Sevilla Preview

By: Corey | December 6th, 2008

Real Madrid take on Sevilla in a top of the table clash this Sunday at 3pm eastern time at the Santiago Bernabeu. This is a vital clash for both sides, Real want to stay close to leaders Barcelona while Sevilla want to stay in European places with the likes of Atletico and Deportivo breathing down their neck. It will be interesting clash, with Real looking, well how do I put this? Gutless as of late to say the least, while Sevilla have been playing pretty well, despite the 3-0 loss to Barca, for which Luis Fabiano will be suspended for this game due to a red card.

Historically Real has a very good home record against Sevilla, and will look to continue that tradition on Sunday. Three points for Los Merengues is of the utmost importance to thier title challenge as they will need to keep pace with Vilarreal and Valencia while staying in touching distance of Barca before El Clasico. I personally can see Barca dropping points to Valencia, but with all the financial uncertainties that have crept up again around the Mestalla, will those lads have the stones to brush it aside and fight for 3 points? I dont really know, but I will say that Real’s players have not been in much of a fighting mood this year so this title could be Barca’s to win if they stay consistent enough.

But I have not given up hope on Real challenging for honors just yet. Despite a horrific injury list and some pretty miserable displays, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Real has yet to kick in to full gear and start ripping teams apart like they did in 3-4 spurts last year. Which means that it is bound to happen at some point, and when it does, we will be close to Barca and ready to pounce. That’s my great hope, and until now it seemed like it would happen at any time. But with all the injuries, it needs to happen now, as games against Sevilla and Barca will go a long way to deciding the title.

Real Madrid News:

I posted a list of all the injuries a few posts back. There is alot, but Cannavaro, Robben and Higuain all trained this week and will most likely be available for selection. Whether that is from the bench or not is yet to be seen, but my guess is that Canna and Higuain start, and Robben starts on the bench. Saviola scored against Getafe, but he and Raul were pretty poor, but we all know that Raul will always get the nod over Saviola to partner Higuain. Whether it makes sense tactically and form-wise or not.

With Torres re-injured, Sergio Ramos will move back out to the right side, which works well because Cannavaro is gonna step back into the center back role. And we will have Marcelo at left back, with only Metzelder and Salgado as defensive reserves. We have a full staff of defenders, but with injuries to Torres and Heinze, we loose our two utility players. The long term injury to Diarra has still not been declared as needing surgery, usually on Saturdays the medical report is submitted and my guess is we will know then. EDIT: Diarra will be out for 3 months, not the whole season, which is a good thing. Gago and Javi Garcia are the only fit central midfielders in the team, defensive or not, so I expect Gago to start. Javi Garcia may partner him in the center to shield the defense, which would allow Gago to stroll forward a little more often and distribute from beyond the center circle.

If Javi Garcia is not played, he will of course be on the bench and will see time towards the end of the game. Guti would be a smart third addition to that midfield permutation, but Schuster will look to take the game to Sevilla at the Bernabeu, so I expect Guti and Van der Vaart to start in the midfield. Guti’s rather disappointing performances are due to his increased defensive responsibility and his lack of freedom when moving forward. Van der Vaart should justify his selection with a creative display where he is the link between the winger/forwards and the rest of the team. Again, his positioning has not always allowed for his best performances, but even so, we should be seeing more from him.

I think Drenthe will start again, because he has done better every game, even though he still cant cross to save his life nor dribble past a defender without relying heavily on his speed. But there has been minor improvement, and thats really all we can ask from him. Robben will see time no doubt, he is our offensive spark and only starts on the bench due to his frail nature and Schuster’s need to instill confidence in Drenthe by not yanking him out of the team the second Robben is fit. That may go a long way with Drenthe, but we all know Robben will start against Barca as long as he is fit.

Raul and Higuain will dovetail up front, which actually is not all that bad. Higuain’s natural penchant for pulling defenders out wide will help Drenthe and Sergio Ramos with some of the wing play. It also means there is space for Van de Vaart to run into the box and Raul has space to operate. But most importantly, Higuain can run the channels as well which again allows Raul plenty of space. What I have noticed recently is that when Raul drops deep for a ball, he rarely ever has time to turn and feed his strike partner. That use to be his game, where he would get the ball to Morientes/Ronaldo/Suker etc and then run around like a mad-man until he got free and was fed through for a shot. That needs to return, how that happens I dont know.

With that being said, my key to the game will be exploiting the wings as usual. Spanish football, if you have not noticed, is a very patient, technical game where control is won and lost in the center of the field. Which ever team can out possess the other team will undoubtedly create more chances, and then have a higher percentage to win the game. This forces the other team to counter attack, something that Barca has been doing this year, although they sort of dont give up the ball which works well too. So when Sevilla and Real play, the game will be decided by who has the midfield control. BUT! The wing play will create chances because the midfield play is gonna be crowded as hell, and thats where the key is.

Sevilla News:

Manolo Jimenez rotated his squad a bit for the Partizan tie mid-week, well aware of the Real game approaching. He still got a good result, so that goes to show Sevilla has quality in depth. That being said, it is hard to pin point exactly who will start for Sevilla. It seems that Jimenez likes a French center back pairing in Squillaci and Escude. I know Squillaci well as I am also an avid Lyon fan and saw him play many times. He is beatable, especially on the ground, where he finds himself in knots all to often before he throws himself into a rash tackle. Escude is the more calm of the two, with good positioning but a rather tame tackler. Neither of them is exceptionally good in the air, but that does not really matter much against us.

Drago may come in to the team if Jimenez feels that Squillaci is not up to speed for the Real attack. But considering the anemic attack we have that may be a bit over board. The reason why is that Fazio is being used as the defensive midfielder now and he is more of a center back anyways, so Jimenez may weigh the pro’s and con’s of that. David Navarro will definately be at left back, and I would assume Mosquera at right back. Drago can slot in to either RB or LB, but my guess is that he could come in at RB for Mosquera. Like I said, Jimenez shuffles his pack often so who really knows.

Fazio will be the DM unless there is a reason to play Duscher. Maresca should be his midfield partner, and again, this is unless there is a reason to play Romaric. The center midfield pairing is not really what worries me though, its their wingers. I have long sang the praises of Jesus Navas, who I want Real to sign so badly as our right winger. Di Maria be damned, Navas is exceptional. And he will give Marcelo a torrid time of it if he is in the mood. The same can be said of Diego Capel, who always gives Sergio Ramos a tough time, them being local lads and friends. I am sure if Capel is not getting the better of Ramos he will switch wings with Navas for a bit to give it a go at Marcelo, but they tend to stay on their sides.

The space they create from their direct running means that a center back is constantly pulled out to help cover them. This means Gago picking up runners into the box is absolutely essential. With Fabiano suspended and Kone injured, Jimenez does not have alot of strikers to choose from. Kanoute will start, and my guess is that Renato may be behind him in an attacking role. It seems the most probable thing, but he could also throw someone else out their I am not aware of. I think Chevanton is injured as well.

Game time is 3pm eastern tomorrow, we may have a live blog from Steve, but if not you can comment on the game here. HALA MADRID!