Sevilla v Villarreal — A Whole Lot Going On

By: Ryan | April 5th, 2008

Sevilla take to the field against Villarreal on Sunday with the hopes of stopping this their current two game skid. As everyone and their mother says now, each game is essentially a final, with 8 ‘finals’ still left to play.

If Sevilla hopes to make their way back into the Champions League spot, they will have to overcome a current 5 point deficit as they sit in 6th place behind 5th place Racing and 4th place Atlético Madrid, who both sit on 50 points.

Convocatorio

Sevilla have announced 19 players for the game on Sunday. Palop, De Sanctis, Daniel, Adriano, Mosquera, Fazio, Duda, Keita, Poulsen, Renato, De Mul, David Prieto, Crespo, Alfaro, Jesús Navas, Diego Capel, Koné, Kanouté y Luis Fabiano.

Out Escude, Boulharouz, Javi Navarro, Maresca, Chevantón.

MARCA has Adriano starting at Right Back, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimenez throws in young David Prieto to see what he can do.

Javi Navarro Finally Speaks

Javi Navarro, still recuperating from his injuries, finally made an appearance before the press. Sevilla’s captain said ‘Whoever thinks I won’t be back are wrong.’ This comes from rumors citing Navarro’s possible retirement due to his knee injury.

He still have quite a lot of work to do in order to get back into the lineup, but from this recent interview, it looks like he will be back as soon as possible.

I for one can’t wait until he comes back. Sevilla have been lacking that brute (and yes, sometimes it is very brute) force that Navarro brings.

Dani Alves to Barcelona?

Much like Luis Fabiano, it appears that everyone is playing ‘Where in the World Is Dani Alves (going)?’ Latest reports have the Brazilian defender heading up north to Catalunya.

Aside from saying ‘I’m getting the hell out of here’ Dani Alves has made it VERY clear that he is going to leave Sevilla at the end of the season. Sport a Barcelona rag, says ‘Alves ONLY wants to go to Barça’. Alves’ agent ‘Rodri’ made it known that Alves doesn’t want to leave Sevilla for simply any price, but he also doesn’t want the mess that happened last summer.

Diario de Sevilla has echoed what Sport reported, saying that Barcelona are first in line for Sevilla’s current captain.

I know Alves will be gone at the end of the season, but this is the same thing that happened with Poulsen, who, when asked a few days later about his new contract with Barcelona, shrugged his shoulders and said ‘What?’.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

The Game

So nothing like playing the first place team in La Liga, to then play the Second place team in La Liga the following week. Very nice. Villarreal are playing great football as of late, clobbering Atlético 3-0 last weekend. Sevilla lost to the other team from Madrid 2-1, which makes Sevilla’s chances for a win just that much less likely.

But, I always have faith in my side. Monchi has expressed his desire to keep Manolo Jimenez as Sevilla’s gaffer through next season, which shows the front office has a bit of faith in the newly promoted coach. Jimenez also kept the players in the lockerroom for 40 minutes after the Madrid game to express some issues that were brewing in the side.

We’ll see if any of that love translates into a much needed three points today.