MADRID, 13 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Sevilla visits the Municipal Stadium of Montilivi this Saturday (4:15 p.m.) with the obligation to start building their comeback in the table against Girona in the quiet area, while Real Sociedad and Athletic will live (9:00 p.m.) a Basque derby of heights with the Champions League as a desire of the ‘lions’, on matchday 17 of LaLiga Santander in which Valladolid-Rayo Vallecano (2:00 p.m.) and Osasuna-Mallorca (6:30 p.m.) will also take place.
The highlight of this Saturday will be the traditional Basque derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic at the Reale Arena, which will be the 184th official duel between the two teams. On this occasion, the duel will be marked by the good work of both teams in the first part of the season, with the ‘txuri-urdin’ third with 32 points, a position that they will maintain no matter what. While the rojiblancos aspire to Europe, seventh, two units from the Champions League.
Those from San Sebastián, who have not lost to Athletic at home since March 2017, come to the duel with their eternal rival after two consecutive victories against Osasuna (2-0) and Almería (0-2), in addition to their two wins in the Copa del Rey to reach the round of 16 of the tournament. As an alternative, along with Betis, the usual Real Madrid, Barça and Atlético, Real has its confidence through the roof, without losing in the league since October.
Athletic will face its drive and powerful and compact model against the combined football of the ‘short’ Kubo, Brais Méndez, Silva and Merino, in charge of serving balls to the plugged-in Sorloth, who has scored in three games, although it is doubtful. And it is that Imanol Bailiff recovers the former Celta to align his starting midfielder, with Carlos Fernández apparently recovered from his muscle injury. The coach has the safe losses of Guevara, Merquelanz, Sadiq and Sola, with Cho in doubt.
Ernesto Valverde’s men also arrive in good shape for the regional derby, also with a ticket to the round of 16 of the KO tournament and with two draws in the last two days against Betis and Osasuna, both goalless. These two matches showed that the lack of goals is being a serious problem for the ‘lions’, only with the ‘indigestion’ in the Cup against Eldense (1-6) as an oasis in their goalscoring desert after the World Cup. With two draws in their last two visits, Athletic goes to Reale with the only loss of Iñigo Martínez.
THE SEVILLA, WITHOUT MARGIN OF ERROR
Although out of relegation, Sevilla has no margin for error, seventeenth with 15 points, the same as Cádiz, the team that marks the relegation. The Andalusians completed a horrible first part of the season, without winning at home and with an irregularity that condemned them to the uncertainty of the red zone of the table.
But the World Cup break has done well for the team coached by Sampaoli, who already seems to have injected part of his competitive character into the squad. They arrive undefeated after the World Cup ‘rest’, with a draw -against Celta (1-1)- and a balsamic triumph -against Getafe (2-1)-, the first at home so far this year.
However, as a visitor they have only added the defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu (3-1) as a blur in their last six outings. Although the most recent memory of him in Montilivi is not rosy, since they fell (1-0) in 2019, with only one win from Seville (0-1) in their only two meetings in Girona. In the sports field, Sampaoli recovers Montiel after suspension and Rekik, already recovered, although he has the confirmed casualties of Telles, ‘Tecatito’ Corona, Delaney, Marcao and Papu Gómez.
In front will be a Girona that, unbeaten at home since the beginning of October, will seek to rediscover the victory in Montilivi, where they have not won since before the break, when they beat Athletic Club (2-1). Their last precedent at home was the draw (2-2) against Rayo, while on the last day they also drew (2-2) against Espanyol, missing out on a victory that seemed clear after going 0-2.
The lack of defensive forcefulness and the mistakes behind are weighing down a team trained by Michel with a negative balance of 19 official matches in a row without leaving a clean sheet -the last time was in June 2022, in the Second Division-. The coach will be without Taty Castellanos due to suspension, nor with the injured Kebé, Reinier, Juanpe and Javi Hernández, although he recovers Oriol Romeu.
The games on Saturday will open with Valladolid-Rayo, with the Pucelano team with a margin of only two points over relegation. The lack of success in front of the goal is being a drag for those of Pacheta, with only 13 goals scored, the worst record since 1997-1998. He has two consecutive defeats, the last one against Mallorca (1-0), and presents the casualties of Sergio León, suspended, and the injured Escudero and Anuar.
For their part, those from Vallecas saw how the defeat at home against Betis (1-2) on the last day broke their streak of seven games without losing (four draws and three wins) in the League. At José Zorrilla he has only celebrated two victories this century, the last in 2019. Andoni Iraola confirmed that Raúl de Tomás, who already played half an hour against the Verdiblancos, will not be against Valladolid.
Also this Saturday there will be an Osasuna-Mallorca. Jagoba Arrasate’s team is eighth with 24 points, three behind Europe, after an outstanding first half of the season. Its closest precedent is the draw (0-0) against Athletic and it only has three defeats at home. The vermilion team has only suffered one defeat in the last six rounds and lives calmly in tenth place with 22 points. Aguirre’s men already won 0-2 at El Sadar last year, with goals from Ángel and Grenier.
–PROGRAM FOR MATCHDAY 17 OF LALIGA SANTANDER.
-Saturday 14.
Valladolid – Vallecano Lightning. Melero Lopez (C. Andalusia)
Girona – Seville. Pizarro Gómez (C. Madrileño) 16.15.
Osasuna – Majorca. Soto Grado (C. Riojano) 18.30.
Real Sociedad – Athletic. Cuadra Fernández (C. Balearic Islands) 21.00.
-Domingo 15.
Getafe – RCD Espanyol. Figueroa Vázquez (C. Andaluz) 14.00.
Almeria – Athletic. Sánchez Martínez (C. Murciano) 16.15.
-Monday 16.
Cadiz – Elche. Del Cerro Grande (C. Madrid) 21.00.