Sevilla vs Villarreal – La Liga

Sevillistas Los Rojiblancos looked, this weekend, to close the gap on Real Madrid and extend the gap with those below them. With Real Madrid’s game suspended the time was right for Sevilla to state their claim as one of the big boys in this year’s edition of La Liga Santander. However, Villarreal were not there to play along.

Within the first minute of the game Sevilla looked like they were denied what was a clear-cut penalty, when Jovetic looked for all money to be setting himself up to place the ball in the back of the net he was pulled down forcing him to miss the goal entirely.

Sevilla looked to press Villarreal as they looked to win the ball back as soon as they lost it. Villarreal as a result found it really hard to break the press. What was refreshing, however, was their willingness to try to play out of pressure rather than hopelessly relieve the pressure by kicking it long. This worked a number of times as they were able to maintain good position at certain points in the game, but it did not last long.

When Sevilla had the ball, everything went through N’Zonzi and Nasri. N’Zonzi as the pivot and base allowed Nasri the freer role of the two as he was able to find the pockets and play in between the lines. For large parts Los Nervionenses (The Ones from Nervion) where able to maintain possession in their opponent’s half because of the high pressure, which forced El Submarino Amarillo (The Yellow Submarine) backwards. Also notable, when Sevilla had the ball Mariano, would push high, leaving a back three of Lenglet, Rami, and, Escudero. As Mariano pushed high, Franco Vazquez was able to slide inside and play on the right-side of Nzonzi and Samir. The team shape essentially became a 3-5-2 when Sevilla had the ball. The space created inside by the width of Sevilla allowed N’Zonzi and Nasri to operate freely.

Though Sevilla were able to control most of the game, Villarreal were able to create a high number of chances relative to the amount of possession they had by favoring through balls. Most of their attacks came down the left.

As the second half began, Sevilla had the best opportunity to take the lead, as they were rewarded with a penalty kick. Samir – the rejuvenated man – stepped up, however, couldn’t get past Asenjo with his tamely hit penalty.

Sevilla had opportunities to break the deadlock, however their finishing was below par, and as a result their 27 home league games in a row without failing to score came to an end thanks to Asenjo.