It wasn't long ago that Sevilla fans were dreaming of actually winning LaLiga for the first time since their only title success in the 1940s.
Sporting director Monchi built the squad and Julen Lopetegui maximised its potential, using a brilliant defence as the platform for a solid and effective team.
Ultimately, Sevilla's form in the final weeks of the 2020-21 season saw their challenge tail off, but they finished just nine points adrift of eventual champions Atletico Madrid.
Essentially going toe-to-toe with three teams whose budgets dwarfed their own was itself an achievement, and the positivity carried through into the 2021-22 campaign.
At the end of matchday 20, second-placed Sevilla were just two points behind Real Madrid and 10 clear of Real Betis in third. However, since then, their accumulation of 47 points is the ninth-most in LaLiga.
Barcelona have almost double that number (91); Madrid have 79; city rivals Betis are on 62; Real Mallorca – only promoted back to LaLiga for last season – have tallied just three points fewer.
In that respect, Sunday's trip to Camp Nou represents a particularly daunting challenge. So, how has everything unravelled so quickly for Sevilla?
The key departures
Lopetegui's side were never particularly high scorers. In each of his three full seasons in charge, there were at least four teams in LaLiga who scored more than them, and the most they plundered was 54 in 2020-21.
While that may not exactly sound bad on the face of it, successful teams obviously tend to score a fair amount more. Over the seasons in question, the average goals total for the 15 teams to play each campaign in LaLiga was 155 – Sevilla's total was 160, so only slightly above average.
The reason they were able to be competitive around the top of the table despite attacking deficiencies was their excellent defence, built around the central pairing of Diego Carlos and Jules Kounde.
Sevilla conceded 97 goals across Lopetegui's three full seasons, bettered only by Real Madrid (84) and Atletico Madrid (95). The league median was 135, so they were much better than average.
Diego Carlos and Kounde both had the perfect blend of defensive intelligence, physical presence and technical ability, with Lopetegui's emphasis on building from the back starting with them. They were key to virtually everything.
Sevilla knew they'd leave eventually. The likelihood of being able to replace them with another partnership just as good was miniscule.
Instead, they'd need to offset their departures with greater goal threat at the other end. They failed. Sevilla have gone from scoring 1.4 goals and conceding 0.9 per game to netting 1.1 and letting in 1.4.
Lopetegui's delayed exit
Generally, Lopetegui did a very good job. Sevilla were rarely especially entertaining, but for about two and a half seasons they were very effective.
Their form tailed off badly towards the end of the 2021-22 campaign, however. Between January 1 and the end of the season, Sevilla's 32 points from 20 games were only the sixth-most. While they only lost twice in LaLiga during that run, they drew 11 times – no other team in the division reached double figures.
As the end of the season closed in, it seemed likely Lopetegui would leave, and to most fans it felt like the right time. Departing at that moment would've provided him and the club with a clean break and given his successor a full pre-season to get their ideas across.
A report from Marca in mid-May suggested Lopetegui was "on the precipice". A local reporter claimed the same day that their parting had been decided. But about 24 hours later, Monchi insisted the former Real Madrid and Barcelona goalkeeper would still be in charge for the new season.
Indeed, he was, but Lopetegui's attempts to re-energise the team fell flat. Sevilla began the season with one point from four games – they have never had fewer points after that many matches, with it their worst start in 41 years.
Lopetegui lasted another month, but back-to-back home defeats to Atletico and Borussia Dortmund – who were 4-1 winners – took him to the point of no return, his departure confirmed by an emotional on-pitch farewell to supporters.
Jorge Sampaoli, Lopetegui's replacement, has struggled to inspire a turnaround upon his return to the club and even had to contend with reports questioning his own future.
But the coaches cannot be entirely to blame.
Questionable transfer policy
It almost feels like sacrilege to criticise the work of Monchi – at Sevilla, anyway – but his second spell in charge of the club's transfers has been blighted by expensive (by their standards) disappointments.
It hasn't all been bad. Three successive top-four finishes was something they hadn't achieved since the 1950s, and the likes of Diego Carlos and Kounde will go down among Monchi's best ever deals.
But many signings have failed to live up to expectations.
Of the six players brought in during this season's first transfer window, three (Kasper Dolberg, Isco and Adnan Januzaj) have already left permanently or on loan; one has struggled significantly (Tanguy Nianzou); the other two (Marcao and Alex Telles) have spent more time injured than not.
Thirty-six players have been signed between the end of the 2018-19 season and the start of 2023, but you could argue only 11 have been successes. There's also been a focus on more experienced players, so the squad now has 11 players aged 30 or older. Unsurprisingly, the average age of their starting XI (28.9 years) is the oldest in LaLiga this term.
Obviously, it's easy to be critical with hindsight, and it should be highlighted Sevilla rely on player turnover to generate much of their revenue. It's always a risky strategy and that the club has had so much success with this model over the past 20 years speaks to Monchi's excellence.
But this is probably the trickiest period Sevilla have had since returning to LaLiga in 2001. Sure, recent results have hoisted them up to 13th, but they're still only two points above the bottom three and nothing about this season has suggested the squad is mentally tough, which would be a worry if they still found themselves perilously close to the drop zone in the final weeks of the campaign.
The last thing Sevilla need right now is a trip to Camp Nou, where they've not beaten Barca in LaLiga since 2002.
On the other hand, an unlikely positive result could be a game-changer as the club build for a 2023 that fans hope brings a bit more cheer than 2022.
Chelsea defeat spells end of Eidevall's Arsenal tenure
Jonas Eidevall has called time on his spell as Arsenal head coach after an underwhelming start to the campaign.
The Gunners have been tipped as title contenders in the Women's Super League this season, yet they have won just one of their opening four matches.
They also went down 5-2 to Bayern Munich in their first Women's Champions League group stage match last week, before losing 2-1 to Chelsea to suffer their first loss of the WSL season.
A bad week that started with a draw against struggling Everton and ended with that loss to Chelsea at Emirates Stadium has ultimately signalled the end of Eidevall's tenure.
Arsenal confirmed on Tuesday that the Swede, who was appointed in June 2021 and has overseen 120 matches in all competitions, had resigned.
Renee Slegers, the first team assistant coach, will take over in the interim until Arsenal, who face Valerenga on Wednesday before taking on West Ham on Sunday, confirm their next permanent appointment.
Gunners sporting director Edu said: "We thank Jonas for his commitment to the club and achievements here since joining us in 2021. We have great respect for the dedication and commitment he showed to our women’s first team and recognise the role he has played in the growth and development of Arsenal Women.
"We all wish him the very best for the future. Our focus will now turn to the process of appointing a new head coach, and in the meantime, supporting Renee, as she takes interim charge of the team starting with two important fixtures this week."
Eidevall led Arsenal to back-to-back Women's League Cup titles in 2022-23 and 2023-24, as well as finishing second in the WSL in his first season, and third in each of the past two campaigns.
The 41-year-old won 80 matches in all competitions, for a win ratio of 66.67%.
In the WSL, he picked up an average of 2.24 points per game from 70 matches. Of the five Arsenal bosses to oversee at least 10 fixtures in the competition, that points per game average is the fourth-lowest, ahead of only Pedro Martinez Losa (1.94).
On Saturday, in the defeat to Chelsea, Eidevall matched his predecessor Joe Montemurro as the Arsenal manager with the most games in the WSL.
Eidevall's team scored 171 goals, winning 49 games (70%). Since he took over at Arsenal, only Man City (178) and Chelsea (209) have scored more goals than the Gunners.
Meanwhile, of ever-present WSL teams in that time, only Chelsea (45) have conceded fewer goals than Arsenal (50), and the Blues are also the only side to lose fewer matches (seven, compared to the Gunners' 11 defeats).
'Supercharged' Germany have big ambitions – Nagelsmann
Julian Nagelsmann hailed Germany's first-half display against the Netherlands as their best performance of 2024.
And Nagelsmann said his "supercharged" team have big ambitions after Monday's 1-0 win in Munich, which came a year to the day since he took charge of his first game - a 3-1 friendly win over the United States.
Germany are unbeaten in the Nations League after four games, and sit five points clear at the top of their group.
The Dutch did not manage a single shot in the first half, with Germany having eight themselves, albeit Nagelsmann's team had to wait until the 64th minute to make the breakthrough as Jamie Leweling marked his senior bow with the decisive goal.
"The first half tonight was the best we’ve played this year," said Nagelsmann.
"The greed that the team embodied was a huge step [forward].
"We did well and let very little in. We absolutely deserved to win.
"We've got the ambition to keep going. There's a supercharged atmosphere in the dressing room – they want to win."
An ecstatic Leweling told ZDF network: "We won as a team, I scored the 1-0, we won 1-0, but we did well and I'm just happy I could help out.
"The Dutch are a top nation, but we played a good game."
Leweling is the first debutant under Nagelsmann to score in his first appearance for Germany. Niclas Fullkrug was the last player to net on his senior debut, in 2022.
At the other end of the pitch, Nagelsmann handed a debut to goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.
Aged 34 years and 131 days, Baumann is the second-oldest Germany debutant (after Matthias Mauritz) in the post-war era and the oldest goalkeeper to make his debut for the national team.
Not that Baumann had much to do. Indeed, he had only one save to make, with the Netherlands mustering only one attempt on target and a meagre 0.13 expected goals.
Deschamps delighted with 'radiant' Kolo Muani
Didier Deschamps hailed a "radiant" Randal Kolo Muani after the forward's double helped France see off Belgium 2-1.
France made it three wins in a row in the Nations League on Monday, with Kolo Muani's goals doing the damage at Stade Roi Baudouin.
Kolo Muani converted a first-half penalty before heading home what proved to be the winner in the 62nd minute, after Lois Openda had restored parity.
Having also netted in the reverse fixture against Belgium last month, the Paris Saint-Germain forward is France's leading scorer in their Nations League campaign.
And with Kylian Mbappe absent, head coach Deschamps, who was handed an early birthday present by France's win, has been impressed by Kolo Muani's attitude and application.
Speaking to TF1, Deschamps said: "He's interesting, he's radiant.
"He is confident and has a very specific profile where in his runs with the ball has a presence. He is a good header [of the ball] and with us he is very often successful."
France have now won their last five matches against Belgium. Only against the Faroe Islands have Les Bleus had a longer winning streak (six games).
They had to do it the hard way, though, with stand-in captain Aurelien Tchouameni seeing red in the 76th minute.
Tchouameni became the first France player to be sent off since Jules Kounde in September 2021 (v Bosnia-Herzegovina), and the first as captain (from when the match kicked off) since Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 World Cup final.
Belgium finished with 20 shots to France's 14 and more expected goals (2.64xG to 1.49xG), yet the visitors got the job done to move onto nine points from their four matches.
"We were shaken for the first 20 to 25 minutes," explained Deschamps, who turned 56 on Tuesday.
"Belgium put in a lot of intensity, while we made a lot of technical errors.
"When we were able to find solutions going forward, it was better for us.
"We had to shake the players up. It was mostly the mistakes, we had to calm down.
"We had to go forward and press well. Of course, they had chances, but so did we in the second half. We're happy to win this match, especially with 10 men."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
