Sevilla v Almeria–Musho Beti??

By: Ryan | April 18th, 2008

When I lived in Spain last year, my best friend Juan was a Betis fan, and I, obviously am not. When we went to Valdemoro for the Feria, we stumbled upon this Betis bar, which was actually pretty cool. The owner was from Sevilla and we chatted for a while as Juan took pictures to send me upon every Sevilla loss.

Me showing my love for the Peña Betico Valdemoro

But sometimes you have to put your differences aside, and actually root for the other guy. In this case, it’s this weekend as Betis take on Atlético Madrid in a must win game for BETIS!! We desperately need their help in order to squeak into 4th place in La Liga this season.

I’m not the only one, as Andres Palop said ‘I want Betis to do us a favor and win’

As for the game itself, Sevilla take on Almeria in the Sanchez Pizjuan. In the first meeting of the clubs, Almeria came through with a 1-0 victory as Dani Alves was sent off in the opening minutes of the second half.

Sevilla will take to the field with 18 players in their roster.

Palop, De Sanctis, Daniel, Crespo, David Prieto, Fazio, Mosquera, el susodicho Adriano, Poulsen, Renato, Keita, Jesús Navas, De Mul, Duda, Capel, Luis Fabiano, Kanouté y Koné.

Adriano has made his return to the squad, but Escude, Boulharouz (who?) Drago, Chevantón and Javi Navarro still are injured. Navarro did undergo a new scan on his injured knee this week in Barcelona

This game really is huge. I don’t know how much I can stress that. Let’s take a look at the table right now.

4. Atlético–54 pts v Betis
5. Racing –53 pts v Real Madrid
6. Sevilla — 51 pts v Almeria
7. Almeria — 45 pts v Sevilla

Thus, the big winners need to be Betis and Real Madrid. If Sevilla come out winners, the table will flip and Sevilla will be sitting in 5th place on 54 points (they are behind in the head to head). But then it’s simply a neck and neck race, barring a Racing defeat to Real Madrid.

This Week In Sevilla

Jose Maria Del Nido speaks again, this time alluding to the fact that he will kill anyone who tries to mess up the team until the end of the season. No really, I’m sure he’ll have you whacked. The boss man doesn’t want anyone messing up our family. And don’t cross him..seriously.

Kanouté expressed his desire to stay in Sevilla, saying quite simply ‘I want to stay in Sevilla’. I think Kanouté, after being a journeyman for a few years, has truly found a home in Sevilla. I know the fans love him, and I certainly am one of those fans.

Manolo Jimenez said there would be no punishment for the Luis Fabiano confrontation that took place after the Brazilian’s substitution last week against Almeria. When asked about the possible handslap, Jimenez responded

Punishing Luis Fabiano would be punishing Sevilla

Couldn’t have said it any better myself.

Well Sevillistas, I have to be honest. It’s 75 degrees outside in Buffalo, NY. I just called in sick to end my consecutive days working streak at 34, and I’m ready to go and get some drinks, so that’s where I’m headed.

La palabra final

I was trolling the YouTubes this week and came across this video. It is an amazing video about the history of Sevilla and being a fan. Take a look if you have a few minutes, it’s well worth it.