Sevilla – Villarreal: The Submarines Among The Top Three In LaLiga (1-2)

The Submarines remained close to Real Madrid and Barcelona in LaLiga's table after a hard-fought win against Sevilla. Villarreal attempted to pull apart Sevilla's defense to create space behind, whilst Almeyda's men tended to find wide inroads to hurt the Submarines. Nevertheless, Villarreal capitalized on Sevilla's defensive woes to hurt them on the counter.

Tactical analysis and match report by Achraf Lamdarhri.

In the 2024/25 season, Sevilla hit rock bottom as they finished one place above the relegation spots. In the summer, the Andalousie team sold its major players in an attempt to fix the financial situation of the club. Loïc Badé joined Bayer Leverkusen, and Dodi Lukébakio landed in Lisbon to become a part of the Benfica team. Sevilla's incomings were all free arrivals or loan transfers. Alfon González, Gabriel Suazo, Fábio Cardoso, César Azpilicueta, and Alexis Sanchez signed for free, whereas Batista Mendy and Odysseas Vlachodimos landed in Sevilla, on loan from Trabzonspor and Newcastle, respectively.

After one season without European football, Marcelino led Villarreal to the UEFA Champions League, securing the fifth spot in the 2024/25 campaign. Villarreal sold their main members, who contributed heavily to their return to Europe. Álex Baena joined Diego Simeone's team, Yéremy Pino arrived at Crystal Palace, and Thierno Barry landed in Liverpool to play with Everton. After a busy transfer summer and five LaLiga games, the submarines accumulated ten points out of fifteen and lost their UCL opening match in London against Tottenham.

Against Sevilla, Marcelino started with Santiago Mouriño as a right back, Rafa Marin partnered with Renato . . .