Argentines spell out the championship! From the penultimate in La Liga to the Champions League, this is the main essence of the cup
Five months ago, Sevilla were in the relegation zone of La Liga, a season with no hope at all. However, from the Champions League group stage to the Europa League, perhaps old fans have seen the light of success.
With a 7th Europa League final and a 7th victory over Manchester United, Juve and Roma, Jose Mourinho's team took the lead, survived a penalty shootout, and finally could only watch as the "cup owner" took a ticket to next season's Champions League.
01. Changing coaches doesn't work! Fall out of the La Liga relegation zone at the start of the new year
a. Julen Lopetegui is out of class: because of the Champions League home defeat to Dort
At the end of last season, Sevilla were just two points away from Barca, fourth in La Liga. However, after the start of the new season, they sold two main central defenders and did not strengthen the squad in time, resulting in more chaos in the team.
After just five points from the first seven La Liga rounds of the new season, the team sacked manager Julen Lottegui after a 4-1 home defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the group stage of the Champions League.
After seeing off Julen Lopetegui, they brought back former coach Sampaoli, but the team's record has not changed much, and it is still hovering around the relegation zone.
However, Sampaoli took Sevilla FC to a draw away to Borussia Dortmund and won at home to Copenhagen, earning four of the team's five points from the Champions League group stage this season, finishing third in the group and leaving hope for the entire season.
b. Winning the championship after 3 coach changes: is it because of the blessing of the king of the ball?
Continuing to fight on two fronts, Sevilla did not get better. At the beginning of the new year, people were surprised to learn that after 17 rounds of La Liga, Sevilla FC won 3, drew 6 and lost 8, with just 15 points, and reached the bottom 2 position in the table (before the World Cup, they were also in this position).
Already in the relegation zone after the 2-1 defeat to Girona, the team's captain Rakitic said angrily in a post-match interview: "Such a bad mistake cannot be explained. The finger should not be directed at anyone, but Seville has reached such a point that things cannot continue like this. ”
It is clear that despite reaching the last eight of the Europa League, they have only 28 points from the first 26 rounds of La Liga, just two points above the relegation zone, and the team has opted for their third mid-season change.
The 62-year-old veteran Spanish coach Mendiriba replaced Sampaoli in the manager's seat.
02. Is there metaphysics on the way to winning the championship? Maradona's blessings you have to obey
a. The blessing of Maradona and the double blessing of the Argentine element
Although Sevilla, who are best at their field, have once again advanced to the top 8, Sevilla, who are still struggling on the road to relegation, are not favored by many people.
Roma, who were able to eliminate Manchester United, Juve and Jose Mourinho all the way to win the title, may have something to do with the "blessing of Maradona".
After all, it was in this year that Maradona's former home team, Argentina won the World Cup, Napoli returned to the top of Serie A, Barça recovered the lost ground in La Liga, Argentina's Boca Juniors won the championship, and Sevilla as the king's former place to land is also the last to lift the trophy.
And it's not just Maradona blessings, this Sevilla team itself has a number of Argentines. With Sampaoli taking over halfway, Ocampos, who was on loan at Ajax, returned to the team in the summer window.
Whether it is Acuña, Ocampos, Lamela or Montiel, the biggest characteristic of these Argentine players in the game is their hard work.
In the Europa League knockout qualifying match against PSV Eindhoven, Ocampos, who came off the bench after half-time, not only contributed one goal and one assist, but also tried 10 one-on-one ground confrontations, won 7 times, and also had 3 tackles and 1 interception.
This time he turned around and scored, and Ocampos had not had a successful season, but after returning to Sevilla, he became part of the team in the Europa League.
Ocampos' advantage is that he can increase the threat of crosses, frequently enter the box as a midfielder, not only can he threaten the goal with a header, but he can also make the ball for teammates inserted in the back row.
This time the heel pass assisted Goodley, laying the foundation for the team's victory over PSV Eindhoven (although the second leg was 0-2, which did not prevent the 3-2 overall victory).
Whether it's Acuña or Ocampos, their rivalry on the pitch stands out. It provides the team with physical elements and a good temperament, which may be the characteristic of this group of Argentine players.
b. 11 goals in total: the Argentine contributed 3 goals and 4 assists
According to the statistics of the knockout stages of the Europa League, Sevilla FC scored a total of 11 goals, of which the Argentine player contributed 3 goals and 4 assists.
It is worth mentioning that Lamela only played a total of 351 minutes and actually received 4 yellow cards as an attacker. Argentines fight very hard, and many Argentines fight together, which is also the characteristic of this Seville.
In the Europa League semi-final against Juventus, Susso's goal equalised and Lamela's header from extra-time allowed the team to complete the comeback.
Through Ennesri cover, both Ocampos and Lamela will become Sevilla's killer move.
When the final moves to a penalty shootout, Sevilla FC has the Moroccan set (Ennesri and Burnu), Croatian (Rakitic) and Argentinian (Ocampos, Lamela and Montiel).
When Ocampos scored the first penalty without looking at the ball, it may have been more reassuring to his teammates than Messi.
Montiel twice became the team's hero in lifting the Gold Cup as the last penalty taker in half a year.
From Maradona's blessing to the contribution of the Argentine players, half of this Europa League winner should be blue and white.
03. Restraining Rome in the style of the ball: Cup owners can be unreasonable
a. Good at crosses and headers: This makes Roma very uncomfortable
In La Liga this season, Sevilla FC have the second highest number of headers. This is also because the first half was too chaotic and did not play at the level it deserved.
In particular, the return from a high point like Ocampos also makes Sevilla more powerful to hit the box with headers at key moments.
It is no surprise that Sevilla FC have the advantage of headers even against Premier League teams.
Facing Roma in the final, Sevilla equalised by crossing. Roma's defensive logic is that the midfield does not protect the outside of the wing, so a single wing-back is unlikely to limit the opponent's start.
Ocampos and Ennesri went hand in hand in the middle, eventually producing Mancini's own goal.
The goal was first thanks to Susso's superb quality stop, and then he cut inside the middle for long-range shooting opportunities. Roma were restrained, but Suso returned to Keylor Keylor on the outside, who was very comfortable with a cross.
Two high points in the middle pressed together, Roma made a mistake and Mancini's own goal allowed Sevilla to equalise.
b. The scale of refereeing causes controversy: Sevilla, who loves confrontation, does not suffer
The use of the English refereeing team in this match is to some extent beneficial to Sevilla, who love to fight. Anthony Taylor, although given 14 yellow cards, did not give Rakitic and Lameira a second yellow.
At the same time, Roma's cross from the wing this time hit Fernando's hand, and it is logical that the penalty should be blown. However, the rules of handball and VAR in the Premier League have always been different from other places, which may be one of the reasons why Taylor did not give a penalty this time.
When Rakitic and Lamela fouled and did not get a second yellow card, Mourinho was helpless.
Sevilla's style of play is more confrontational and physical, and they benefited more or less from the referee's scale in this final.
Conclusion:
Three changes in one season, the 62-year-old Mendiliba has allowed Sevilla to find their best selves.
From finishing second from bottom in La Liga to winning the Europa League and heading straight to the Champions League, there may really be more than just tactical credit on this road. The confidence brought by the metaphysics of the "Cup owner", as well as the three lives of the players, made another Sevilla miracle.