Seville 3-Krasnodar 2 | Bewilderment, resilience, In Nesyri and agony in Nervión

As if it were a superhero movie, Sevilla put on his cape and took out his superpowers to come back and win a game in which everything that could go wrong did. But the faith of Lopetegui's team is unshakeable, the confidence in their possibilities has no limits and the three points achieved against Krasnodar are those that forge the character of the big teams.

The start of the game was a carbon copy of the start of Sevilla-Rennes. That is to say, total domination of the local team that insisted on failing one occasion after another. Even there was a penalty indicated by Felix Byrch that he rectified after going to the VAR monitor. A great shot from Ocampos, a shot from Jordán from the small area that went up inexplicably … and the movie script changed. Krasnodar stacked a perfect counter that Koundé had to cut with a free kick on the edge of the area. Suleymanov, who was the one who had committed the penalty that was rectified, took responsibility and placed the ball in Vaclik's square.

Sevilla were knocked out and things did not stop getting worse, since inexplicably the nerves took hold of those of Lopetegui and in the next play Koundé penalized Berg. Byrch also did not see it live but his review in the VAR made him change his mind. The Swedish Krasnodar forward did not fool Vaclik, but put the ball in the back of the net. There were 70 minutes ahead but Sevilla was two goals behind and the ghosts appeared in Sánchez Pizjuán.

Sevilla's plan to react was the same as always. Balls to Navas and that the world champion hung balls from his band. This is how De Jong and Rakitic's shots arrived, which also did not find a door and caused Lopetegui to move card with changes. An unfortunate Koundé and an unprecedented Escudero left their place for Acuña and Óscar when the 34th minute was up. And the plan to attack from the right worked, although Jesús Navas gave the penultimate pass. The receiver was Jordán, whose hanging ball was headed at the near post by Rakitic. Seville began a siege to the Krasnodar area but the aim was conspicuous by its absence. In addition, it was not the night of the locals, who in the last play of the first half conceded another against that ended with a foul by Jesús Navas on the edge of the area that led to his expulsion. What seemed like a flat stage turned into hell for a Sevilla who had 45 minutes left to try to come back with one less footballer. And all this against a Krasnodar who arrived three times, scored two goals and forced an expulsion.

Sevilla did not spare the slightest effort in the second half, which assumed all the risks incurred and for having in pursuit of the tie. Óscar enjoyed several occasions and the crossbar prevented Rakitic's double after the hour. But the tie was going to come in the most unexpected way, with the failure of a Kaio that had been immeasurable. De Jong pressed and En Nesyri took advantage of the gift to put the tie on the scoreboard.

There were 20 minutes left and the doubt arose. Go for the third, taking risks for having one less player or accepting a draw that seemed impossible at the beginning of the clash. But the issue was soon resolved. What it took Rakitic to hang a spectacular set piece from the side that En Nesyri ended up taking advantage of after hitting the post. If in three minutes Krasnodar went 0-2, in the same period of time Sevilla turned the scoreboard to put the 3-2 on the light.

If the game had been pure suffering, in the final minutes that qualifier fell short. Sevilla did not have a drop of gasoline and was reducing water as he could with one less footballer. However, the team of breed and courage could not escape the prize of triumph. Sevilla donned the superhero costume to rebel against all the elements that turned against him and give a happy ending to the night.