Champions League 3-5-2 helps create barrage of first half crosses

Sevilla's next step

Match report: minute by minute

Jorge Sampaoli's Sevilla has yet to coalesce entirely as a group, but individually the squad continues to use its overwhelming quality to grind out early-season results, and a 1-0 away victory over Dinamo Zagreb leaves the Andalusian club perfectly poised to make it past the group stage.

A 0-0 draw in Turin already took some of the pressure off of Sevilla, but the squad continues to push away from home, using overloads on the wings thanks to their 3-5-2 formation to show their superiority on this occasion.

From the outset, Sevilla took both the initiative and the majority of the possession, combining nicely and creating chance after chance.

In the opening 20 minutes, Sergio Escudero put in several dangerous crosses from the left on the overlap, aided in part by a Vitolo that continues in fine form, but as the match progressed the biggest threat came from Mariano on the right.

Samir Nasri, given a lot of positional freedom under his new boss, started the encounter at the double pivot, further back than perhaps he is used to, yet was able to charge forward constantly and aid in attack.

After sending a tap-in slithering wide in the 21st minute, the French midfielder wasn't to miss again, taking advantage of a well-worked play on the right and a precise cross in the 37th minute from Mariano to open the scoring.

The midfielder feels important under Sampaoli, crucial for a player whose inconsistency prevented him from reaching his full potential at his previous clubs.

As such, the early signs are promising, with the player displaying a lot of leadership and personality by always demanding the ball, playing a central role in build-up, and participating a lot throughout the match.

Despite a late push from Dinamo Zagreb during the latter stages of the second half, Steven N'Zonzi in defensive transition helped maintain the clean sheet and close out the match without too much trouble.

Sevilla's early dominance was enough, as the comfortable performance allowed the team to continue to build on the ideas of new boss Jorge Sampaoli, players getting more accustomed to each specific role.

For now, the results are still better than the play itself, but Tuesday's victory was an improved collective performance that will look to build on an ambitious sporting project and start reaching the standard the club is capable of.

- Match sheet:

0 - Dinamo Zagreb: Livakovic; Stojanovic, Sigali, Schildenfeld, Sosa; Pavicic (Jonas, m.51), Benkovic, Knezevic (Henríquez, m.87), Antolic (Fiolic, m.15); Soudani, Fernandes.

1 - Sevilla: Sergio Rico; Nico Pareja, Mercado, Rami; Mariano, N'Zonzi, Escudero; Franco Vázquez (Iborra, m.89), Nasri, Vitolo; Vietto (Ben Yedder, m.65).

Goal: 0-1, M.37: Nasri.

Referee: Michael Oliver (ENG).

Yellow cards: Stojanovic (m.30), Jonas (m.65), Vitolo (m.28), Nico Pareja (m.62).

Maksimir (Zagreb): 12.000.