Sevilla 2-1 Valencia Similar formations ensure close fought match-up

Overcoming an improved, more solid Valencia, Sevilla continue to progress towards the ideals of their coach Jorge Sampaoli, needing a pair of second half goals to break open an otherwise difficult match en route to a 2-1 victory at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

The contrast between the two club's realities couldn't be starker, with Sevilla really hitting their stride under Sampaoli and fighting to top LaLiga, while Valencia are embroidered in a crisis that not even a new coach in Cesare Prandelli can fully avert.

A back five was chosen from the Italian boss looking for stability, in many ways symbolic of the club's current situation as a whole.

Meanwhile, what looked like a back four from the Andalusians on paper, actually turned out to be a back three.

This flexibility on the number of players at the back makes them difficult to press and prepare for, making them one of the most tactically versatile teams in Europe.

Entering what is one of Spain's most emblematic clashes, Sevilla were unbeaten in their last 12 Laliga home games against Valencia (W8 D4).

In the match's early stages, Sevilla were dominating, but without creating many chances.

The usual movement was lacking, perhaps the players too fatigued after a difficult midweek Champions League loss to Juventus, their first dropped points in this year's edition of the competition.

Valencia were solid enough, and the best chance of the first half came in minute 30 after errant pass in build up from Adil Rami almost left keeper Sergio Rico stranded.

Curiously, Carlos Bacca was at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and not watching his own club AC Milan, a player both teams could have hoped to use in a match with few clear cut chances.

Vietto was the one leading the line for the Nervionenses, and despite his good movement creating space for others, the lack of goals have left the Pizjuan booing him and increasingly frustrated, perhaps still used to the more noticeable and direct style of his predecesor Kevin Gameiro.

It was Vitolo who once again made the difference forcing a goal out of nothing in the 53rd minute, putting in a cross that bounced off Ezequiel Garay for an own goal, further fueling Valencia's misery.

Until the substitutions made by both coaches around the 60th minute, it was a fairly even affair, with similar formations and systems meaning it was a very closed encounter.

Prandelli's decision to take off a center-back and bring on a forward in Munir El Haddadi paid off, with the ex-Blaugrana bringing the score level at the midway point of the second half with a slick outside of the boot finish.

Right when it looked like Prandelli's substitutions and Sevilla's fatigue would kick in, Nico Pareja scored his second goal of the week after mopping up from the top of the box after a corner, quite similar to the one he netted just days earlier.

It was a remarkably different end to the match than all that came before it in the first half, frantic, high-tempo excitement compared to the cautious and calculated opening 45 minutes.

Sergio Rico's superb save at the death made sure Sampaoli's side kept all three points, and while some improvements were palpable from a more ambitious Valencia under Prandelli, the situation looks difficult to address from a squad hanging on a thread emotionally.