Osasuna v Sevilla Preview – ¡Qué Bien Manolo!

By: Anthony | May 16th, 2009

Despite our up and down, extremely inconsistent season, Manolo Jiménez has unconvincingly pulled us up to that vital third Champions League direct qualification spot. Still though, Señor Jiménez continues to sit in the hot seat because we haven’t exactly been the Sevilla side that everyone expected us to be. That being said, we sit in third with three matches left on 63 points, 4 ahead of fourth place Valencia, 5 ahead of fifth place Atlético and 7 ahead of Villarreal and Depor who are currently also fighting for UEFA Champions League glory although they look to be stuck in a different European cup next year.

This match is the tale of two sides in very different situations. We’re fighting our way to becoming one of Spain’s strongest teams and poor little Osasuna is fighting to stay in La Primera. Despite this massive gap in the table between us and our friends from Pamplona today’s match will be anything but simple or straight forward. Last time when we played Osasuna at home we drew 1-1 in a match which was supposed to be an easy three points for us.

We are playing away and a win today coupled with another couple convenient correct results will guarantee us Champions League football next season and surely that is motivation enough for us to get the right result.

Kanouté and Luis Fabiano have been in top form lately showing just why they are one of Europe’s best striking partnerships and it will be key for them to perform well today in Pamplona. It’s been a hot and cold season for our two star hitmen with both of them serving some time on the sidelines due to injuries but ever since about a month ago when they’ve both been at peak fitness they have clicked again and are working wonders for us. It’s a shame that Fabiano (last year’s Pichichi runner-up) has hit his peak towards the end of this season but hopefully he can finish off in style and if that means pushing Osasuna further down towards La Segunda then so be it!

Diego Capel played solid on the left for us last week and got some good minutes in, something he has been lacking this season. It will be interesting to see which “Diego” Jiménez starts – Capel or Perotti. The Argentine youngster has been an absolute sensation this season and has become a fan favourite amongst us Sevillistas. That being said though, Capel is a proven talent, we all know that and if he’s not happy then one of Europe’s top clubs will snap him up in a flash which I definitely don’t want to see happen.

Fernando Navarro and Konko are in the squad after both being out of last week’s due to suspensions.

Osasuna might be fighting for their lives but let’s be honest here – we don’t expect to walk out of Cataluña with less than all three points.