never looked like losing the match. The final nail was added in the coffin when on 72 minutes we capitalized off another set piece and Sébastien Squillaci who was hands down the man of the match, added a third for the team and a second for himself on the night.

Stuttgart did score off a set piece themselves as substitute Élson scored a smashing freekick from 25 metres out which Javi Varas had no chance of saving. It was a bit disappointing not to hold onto the clean sheet but that’s football and it was probably deserved considering the amount of chances they had to score throughout the match.

Just wanted to touch on some positives besides us obviously now having maximum points from three group stage matches and identifying ourselves to Europe as a force to be reckoned with.

Javi Varas
He started in goal against Depor on the weekend where we came out 1-0 losers but Javi himself, had a solid match. Had it not been for him we could have easily been down one or two more and the goal Depor scored was definitely way beyond his reach therefore no one in their right minds can attach any blame to him at all for the goal. It’s extremely encouraging knowing that we have just a strong backup keeper as our first choice one. Even against Stuttgart he came up with some crucial saves otherwise we could have very easily been down several goals and in turn I wouldn’t be here writing about our flawless record in Europe. The goal he conceded was more than out of his control and I really don’t think any keeper in their right mind could have stopped that bullet of a freekick scored by Élson.

Sébastien Squillaci
Two goals by a defender in a match? That’s extremely rare, if not unheard of. Two goals considering we were being outplayed for Sébastien can surely only shoot his confidence through the roof. It’s good to see we have a solid defender who is going to be a threat to opposing defenses off of set pieces. We’ve seriously lacked someone like that for a couple years now and it look as if Squillaci has finally integrated himself nicely with the squad and it’s paid off as you can clearly see with his confidence off the set pieces.

Jesús Navas
Once again he’s stepped up to the plate and delivered. He may have had a bit of a quiet evening against Depor but seriously, who didn’t? He got the goal which basically put Stuttgart to the sword to to speak and broke their momentum for the second time in the match, leaving them no way back into it. All around he caused havoc and once again was uncontainable by the opposing defense.

Confidence
I’ve been one of Jiménez’ biggest critics over the past few seasons hands down but lately I just stand there in awe as to how much respect he receives from the team. I can’t help but question his every decision like for instance when he took off Fabiano for Duscher. No doubt Fabiano was a bit invisible but why not replace him for Koné who has something to prove and might have performed well? Regardless of what he did or didn’t do, his decision paid off and although I hate negative defensive tactics, they were far from anything of the sort. Duscher helped stabalize the midfield which Stuttgart up until that point were dominating considering neither Renato nor Lolo are very defensive minded. I think that more faith in Jiménez on my part is definitely in order seeing as he’s bringing in the results and I have no reason to argue otherwise.

Obviously I can’t sit here and say everything about the match were positives so let me now explain what are never good signs and those are the negatives.

Invisibility
Did anyone even notice that Fabiano and Kanouté started the match? I may have been watching the match off a shitty online stream but I didn’t see either impact the game what so ever. They are supposed to be the dynamic duo we all love and I’m not sure if its because they haven’t played together much this season or whatever else but they can’t be having many of those days if we want to keep up the contention for all the competitions we’re involved in. Out of three goals, none of them were by our strikers. Fabiano so invisible he was even pulled at half to make way for a defensive midfielder. It may have just been an off day, one of which everyone is entitled to so I’m not going to make a big deal out of it but it was very obvious.

All in all, a fantastic result and surely things can only go up from here!

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Logically and historically our biggest rival has been cross-town neighbours, Real Betis. To be honest though, I’ve always considered Real Madrid to, not necessarily be our biggest rival, but definitely the team I probably hate the most.

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s no way set in stone on how to properly play football but any fan or lover of the game will know that Madrid plays pretty boring stuff. Maybe I just take it for granted that not every team in the world plays the free-flowing, quick passing, magnificent, mouth watering football that we do.

It’s just something about a team who wants to buy their success that angers me beyond belief. It’s hard to hate their El Clásico rivals Barça who develop their talent from their infamous youth academy and don’t rely upon bank loans to fund their success. Real on the other hand seem to want to buy their way into everything like we’re still living in the days of General Francisco Franco or something…

Coming off an emphatic 4-1 victory over Rangers in Scotland last week in the Champions League, I knew that the squad would be full of confidence coming back home to face one of La Liga’s “elite sides”. True enough, we didn’t disappoint.

Right from the beginning, we came flying out of the gates knowing we had a massive point to prove and that was, all this hype about Sevilla is truly warranted. We have an absolutely solid squad with the depth that we lacked in the past few years to compete with the top 2 of La Liga.

Navas was a bullet on the flank as usual as he absolutely tore apart the Real defense, most notably Marcelo who was about 5 steps behind Jesús on average. Regardless of what anyone said, Jesús Navas was definitely the man of the match.

Time after time we missed easy chances on goal with Fabiano and Konko even missing from within the 6 yard box. Finally on the 34th minute, my personal man of the match, Jesús Navas put us ahead with an unorthodox goal by his standards, smashing in a header off a Fernando Navarro cross as he rose above the useless Marcelo.

That’s how the first half ended – with us up 1-0 and in absolute control of the match.

After the break we continued where we left off, dominating who were considered the favourites coming into the match.

Negredo gave Diego Perotti a absolute sitter when he broke down the right side and put it in for our wonderkid as he took it too easily and hit it right into Casillas. Easily probably the one of the worst misses I’ve ever seen in my life. Real fans say will say it was a great save by Casillas but let’s be realistic here – Perotti basically handed it to him.

That came back to bite us in the ass as on the counter attack we gave away a useless free kick just outside our 18 yard box. Guti accurately took it and put it on the head of a jumping Pepe who headed it past Palop.

Is it just me or is Pepe the ugliest player probably in the world? What was the trying to do with his head? What a strange, strange man. If you know of someone uglier please do make a reference because as far as I’m concerned, no one can top him.

Even after the Real goal we continued to dominate possession and show why La Liga should be considered a three horse race instead of a two horse one.

It didn’t take long for our determination to pay off as in the 65th minute we got another goal through a man who had a lot to make up for his easy miss in front of goal. None other than our Brasilian veteran Renato. Now I personally as anyone who reads this blog will know, have a vert love/hate relationship with him. He will play his heart out one day only to have an absolutely shockingly bad match the next week. Fortunately for us though, he always seems to score against the mierda. A pinpoint Adriano cross resulted in Renato putting us ahead 2-1 in what was a much deserved lead considering we dominated the match entirely.

The game continued with us all over the team who spent 10 times the amount we did this summer and we closed up shop with a final result of 2-1.

The neutrals, football lovers, and all of Spain outside the capital is probably happy we won and it just shows how much progress we’ve made from previous seasons and our intent from here on in.

Our result does keep us stagnant at third place due to worse goal differential but I have no doubts that with the way we’re playing we can very easily leap frog the mierda.

A few special personal shoutouts and special mentions are as follows:

Didier Zokora who was an absolute rock in the midfield. I was very familiar with him from his time at Tottenham but never appreciated him until now. La Liga is more his style and he’s proving to be a bargain at just 9 million Euros. He’s an absolute rock in the midfield, something we lacked since the departure of Christian Poulsen. Zokora is definitely becoming a fan favourite in the Sánchez Pizjuán as well as we saw when he got the crown all riled up as he held off the big ugly Pepe in the corner towards the end of the match and ended up getting the foul call. His stability allows Renato to roam and have a more attacking mindset, something that’s resulted in the Brasilian getting off the a good start scoring-wise so far. Most importantly though, he kept Kaká absolutely silent and when you can do that to a team’s best player, you can only expect good things.

Jesús Navas who like I said, was easily man of the match. He played out of his skin and scored the first as well as passed to Adriano who crossed it in for the second goal. He was all over the pitch and gave the Real defense a headache every time he dribbled near them. A description of our prodigal son isn’t really needed if you’re a true Sevillista. He’s amazing – yes we know.

If anyone else deserves a special mention, definitely let me know. Obviously the whole team played well but I think those were definitely the two men who deserved as much.

Everyone knows that the mierda fans will come out now and make excuses about Ronaldo being injured and this, that and the other but we know that’s all bullshit. Anyone who watched the match could see that we were clearly the stronger side and came out wanting to win. We had a game plan, stuck to it, and did the business. Stop being bitter and admit that. Thanks a lot.

It’s a shitty time for a two week international break because just as we had all that momentum, we have to put it on halt until we resume league play against Deportivo la Coruña. As we know, we definitely had their number last year, even at one point beating them 3 times in only a span of 1 week but this will be far from easy also considering they’re doing very well so far. They sit in fourth, just one place behind us and only three points behind us meaning they could very easily catch up.

More about that later but for now I think we all deserve to bask in the euphoria (as if I haven’t enough).

¡¡VAMOS CAMPEÓN!!

Sorry for not having this post up earlier but the WordPress server was down yesterday as they were setting up a new layout for the “Dashboard” where you write and edit entries.

Anyways, to the news you all are waiting to hear…

If we weren’t considered a real threat coming into this competition we definitely have to be now. Sure, I like being the underdog because we get teams who don’t know that “little club” from the south of Spain until we smash them *cough* Rangers *cough*, but seriously, we’re good.

I’ve never seen a stronger Sevilla side in my lifetime and I’ve been watching this club since I came out of the womb. From the way we seem to put the ball in the back of the net effortlessly, to the great wall of Nervión which is our defense, we’re about as complete as any team out there.

We knew coming into this match that it would be anything but easy and despite being the probably favourites, Rangers are far from a pushover.

To add to what could have been a few difficulties in the match, our usual left winger Diego Perotti was out due to a slight knock he picked up against Mallorca and therefore Diego Capel started in his place. After last weekend’s thumping of Bilbao, I actually had great confidence that Capel would get the job done in place of Perotti as he was absolutely stellar. Another change from the weekend is that Sergio Sánchez was rested to make way for Konko and Dragutinović out for the recovered Julien Escudé at the heart of the defense. A surprise was that Lolo maintained his spot in central midfield when Romaric was in the squad having fully recovered. Negredo as expected did start on the bench with our legendary pair of Fabiano and Kanouté starting up top.

The first half wasn’t a direct indication of out best football. We had some glorious opportunities through Kanouté as did Rangers when they could have very easily been given a penalty.

It was in the second half where we really turned up the heat and showed Scotland and moreover Europe, exactly what we’re all about and that’s beautiful football.

Five minutes into the half we were rewarded a freekick which Lolo took quickly to Navas who then crossed in which Konko rose to head in the back of the net with an absolutely amazing header. It was just the other day that I was saying how excited I am with the prospect of Sánchez being such an amazing right back and taking over for Konko who was very inconsistent last year but I see that Abdoulay feels his position and playing time under threat so he’s starting to perform. It’s amazing to see how a bit of competition in the squad strengthens it completely and the depth we have now is absolutely mouth watering.

In the 64th minute, Fabiano and Kanouté linked up perfectly as usual and basically unlocked the whole Rangers team as OFabuloso eventually pulled the ball back for Adriano who smashed it in to put us up 2-0.

At this point we were completely in the drivers seat and added another one later when once again the Rangers’ defense was caught napping. Kanouté received the ball on the flank, had all the time in the world and sent in a perfect cross which Fabiano towered over the Rangers defender to head into the back of the net with emphasis.

3-0 and no looking back now.

Why look back when you can look forward right? Exactly what we did just 2 minutes later as this time LuFa and Fredi played a bit of role-reversal. Navas sent Fabiano in on a 2v1 with big Fredi supporting in the middle who eventually received the low ball and slotted it past the Rangers’ keeper to put us in full control at 4-0.

There’s nothing to talk about from here other than Nacho Novo scored a 88th minute consolation goal for Rangers’ which ruined our clean sheet. It was a bit of poor defending as we gave him too much space but the back line as solid all night so I can’t critique or I’d be way too harsh. It was also much too strong and well-placed for Palop to deal with so no blame attached there either.

If we had anything to prove I believe we proved it with our amazing performance in Glasgow and I may sound repetitive but we’re definitely a team to watch out for both domestically and in Europe. Having said that, the mierda A.K.A. Real Madrid visit the Sánchez Pizjuan this Sunday in a match which will definitely be our biggest test this season thus far. A win there and I’ll be in absolute ecstasy.

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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.

Fabiano picked up a knock last week in our Champions League match against Unirea and did not travel with us to Pamplona. Everyone knows about O Fabuloso’s recent untouchable form and it worried me that he wasn’t traveling with the team to a place where we hadn’t come away with three points since our own coach had been on the pitch but in the end, the resilience of our squad shone through again and we came away with a massive result.

Navas was rested and Perotti started in his spot on the left as Adriano started on the left side of the midfield. Drago got the start in central defense for Escudé and Sánchez started at right back again as he clearly impressed Jiménez in our Champions League fixture. A surprising start was given to Lolo as he replaced Renato in central midfield to start this match. The Brasilian scored the second goal of our triumph over Romanian champions Unirea last week in the Champions League but like many other players who started in that match, was rested.

As usual, Perotti was on absolute top form and Adriano followed suit on the opposite flank as both the wingers gave Negredo and Kanouté enough chances to make something out of. Once again Zokora was an absolute rock in the centre of midfield as he never really allowed Osasuna to materialize any dangerous attacks.

At one point Osasuna actually controlled the play and had a few chances, all of which they could not finish but that only lasted momentarily as Perotti chested down a high ball just outside the 18 yard box which Kanouté smashed on the half-volley under the Osasuna keeper to put us ahead 2-0.

Other than a little slip up against Valencia which also was the first match of the season, this team certainly looks like it has what it takes. Granted, we haven’t played any of the top sides in La Liga besides Valencia but it’s just the way we pass with such fluidity and finish with such venom. I really only expect greater things from here on in and as long as we keep our cool and stick to the game plan, we should have no problems exceeding expectations.

Once again our Brasilians got the job done for us as Luis Fabiano and Renato scored the goals that saw us win our first Champions League group stage match in more than convincing fashion. While it was only 2-0 against relatively unknown opposition, we never looked for one minute like the weaker side and the Romanians failed to threaten Andrés Palop’s goal on many occasions.

We set up just a bit differently than usual with Capel starting in place of Perotti on the left and new summer signing, Sergio Sánchez starting at right back in place of Konko. As usual, Kanouté and Fabiano were paired up top as were Zokora and Renato in the midfield.

Our Romanian opponents lined up quite conservatively with only one striker up top and five men in the midfield to try and sound out the attacks of Navas and Capel on the flanks.

Luis Fabinao had a free kick early on which gave the Urinea keeper a taste of what was to come when he forced him to make a tough save off a powerful shot. Navas and Capel did a solid job the whole first half as they ran the flanks and left the Unirea defenders on their toes wondering what was going to happen next.

We continued to dominate but just couldn’t beat the Urinea keeper until literally second before the halftime, Renato made a run down the left and eventually put in a low cross which Luis Fabiano who just happens to be in top form, jogged up and smashed it into the bottom right corner to rightfully put us ahead 1-0.

The second half started with Álvaro Negredo coming on for Kanouté who struggled greatly in this match. Our record signing almost made an instant impact but his shot was saved.

We pushed and pushed for more and finally got one when Fabiano got his head on a Navas corner but it only got as far as Renato who was standing near the goal to put it in and the Brasilian connection hooked up again to make it 2-0.

From there on we saw out the match with ease as the clear gulf in class between Romanian and Spanish football was shown. The Romanian champions were just no test for a side who finished third in La Liga last season.

We now focus on this Saturday when we resume league play against Osasuna. With Fabiano in such hot form, will the small side from Pamplona even stand a chance?

That would be my sexy self in Barcelona, which was one of my many destinations this past summer in my Euro trip. That would also explain and (hopefully) excuse the lack of activity in this blog. Don’t worry my fellow Sevillistas, I haven’t forgot about you nor our beloved squad who are not only doing fairly well in the pre-season but also shaping up quite nicely.

So many things have gone on in this past month it’s un-freakin’-believable but I’m going to try and name ‘em all here in this one, beautiful, legendary post.

Needless to say the Peace Cup was a flop. Not only the attendances which is a bit of a bad reflection on us Andalucíans but also our beloved Sevilla who lost to Juventus in a match which we totally dominated and also drawing Seongnam who are an extremely mediocre Korean side.

Let’s no reminisce too much on a pre-season tournament in which we faltered in but rather look at the many other positives in which this marvelous club has encountered after the pain.

New Sponsorship Deal
If you watched any of the Peace Cup or follow the club religiously enough like I do then you would have known that our deal with 888.com ran out and we were without a sponsor from the time last season concluded. Not to worry though as we at Sevilla are trusting our luck again with another Asian gambling company 12bet.com. The deal will last for two years and according to President Del Nido “boost the international recognition of the club”. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All bullshit. Whatever, as long as there’s money coming in for us putting some stupid foreign writing on our kits then I don’t care what we’re boosting.

Enough of that nonsense, let’s get down to the juicy stuff.

First off let me just by saying something from the heart, and that’s an obvious, HUGE “Rest in Peace” to Espanyol captain Daniel Jarque. We at Sevilla know this all too well and experienced it first hand when Antonio Puerta sadly passed away 2 short years ago. I can’t emphasize enough how much of a tragedy this is not only for Espanyol or La Liga, but for the whole footballing world and especially for the family and wife of Jarque himself. Our thoughts and prayers (well at least mine for sure) are with Jarque’s family, wife and his unborn child. It hit hard in the Sevillista community not only because of what happened to Puerta but also because our new signing Sergio Sánchez also played with Daniel at Espanyol and knew him very well. Obviously he has taken this hard and we wish him all the best and as a condolence the whole squad wore t-shirts with Jarque’s face on them before the final of the Carranza.

Moving on then and speaking of the Carranza… We tore it apart. Mallorca, Valencia, Depor, meh, no competition for us. Sure they weren’t convincing scores, mere 1-0 victories but its the fashion in which we got them. They were all hard fought, I’ll give them that but in the end we proved our worth once again and came out winning that huge trophy which is meaningless really, but good for the show cabinet none the less.

For today ladies and gents, that is all. You can’t expect me to write about all the transfer gossip when I missed my siesta can you?! Hah, yeah right, nice try though. I promise you though that it shall all be here tomorrow, same time, same place so stay tuned!!!

Damn it feels good to be back. Nos Vemos

The scoreline doesn’t accurately reflect the game but definitely flatters us so I’m not complaining. Neither us nor Numancia played well enough to deserve 3 points but once again – I’m not complaining.

We started an extremely altered and weakened lineup to finish off the season with some of our biggest stars and key players being rested. Javi Varas started between the sticks in place of Andrés Palop; Dragutinovic, Mosquera, Crespo and Konko made up our *shakey* back four; Romaric and Renato were the core of the midfield while Diego Capel and Diego Perotti ran the flanks; Arouna Koné and Lautaro Acosta lead the team up top filling in for Kanouté and Fabiano.

It’s funny because in the reverse fixture earlier this year we lost 1-0 and that was with us fielding a full-strength squad.

None the less though, we sent the boys from Soria down to La Seguna with style capturing a 2-0 victory in what for them, was frustrating fashion.

It ended up being our two substitutes who made the difference when in the 88th minute, Romaric sent in a pin-point ball to Chevantón who still had all the work to do but controlled nicely and centred into the penalty area for Armenteros who was running in and smashed it to the top of the goal. 2 minutes into added time it was our young player of the year, Diego Perotti causing havoc on the left flank again as he hit in a low and hard cross which Numancia defender Moreno deflected into his own goal to hand us the 2-0 victory. Chevantón was running behind him anyway so it would have most likely been finished by the Uruguayan International but none the less, that sums up Numancia’s season.

Game Notes:
• Javi Varas believe it or not actually was tested a few times throughout the match and made some very tough saves. It is encouraging to see that we have a more than qualified replacement for “San Andrés” should he choose to hang up the boots in the near future (God forbid).
• Chevantón showed flashed of brilliance which gives me that false sense of hope that he will win the Pichichi next year should he be fit.
• Diego Perotti was immense like he has been all season, I can’t get enough of this kid and Diego Capel should be very worried about his minutes on the pitch in regards to next season.
• Romaric played solid in the middle and set up our first goal causing me to believe he heard Manolo Jiménez is looking for three or four more midfielders for next year and is feeling the pressure to perform now.
• It was definitely encouraging to see a product of Sevilla Atlético in Armenteros grab the decisive goal which shows we definitely have a lot of upcoming talent in our infamous Cantera.

We finish the season on a solid 70 points, a total we haven’t achieved since Junade’s departure. Jiménez’ contract as you know has been extended and needless to say it shall be a very interesting summer window in regards to who joins or leaves the club.

Overall I cannot say enough about this season. I enjoyed every minute of it when I look back at all the craziness that occurred. From the highs to the lows, I love being a Sevillista and want to send a huge THANK YOU to all the readers and posters here on the Sevilla Offside. You haven’t heard the end of me and I will definitely be posting just as often this summer to keep everyone who is interested, up to date with all the ongoing’s in Nervión.

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You knew it was going to be a special night when Javi Navarro was presented to the afición and was warmly welcomed with a massive ovation. This came after Javi “el capitán” Navarro announced his retirement a few days ago due to his ongoing injury struggles.

We completely dominated Depor from start to finish but struggled to capitalize on our chances. The boys from A Coruña relied on their counter attack but Squillaci and Escudé held down the back line perfectly, thus, Depor struggled to created many clear-cut scoring opportunities.

It took until the 90th minute of play for Diego Perotti to make a run down the left flank, only to find out he had no where to go so he played it back inside to Koné who passed off to Renato who spotted Adriano on the right side who finally put in a perfect cross for the Argentinean Perotti who never stopped moving after his run and as a result got his head on the end of it putting us up 1-0 with no time left to play. El Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán erupted and our bench cleared to jump on top of the goal scorer, Perotti in sheer happiness.

It was so fitting for the kid who has been our most consistent and stand out player this year to get the goal which sends us to the Champions League next year. He’s already a part of Sevilla history and only 20 years old. I really can’t even say enough about him, he’s such a good player at such a young age and we’re so lucky to have him as a part of our squad – I can only imagine what massive role he will play in the future of Sevilla Fútbol Club.

This is how it all went down:

This video gives me goosebumps and fills me with so much pride. I never realized just how much I love this club and how my emotions run in direct correlation with the success of Sevilla.

It truly was a historic night in Nervión and despite whatever has been said this season, we have to tip our hats off to Manolo Jiménez. I’ve been one of his biggest, if not the biggest critic this season but at the end of the day he got us to a position which is highly respectable and is also where we aimed to achieve. I guess because we’re a big club now that we have higher expectations and because he wasn’t able to achieve above and beyond what we wanted then we labelled him as a failure. Sure, he’s no José Mourinho or Guus Hiddink but he’s not half bad. His heart is with the club and whatever happens after this season, I won’t really have a bad word to say about Manolo.

We travel to Numancia next week to finish off the season and since they’re already relegated and we’ve already qualified for the Champions League you can probably expect either an extremely boring clash or an extremely entertaining one filled with quick attacking play. I really hope both teams go for the throat and don’t hold anything back so us as the fans have quite the spectacle to watch.

Jiménez surprised me and probably any other Sevillista when he left Jesús Navas, Diego Capel and Diego Perotti all on the bench to start the match with Adriano being the only true winger in the starting XI.

It was also evident that we need to address our right back problem this summer as Konko was being turned inside and out by Plasil the whole match. Dare I say it but Osasuna actually had control of the match for the whole first half but just failed to capitalize on their chances and opportunities so we went into the break deadlocked at 0-0.

Entering the second half nothing changed as in the 48th minute, Nekounam smashed his freekick towards the top right corder but San Andrés (Palop) matched it with a perfect save. Off the corner it was Plasil again causing us trouble as Konko didn’t mark him properly and as a result he headed towards goal but what looked to be dangerous, hit another Osasuna player and went the danger was cleared.

The whole Kanouté/Fabiano partnership which appeared to be working so well over the past few weeks just wasn’t happening in Pamplona and also realizing that we had no width, Jiménez put on our prodigal son Jesús Navas for Kanouté.

Jiménez confused the hell out of me when he took off Adriano who was clearly our only attacking threat the whole match and put on Diego Capel. It was so obvious that Konko was struggling so why not take him off for Capel and push Adriano to right-back where he is just as comfortable? I don’t know Manolo, I don’t know… The substitution did bring a bit more pace on the left flank but Capel was well marked and couldn’t do much and Osasuna at this point were still controlling the match.

We started to turn the heat up a bit but regardless, it was too late and despite a break or two we failed to materialize anything dangerous. With 10 minutes left, Romaric picked up his second yellow and was sent off. The call was pretty harsh in my eyes considering it didn’t even look like he had any wrong intent in the tackle. The drama didn’t stop there though as in stoppage time, Sergio was given a straight red for a tackle on Diego Capel which was also a harsh call but that’s football and two bad calls ultimately made the match even.

This was supposed to be the match where we sealed third place but we still find ourselves yet to do that. I don’t know what’s more worrying – Jiménez’ awful tactics or the fact that we couldn’t manage a win over Osasuna this whole season. No disrespect to the boys from Pamplona but when we play our game, we are clearly on a whole other level but this inconsistency could come back to haunt us.

This season has given Sevillistas a lot to be excited about but at the same time gives us a lot to put into perspective. We’ve been really up and down throughout the campaign and despite that we sit in a solid league position, and have technically qualified for Europe for the 6th consecutive season (regardless of whether it’s the Champions League or Europa League). Those are the positives, here are the negatives. Jiménez has less than inspired our players throughout the season and it’s a scary thought to see players who have such little faith for the man in charge. You can’t expect us to break into the top 2 if we don’t have the proper coaching and as much as I’ve tried to defend Jiménez and put my trust in him throughout the course of the campaign, I think I officially give up. Romaric, Renato and Duscher are all central midfielders so starting them in a four-man midfield just doesn’t work… We’re not Barcelona or Real Madrid, all the remaining matches still matter! With a win we could have solidified that third place spot but instead it’s going to be down to the wire to do so.

Optimists would say that we’ve officially qualified for Europe for the 6th season running but realists (call them pessimistic if you want!) would say that we should be achieving so much more. I think I’m somewhere in between and I just expect so much more out of this beloved club. It’s so obvious that one of the main reasons behind Fabiano and Kanouté’s successful partnership has been Jesús Navas’ near-perfect service and without him they clearly struggled. Not only did Navas not play, but there was no winger on the right flank at all to support our dynamic duo up top.

My thoughts on this matter are simple. We’re a big club now, whether we like it or not, that’s what it has come down to. We need a coach to inspire the players, give them something to look forward to and something to believe in. I think that by keeping Jiménez, we would only stagnate as a team and not progress like we so badly need to. We have the squad to cause some serious damage in Europe but at the same time there are obvious problems that need to be addressed. Those will be saved for another post, on another day but for now we have to decide how we are looking at this situation.

Should I be optimistic right now or a bit more reserved?