Goal against goal – AS.com

In order not to lose perspective, it is important to remember that the Seville started the century in Second. Since then it has not fallen below the ninth place. His model of stability, apart from shareholder earthquakes, has led him to the conquest, in that period, of four Europa League, two UEFA Cups, two King’s Cups, one Super Cup Spanish and a European Super Cup. He has also finished in the Champions League position the last two years. And once, without Cristiano or Messi, Madrid and Barça have lost their superhuman condition, the League It doesn’t look like its glass ceiling anymore, although no one in the club opens that melon yet (follow the game live on AS.com).

Monchi has profoundly reshaped the squad since his return in 2019. The first year signed up 17 footballers and put the project in the hands of Lopetegui, who came from DJing at Madrid. A risky bet and a full-blown regeneration with no side effects: the team finished third. That success has moderated then the activity in the market. This summer they arrived six new, fundamentally to give depth to the bench. None is entitled. For today Montiel is expected, due to the loss of Jesús Navas, and Rafa Mir, in the absence of En Nesyri.

The runrún with Rafa Mir

A Rafa Mir Monchi took it away from Atlético on the finish line. The resistance of Alavés to the reduction in the price of Joselu and the 24 years of the Cartagena ended up deciding Monchi. His five goals have not quenched the buzz about his effectiveness. More if the club comes out of a bad experience with another nine from its court, Luuk de Jong. Rafa Mir is the son of Magín Mir, a Balearic central defender who played nine games in the First Division with Albacete and one with the Under-19 National Team together with Cañizares, Lasa, José Mari and Moisés García León. His son took another path. A forward with a huge physical presence, he went through the quarries of Barça and Valencia. In his last year at the Mestalla he scored 25 goals and Madrid pretended to hire him for Castilla. Advised by his agent, Jorge Mendes, preferred the Premier. Wolverhampton paid two million and took it. It did not materialize there or in its assignment to Nottingham. In between, he played 30 games with Las Palmas, but it was in a Second Huesca where he turned his career around. He arrived in January, scored nine goals, the team was promoted to First Division and there he scored 16 more, between League and Cup. He also scored three at the Tokyo Games. Because He is in Sevilla, although he offers doubts. He was a substitute against Wolfsburg, but he is expected today as the greatest threat from the Lopetegui team, which is missing, in addition to En Nesyri and Navas, Suso and Lamela. Diego Carlos He left the Champions duel touched, and it will be a doubt until the last minute, as Ocampos or Koundé, that on Friday they did not train. Yes Lopetegui can’t count with his two central holders not even with his best offensive trick, the decline will be noticeable.

The game is preceded by magnificent data. They are the two highest-scoring teams in the championship, although Madrid is overwhelmingly superior here. Takes already 44 so many In the 18 games of the course, figures of the best moments of the Cristiano era … without Cristiano. Less than a month from turning 34, Benzema is in his best scoring average: 15 goals, ten of them in the league, plus seven assists andn this competition and 19 participations in goal attacks. He is, with De Tomás, the soccer player who shoots the most in the championship. A matador at the height of the best. Together with him, Vinicius, 10 goals and indefensible speed. 38 kilometers per hour have been measured in this Champions League. Around them and the untouchable trio of midfielders (Modric, Casemiro, Kroos) this Madrid has been built, which is now starting a diabolical sequence: Sevilla, Athletic, Real Sociedad, Inter, Atlético.

Valverde returns

Ancelotti finds it difficult to abandon his classics. It has ten permanent positions and the eleventh place already offers only two candidates, Rodrygo and Asensio, who alternate. Hazard sigue en boxes by a record duration gastroenteritis. The Italian knows that he must rotate, but cannot find the moment. Alaba He has made the list despite the sprain he suffered before the Sheriff. Ancelotti will decide today if he takes a risk with him. It does not seem likely, which opens the door to Nacho. In return, Valverde is already ready. This one is in the first relay line, but he will not start.

The ball will be the first disputed territory. Sevilla is even more territorial than Madrid (61% possession compared to 57%) and is equal in number of passes per game. It is also superior to set pieces and in defensive balance (it is the team with the fewest goals in LaLiga), but the Madrid has more punch and better records in the elaboration of the goals. There he has dethroned the usual leader, Barça. And history is outrageously on his side. The draw that Sevilla started last year, surrounded by controversy (that VAR penalty from Militao that invalidated the subsequent Bono to Benzema, decisive for the League), it was preceded by 13 consecutive defeats at the Bernabéu. Lopetegui has never beaten his exes either, but the distance between both teams, and not only in the table, is smaller than ever.