The Sevilla, second classified in the League, is preparing to receive the current champion, Atlético de Simeone, at his most critical moment in terms of available troops in the squad trained by Julen Lopetegui. The Basque coach complained after the tough Cup match that he had to play to eliminate (on penalties) the modest Andratx of the “collateral damage” of a heavily loaded month of December. The technician was referring to the injury to Oliver Torres, who left injured when he felt a puncture in the back of his thigh.
The Extremaduran joins a long list of casualties due to injury, eight in total, making it very difficult to manage the group in a competition that demands the maximum. Still pending to carry out tests on the midfielder, the fact that he requested the change immediately when he felt the discomfort on the artificial turf of the municipal stadium of Sa Plana suggests that it is a serious muscle injury. At least he rules it out for Saturday’s game against the mattresses.
Lopetegui cannot count for this meeting with Fernando, suspended, nor with the injured Jesús Navas, En-Nesyri, Suso and Lamela, all of them of long duration. In addition, the Argentines Acuña and Ocampos have been separated from the group’s work for several weeks and, of course, from the competition.
The coach also regretted the fact of having to play again, as in the previous Cup tie against Córdoba “120 minutes” when Andratx forced the extension, while his rival this Saturday has been able to prepare the game without participating in the tournament cupbearer.
The youth squad are taking more and more prominence in the Lopetegui team, which in recent official matches has named between 5 and 7 players from the subsidiary.
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