The Champions League go back to Sánchez Pizjuán And it does so even without an audience, despite the intention of all parties was that a percentage of Sevilla fans could occupy the stands of their stadium. The health situation is not conducive to this, but the good news of Koundé's return opens the hopes so much for the match against Rennes, as for the future, since the young Frenchman is the best sign that the coronavirus will end up passing (follow the game live on As.com).
Only one training session after 14 days of isolation of the player has been enough to convince Lopetegui. Koundé has returned in top form and although yesterday in the press room the coach affirmed that he was still to be decided, his ownership seems secure. Also that of Jesús Navas, who continues to play everything and the one who pampers himself every day to get him to the meetings. Tonight will be no exception.
Thus, Sevilla host Rennes on the second day of the group stage with the need to add a triumph that would be worth double. On the one hand, it would make the draw against him even better. Chelsea in Stamford Bridge a week ago, while on the other hand it would scare away the crisis in which the team has settled after four consecutive games without winning, in addition to accumulating two consecutive defeats in the League.
With that mission between eyebrows and eyebrows, Lopetegui will be able to count on his gala eleven. Or what is the same, the team that won the sixth Europa League that looks in the showcases of the club with the only changes represented by the arrivals of Rakitic and Acuña through Banega and Reguilón. In addition, regarding the team that lost against him Eibar last Saturday, Jordán and Fernando will return in the center of the field, while the entire line of attack aims to be renewed and its members to be Suse, Ocampos and De Jong.
Opposite will be Rennes, captained at first by an old acquaintance of Seville: Steven Nzonzi. The wayward French midfielder exhibited the best football of his career at Sánchez Pizjuán under the command of a Unai emery who got the best out of the tall midfielder. But Nzonzi had a special predilection for lios, which in the south is defined as having a bare wire inside the head. And that has not changed, to the point of falling yesterday from the call at the last minute when receiving a sanction for unsportsmanlike conduct by UEFA. Throwing a bottle, it is not known well against what or against whom, it was the sin that today has to be purged by a footballer who would have been received with a loud whistle in what was his home if the public had been allowed into the stadium . The loss of Nzonzi at the last minute has even overshadowed that of the precocious and surprised Camavinga, who remains at home due to muscle fatigue derived from the accumulation of matches.
Lopetegui did not stop warning in the preview of the dangers of Rennes while Fernando demanded his teammates concentration so that the crisis is nipped in the bud. The Champions takes its toll but it took a lot to get here, so Sevilla, with Koundé, is obliged to make amends.