Preview: Atlético - Sevilla

CelticKing · Sep 26, 2008

Preview: Atlético - Sevilla

What: La Liga, Matchday 5
Who: Atlético Madrid (3rd, 9pts) vs Sevilla (4th, 8pts)
When: Sunday, 28th September 2008, 21.00 (CET)
Where: Vicente Calderón, Madrid

There will be no love lost at the Vicente Calderón on Sunday as Sevilla take on an Atlético Madrid side who not only beat them twice last year but also pipped them to the final Champions League spot. Manolo Jiménez’s side will be desperate to atone for that trio of setbacks but they will have their work cut out against hosts who will be full of confidence and in no mood to drop their first home points of the season.
Indeed, whilst Sevilla have lost points against both Racing Santander and arch rivals Real Betis their opponents have only faltered on one occasion so far as they were humbled by lowly Valladolid. That poor performance aside they have looked confident, comfortable and above all, complete.
The arrival of Johnny Heitinga and Tomas Ujfalusi has worked wonders at the back and whilst Sergio Agüero has grabbed most of the headlines the defence deserves some credit for the teams success. Against Getafe they held firm whilst the midfield struggled to dominate possession and the Sevilla forwards will have to be at their sparkling best if they are to overcome their Champions League opponents.

Top Gear

So far neither Luis Fabiano, last seasons runner-up in the Pichichi, nor Frediric Kanouté have really hit top gear and Jiménez must know that if they are to compete at the top again they will need to sooner rather than later. However, for the time been Enzo Maresca has got his shooting boots on and Javier Chevanton is seemingly adopting the ‘super-sub’ role at the club.
It’s no secret though that Sevilla, despite picking up some good results, are not playing well heading into this match. Diego Capel acknowledged it after the Espanyol victory when he said it is good to be able to win when not playing their best, but the truth is they may find themselves punished if they don’t raise their game against Atlético at the Calderón .
For whilst Espanyol and Sporting Gijón are good sides in their own right they do not boast the wealth of attacking talents nor the defensive solidarity that Los Rojiblancos do. Even without Diego Forlán, Simao or Maniche, all three of whom are injured for the match, they have high quality replacements in Florent Sinama Pongolle, Raúl Garc?*a and Éver Banega.

Midfield Domination

Jiménez will have to hope that, just like Getafe did on Wednesday night, his midfield can dominate proceedings on Sunday against Atlético otherwise half the battle is lost already. Influential international Maniche maybe out but if any of his replacements get time on the ball to feed in either Agüero or Pongolle then Andrés Palop will have a busy evening.
The Spanish keeper has so far conceded four times in four games this season, although the defence in front of him must take some of the blame. New signing Sébastien Squillaci has given away two penalties in two games and with the pace and trickery of the Atlético front-men Jiménez will be praying he doesn’t get lured into a reckless challenge again.
Whilst it sounds pretty bleak for Sevilla from the outset the game is by no means unwinnable and it would be no surprise if they stepped it up a gear in the Calderón and came away with all three points. In Fabiano, Kanouté, Navas and Capel they have an outstanding attacking quartet and if any of them is on song then they will cause trouble to the home side.
Indeed, the last time these two sides met in Madrid Luis Fabiano helped himself to a brace but even that wasn’t enough in the end as his side were defeated 4-3 thanks to a ninetieth minute strike from José Jurado. In the reverse fixture there were less goals and less drama as Atlético beat their hosts 2-1, with the goals coming from Agüero and Maxi Rodr?*guez.

FORM GUIDE

Atlético Madrid

Sept 24 Getafe 1-2 Atlético Madrid (La Liga)

Sept 20 Atlético Madrid 4-0 Recreativo (La Liga)

Sept 17 PSV 0-3 Atlético Madrid (Champions League)
Sept 13 Valladolid 2-1 Atlético Madrid (La Liga)
Sept 1 Málaga 0-4 Atlético Madrid (La Liga)

Sevilla

Sept 24 Sevilla 2-0 Espanyol (La Liga)

Sept 21 Real Betis 0-0 Sevilla (La Liga)

Sept 18 Sevilla 2-0 Salzburg (UEFA Cup)

Sept 13 Sevilla 4-3 Sporting Gijón (La Liga)

Aug 31 Racing Santander 1-1 Sevilla (La Liga)

TEAM NEWS

Atlético Madrid

Atlético might well have picked up the victory against Getafe in midweek but it came as a cost as both Simao and Maniche went off injured and will miss this crunch match. The former is out for around three weeks whilst the central midfielder should be back in time for the Marseille match.

Along with the Portuguese duo Javier Aguirre will also be without the injured Diego Forlán but the good news is that Johnny Heitinga should return from knee trouble. With the treatment room filling up there could be a starting place for Raúl Garc?*a or Éver Banega in the centre of midfield and Florent Sinama Pongolle should retain his place upfront alongside Sergio Agüero.

Probable Starting XI (4-4-2): Coupet – Seitaridis, Ujfalusi, Heitinga, Lopéz – Maxi Rodr?*guez, Banega, Assuncao, Raul Garc?*a– Agüero, Sinama Pongolle

Sevilla
It looks as though Manolo Jiménez will be able to field his strongest XI for this match after they got through the midweek clash with Espanyol unscathed. That should mean that unlike the Sevilla derby both Jesus Navas and Diego Capel start on the wings and upfront Luis Fabiano and Frederic Kanouté will be paired together.
Javier Chevanton will start on the bench and hope to yet again come off and grab a goal whilst Enzo Maresca, who has so far bagged two goals this season, could be the key man in midfield.

Probable Starting XI (4-4-2): Palop – Navarro, Squillaci, Escudé, Mosquera – Navas, Maresca, Duscher, Capel – Fabiano, Kanouté

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Atlético Madrid

With Diego Forlán injured Florent Sinama Pongolle has grabbed his first team opportunity with both hands so far by scoring four goals in just two games. The Frenchman single-handedly gave Atlético the win over Getafe in midweek and he will desperate to show both Aguirre and the home fans that he is capable of performing against higher-class opposition. With Sergio Agüero alongside him the striker knows he has a more than able partner and his bursts of pace and accurate shooting could trouble a Sevilla defence who have looked shaky at times this season.

Sevilla

All the talk over the summer has been about Diego Capel but it could be the opposite winger Jesus Navas who is the star of the show for Sevilla on Sunday. The youngster hasn’t yet fulfilled his expected potential but against Giourkas Seitaridis he should be able to provide some decent balls for the front men. The Greek international was run ragged against Getafe in the week and if Navas can pressure him throughout the game he will be a key outlet for Sevilla.
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CelticKing · Sep 26, 2008

I personally think Sevilla will be able to win by a 2 goal difference.

man_u_barmy_army · Sep 28, 2008

What is the score at the moment?

Claud · Sep 28, 2008

Sevilla won 1-0.

Colonel Ronan · Sep 28, 2008

Who scurred? No homo.

Claud · Sep 29, 2008

Main Event said: ↑

Who scurred? No homo.
Click to expand...

Luis Fabiano with a Free-kick.

Colonel Ronan · Sep 29, 2008

Nice nice.

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Preview: Atlético - Sevilla

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Preview: Atlético - Sevilla

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