Sevilla will face West Ham in the Europa League

MADRID: Sevilla’s promising season could be coming to an end, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they finished strong in the Europa League.

On Thursday, they face West Ham in the first round of the knockout round at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, pitting two of the tournament’s favourites against each other.

While West Ham has had a strong season in the Premier League, where they were in contention for the top four until recently, Sevilla’s Europa League pedigree is unrivalled.

They’ve won the event six times, more than any other team, and four of those victories have come in the last eight years alone. Sevilla, aside from Barcelona, are unquestionably the team to beat.

However, there was a glimmer of hope that this season could deliver something more: the Copa del Rey, a deep run in the Champions League, or, most tantalisingly, La Liga victory.

Last season, Atletico Madrid demonstrated how Barcelona’s turmoil and Real Madrid’s sense of an era ending has left an opening, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Spain’s traditional contenders to become champions.

Sevilla, too, appears to have spotted an opening, moving the focus of their transfer strategy away from long-term planning and toward immediate success.

Instead of accepting hefty bids for great players like Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos, who were targets for Chelsea and Newcastle, they brought in Anthony Martial on loan from Manchester United.

Last summer, they swapped the talented Bryan Gil for the more experienced Erik Lamela for 30 million euros.

For the majority of the season, Sevilla has flourished, establishing themselves as Real Madrid’s sole opponents, while Barcelona and Atletico have battled for a position in the top four.

A strong defence has been at the heart of their success, with Kounde and Diego Carlos guiding them to the league’s best defensive record.

Ivan Rakitic, Fernando, and Joan Jordan form a solid midfield that provides equal parts creativity, discipline, and control.

While Sevilla has frequently commanded games, they have not always been dominant.

Too many draws have resulted from a harsh attack. Julen Lopetegui, their coach, has been criticised of being too meek against the larger teams while being overly cautious against the smaller ones.

They also underperformed in the Champions League, failing to qualify from a group that included Lille, Salzburg, and Wolfsburg, which they may have won.

Lopetegui’s reputation has undoubtedly been rebuilt following a horrific 2018 in which he was fired by Spain on the eve of the World Cup for agreeing to take command of Real Madrid, only to be fired by Real Madrid after just four and a half months.

Lopetegui led Sevilla to Champions League qualification twice in his debut season, placing fourth in La Liga and then winning the Europa League.

They finished fourth last season after losing in the Champions League last 16 to Borussia Dortmund.

Second place this season would be improvement – but Barca are catching up – and Lopetegui would have done it despite a devastating number of absentees.

Youssef En-Nesyri, the team’s leading scorer last season, missed the first half of the season due to injury. Lamela has been frequently unavailable. Both Captain Jesus Navas and Kounde have missed games in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Sevilla, on the other hand, has lacked the ruthlessness, if not the belief, to take the next step, to progress farther in the Champions League, or to turn an admirable title campaign into something more meaningful.

It’s almost as if their reputation as rivals in Spain and powerhouses in Europe’s second tier has solidified.

A knockout game at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, where Sevilla’s fans will shout out the club’s hymn and push the players to find another gear, is without a doubt one of the toughest assignments in the Europa League.

The disappointment is not that Sevilla might win the Europa League again, which would be a fantastic achievement, but that they felt capable of even more.

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