The Champions League round moves to Sevilla on Tuesday.
They host the current Europa League holders there as they look to regain control of their group after losing to Lens earlier this month.
To do so, they will need to win their first Champions League away game since beating Basel 4-1 in December 2016 and have lost five of their last six away games (one win) to the Spanish side.
But Sevilla have won just two of their last nine home games in this competition, so a trip to the Estadio Sánchez Pizjuan could be just what we need.
Despite achieving great success in Europe at the turn of the century, Los Palanganas have struggled against English teams, winning just two of their last nine matches.
They will be hoping that the recent appointment of Diego Alonso as manager will help them improve their record as well as a poor start to the season in La Liga.
Alonso in the driver’s seat
Sevilla, who hired three managers last season, are looking for a second manager this season. Despite leading the team to a seventh Europa League title in 16 years, Jose Luis Mendilivar was replaced by former Uruguay coach Diego Alonso in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Real Madrid, leaving the side eight points off the top eight matches.
I understand. right.
Draw is also the name of the game in Europe.
The UEFA Super Cup tie with Manchester City ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, but a penalty shoot-out loss meant they failed to lift the trophy for a sixth consecutive time and fell two points clear of the top two champions.
League group matches.
In the first leg, Lucas Ocampos conceded the first goal against Lille, but the French side trailed by a point just before the end of the first half. Sevilla later edged out PSV 2-1 with goals from Nemanja Gudelli and Youssef En-Nesyri, but the win was sealed with a goal from Jordan Tese in the 95th minute.
What the managers say:
Alonso: “If you haven’t won the first two games of the competition, you need a win.
We have that opportunity tomorrow and we will be ready for it.
You have to do your best for 90 minutes.
We face a great team, but we are ready.
“Encouraging others has to be organic.
We focus on tomorrow’s game and only tomorrow’s game. We will do our best to get 3 points.
“We will play like a final,” he said.
Arteta: “You can’t give up anything in the Champions League. Both boxes are very important for game control and can sometimes disappear very quickly.
You have to understand why this happened and how the game went for us, but a lot happened on our side.
‘To lose a game like this twice, I don’t think I deserved this result’ – Read what Mikel had to say in his pre-match press conference.
Tactics
Adrian Clarke: ‘New manager’s leap’ probably means we are facing a very motivated and aggressive Sevilla team.
Tactically, we’re not 100% sure what to expect, but Alonso switched from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3 against Real Madrid and used Boubacary Soumare to be stronger in central midfield.
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Djibril Zaai and 35-year-old Ivan Rakitic.
The former coach often used the Croatian alongside another veteran, 36-year-old Fernando.
Tied with Lens and PSV Eindhoven, the Spanish team won both matches. PSV actually scored 26 tries against them in their last game so hopefully they will be stronger in front of their own fans than they were against us.
In the future, “Seville” will be threatened by marked stones. No team has created more chances in La Liga so far this season (49 goals) and he has scored six goals in all competitions, including two in Europe.
Four-time Champions League winner Sergio Ramos is one of those dangerous men who ignore corners and free kicks.
Their main target is the Moroccan Youssef En-Nesiri. The 26-year-old frontman is renowned for his jump timing and has scored some outstanding goals in recent years, while also managing to provide full-backs Jesús Navas and Marcos Acuna and full-back Ocampos with ease.
Team news
Aaron Ramsdale prepares for the match against Lens.
Jurien Timber is the only injured player with Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Leandro Trossard returning to action against Chelsea this weekend. Aaron Ramsdale has returned to the squad after missing the match against Chelsea due to the birth of his first child.
Sevilla also have an almost perfect squad to choose from.
Striker Mariano Diaz is ruled out with a hip injury, while backup goalkeeper Alfonso Pastor has a knee injury.
Whichever team Alonso chooses, he will have a wealth of experience.
In the first two group stage games, Sevilla’s starting line-up was the oldest of the tournament’s squads, with an average age of 30 years and 343 days, with Ramos (37) the only one over 30.
Summer arrivals will help increase these numbers.
Facts and statistics
Sevilla have lost just three of their 10 home games against England in European competition, most recently a 3-0 win over Manchester United in the quarter-finals of the Europa League last season.
The last time we lost back-to-back Champions League group stage games was in the first two games of 2015/16, but we qualified for the knockout stages.
En-Nesyri has scored nine goals in his last 14 Champions League games, including his last game against PSV.
If he scores in this match, he will equal Wissam Ben Yedder’s record for most goals for a club in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League (10).
Gabriel Jesus has been involved in 20 goals (17 goals, 3 assists) in 25 Champions League games. He became only the second player to score in his first three league games since Marouane Chamak in 2010/11.
Declan Rice has made a breakthrough 32 appearances (with the ball five meters in front) in the Champions League this season, while Manchester City’s Rodri, 47, is the only defensive/central midfielder to have made more many in the competition so far.
Match official
Glenn Newberg
The Swedish Glenn Nyberg scored the match.
This was a new title for us in terms of refereeing. He has been watching matches at the highest level for his country since 2013 and was added to the FIFA list three years later.
This is his second season as a Champions League referee, having appeared in two matches last season and leading Bayern Munich to a 4-3 win over Manchester United last month.
Last summer, he was also selected as a referee for the Nations League final.
Referee: Glenn Newberg (SWE)
Assistant referees: Marbod Beige (SWE), Andreas Soderqvist (SWE)
Referee: Adam Radebeck (SWE)
VAR: Marco Fritz (DE)
Assistant VAR: Naik Kaitajovic (SVN)
The previous meeting
This is the third competitive contest between the two clubs, who met in the 2007/08 Champions League group stage.
We were 3-0 up at the time thanks to goals from Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Eduardo before taking an early lead in Spain before losing 3-1.
However, we have met several times in pre-season friendlies, including a 6-0 win in the Emirates Cup last season, with Jesus scoring a hat-trick, Bukayo Saka netting twice and Eddie Nketiah making a good save.
But the Spanish expedition was problematic in our history.
We have won just three of our 17 games against Spanish sides in all competitions (D3 L11), with wins against Celta Vigo in 2004, Real Madrid in 2006 and Valencia in 2019.
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