Monday 16 January 2017 17:37, UK
In his latest column, Guillem Balague says Sevilla can win this season’s La Liga after Jorge Sampaoli’s side ended Real Madrid's 40-game unbeaten run on the weekend.
An injury-time winner from Sevilla substitute Stevan Jovetic saw the Andalusians come from behind to beat Los Blancos 2-1 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Sunday night.
As a result, Sevilla are second, just a point behind Madrid at the top of the table, albeit having played a game more than Zinedine Zidane’s team, as the halfway point of the campaign approaches.
And Guillem reflects on a potentially decisive win for Sevilla, as well as answering all your questions in his latest column...
Sevilla can win the league, but they have to give 100 per cent, while Barcelona and Real can make mistakes and will still be competing for it.
For Sevilla to win, they have to even improve on their away record – they lost twice this season and won four times, which is a dynamic change from last season when they went a whole year without winning away. It is another show of the step forward they have taken, but they need even more points.
Mentally, they are ready for the league, there is no doubt about that, I think they will compete until the end, but they need to have the perfect season, while Barcelona and Real can make mistakes and they will still be there.
Real did not do much wrong until the last 10 minutes. Marcelo said they probably relaxed after scoring the goal and certainly individual mistakes of Benzema, Ramos, Marcelo and Navas helped Sevilla turn the game round.
But before that, we saw a team that had accepted the tactical innovation introduced by Zidane with three centre backs. They had prepared it during the week and the idea was to stop Sevilla attacking down the wings, especially using the space left by Marcelo.
So by putting Nacho next to Marcelo and Raphael Varane helped by Dani Carvajal, it meant Sevilla could not attack down the wings so easily, but that also meant Real attacked less as they had one less forward.
It was a game that had Real not lost, it would have been a good result for them. So for 80 minutes it worked and it was interesting that Real adapted to a rival, something we have not seen for a while and another plus for Zidane, convincing his players that was the right thing to do.
Sevilla have scored eight goals in the last five minutes of games they have either been drawing or losing, which suggests they are physically strong, believe in what they are doing, and have quality up front and the competitive gene that obviously Unai Emery introduced to them and Sampaoli has now taken to a new level.
It is just the second time Real have lost a game that they were winning with five minutes to go, so that tells you how big a win it was. For Sevilla, it was a show of communion between players, manager and fans.
In the same way we praised Zidane, we also have to criticise him for the last 10 minutes of the game and this is something I have seen before. It is the sign of a young manager and he did not react very well to what Sevilla threw into the game in the last 15 minutes.
Firstly by taking Toni Kroos out and putting Mateo Kovacic in, who looked lost, while Kroos – I do not know what he saw in him, but he can guarantee possession, unlike Kovacic, who is more direct in that position and risks a little bit more.
When Pablo Sarabia and Stevan Jovetic, who were absolutely crucial and again, Sampaoli should be praised for the turning around of the game when they came on, even though Real had Lucas Vazquez or Mariano Diaz Mejia on the bench to try and change the dynamic and forcing Sevilla to be more careful – he did not do that. Sevilla had the initiative and at one point had almost 87 per cent of possession, but Zidane did not react to it.
Tactically, it was an interesting game because both teams were very cautious for 70 minutes or so. Real played with three at the back, and Sevilla, who normally do too, moved to a back four.
Neither risk anything, they did not want to lose the ball, there were at least six men behind the ball and not a lot of movement off the ball, it was all about not making mistakes. This was the consequence of two games in the cup in which a lot of goals had been conceded, but also of the importance of the league fixture.
So it was only after Real scored that the game came alive, and when Cristiano Ronaldo - who was not particularly influential in the game - scored it seemed like Real were able with their defensive structure, having hardly been affected by Sevilla’s attacks, to take the game. But Sevilla at home can beat anybody.
Guillem answers your questions...
Will anyone be leaving the Bernabeu this window? (@garethdavies80)
Zidane does not want anybody to leave, so the squad should stay the same.
What do you make of Alexander Isak, the potential new Real Madrid signing? (@Lew_Barlow97)
I have seen videos of him and Real definitely want him for the ‘B’ team, a ‘B’ team that they want to make much stronger next season. He is a bit slow, strong - stronger than his physique shows as he is very, very thin - and like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he has a lot of quality even though he is a big lad. He has a lot of potential, but he is still young.
Who do you think is most likely to be Real Madrid’s next Galactico? (@lukemcfeeters4)
They will definitely go for a Galatico in the summer, Paulo Dybala looks like he will renew his contract with Juventus and may stay another year there, David De Gea is somebody who if Keylor Navas continues having irregular games – I think he was partly to blame for Sevilla’s second goal because of his positioning – could be a target.
And let’s see what happens with the season and where Real finishes, but if they have a weakness in central midfield, it is only the holding midfielder. They only have Casemiro there, so Steven N'Zonzi could be a target.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang wants to go to Real and if he keeps on his impressive goalscoring stats, he too could be a target for Madrid. But it is still early to say who they will target next.
When Steven N'Zonzi was at Stoke we Stoke fans knew how good he was – is he Barca material? (@Andrew19889)
He could actually be a Barcelona or Real player and the story is that English clubs want him too, his buyout clause is only €30m and he does not want to renew his contract with Sevilla and he will be one of the big transfer names of the summer.
Do you think Barca will move for Sampaoli in the summer if Lucho leaves? (@marilichat)
I think the Luis Enrique era is ending and the brave thing here is to actually admit it by the club and the coach and then move on. But that does not always happen and that then means that the next year, club, team and coach suffers.
So we will see what decision Luis Enrique takes and I tell you why Sampaoli will be at the top of that list with Ernesto Valverde, because he has a good relationship with Lionel Messi, Neymar wanted him to become the Brazil national coach, and he also gets on very well with Luis Suarez.
Of course, he is Argentinian, but he is doing well with Sevilla in a modern way, providing good football and he would love to go to Barcelona. And because of all those things, he will be at the top of their list.
Any truth in the reports linking Gerard Pique with a return to the Premier League? (Tony)
I am sure Gerard Pique does not want to return to the Premier League at this point in his career.
Is Barcelona's transfer policy hindering La Masia's growth? @Harisubramani15
It is a complex issue, but basically Barcelona have taken a lot of wrong decisions in terms of the direction of La Masia in recent times. They want to change that and so have handed over a lot of decisions to Pep Segura, who was key in the academy of Barcelona for 16 years in the past, before moving away to become director Liverpool’s academy. And he changed a lot of things there and now he is back at Barcelona trying to redirect Barcelona into the future.
