Sevilla are eliminated from Copa del Rey after getting knocked out by Real Madrid. However, many positives can be taken away for the club.
The Andalusian club are out of Copa del Rey after losing out to Real Madrid in a 6-3 aggregate scoreline. Despite being 3-1 up at one stage in the second leg, late goals from Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema meant they were unable to break Real Madrid’s unbeaten streak, which is now the Spanish record with up to 40 consecutive games undefeated.
However, there are some positives that can be taken from this result for Sevilla.
The first positive for them is they will now have more rest and time to recover. Although Copa del Rey is a big tournament in Spain, Sevilla’s main focuses this season should be on La Liga and Champions League. They are currently in the second place in the former and knock-out stages in the latter, and all the concentration needs to be there if they want to make deep runs in both competitions.
Even though Sevilla have quite relatively a big squad, with up to 25 players available for the first team, the head coach Jorge Sampaoli’s intensive style of playing means they will need to rest as much as they can in order to perform at their best. This will certainly help them in the league with rivals Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, and Barcelona all still participating in three different competitions. It will also help with their Champions League tie as their opponents Leicester City are still in the FA Cup, a similar cup tournament in England, and could be exhausted by the time two teams meet in February.
Another positive takeaway for them is the performances from non-regular players like Vicente Iborra, David Soria, and Pablo Sarabia, and the two debutants Clement Lenglet and Stevan Jovetic.
Although he is still the captain of the club, Iborra hasn’t been featuring much under Sampaoli with only six appearances in 17 league games. However, the big midfielder had a great outing with a goal to his name and incredible work rate throughout the match. Despite playing in the middle of the park, he was one of the biggest threats in the Madrid goal area and forced Kiko Casilla to make few good saves with his headers.
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Sarabia also had a big impact on the game with dangerous deliveries from wide areas, one of which leading to Danilo’s own goal. On the other hand, Soria – the 23-year-old keeper who has been on the sidelines all season long – had a decent game with some sharp saves to keep Madrid at bay.
What Sampaoli and the fans should be thrilled with more than anything are the two debutants Lenglet and Jovetic. Lenglet was recently signed to replace his compatriot Timothee Kolodziejczak, who departed to Borussia Monchengladbach, and the young center back was impressive at the back with minimal errors. Although he could be blamed for Benzema’s goal, where he was easily beaten and had the shot deflected off him, the 21-year-old looked like someone the club can rely on for a long time.
Jovetic was also fantastic in his debut, and scored just nine minutes after being on the pitch with a great volley. Even though he was just signed on Tuesday and had his first training session yesterday, he was a constant danger throughout the second half and could’ve had more goals to his name if Casilla or the post hadn’t deny him.
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Overall, Sevilla put on a great fight and the fans should be content with the team’s performance without some main starters. Although they lacked enough concentration in defense to end Madrid’s unbeaten streak, they can go on to have one of their best seasons in a long time if the players can manage to keep up with this work.