Adjusted triumph of a Sevilla that deserved thrashing

Almost three years later the heavenly music of the Champions returned to Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán. This time with the candy store from the Sevillian neighborhood of Nervión mute, light years away from that pressure cooker that is sorely missed. However, the Champions League is more than enough motivation for a team that needed a morale boost after two consecutive losses in the League and three games without scoring. At last the victory and the goal came, but it took a real succession of occasions danger, specifically more than twenty, for Sevilla to defeat Rennes, at the mercy of their rival for almost the entire match. And it is that gunpowder makes a difference in football and it is also the only thing that Lopetegui’s team suffers from.

Ocampos was the first to warn with a deflected distant shot, in a few minutes marked by the tactical order and intense pressure from Rennes. Despite this, Sevilla easily found their way to the rival area. Rugani converted a clearance attempt into friendly fire and Luuk de Jong failed to finish off a ball that Gomis rejected after Navas’ shot. No time for respite Munir invented an acrobatic left-handed volley to the crossbar. The Spanish-Moroccan, who returned to the eleven due to Suso’s physical problems, was a nightmare for Rennes in the first minutes and again touched the goal in an action that, yes, was invalidated by offside. The Breton team seemed on the ropes and barely stretched in an action timidly resolved by Grenier. Without the desired Camavinga and former Sevilla player N’Zonzi in their ranks, the third-placed in the last Ligue 1 seemed less fierce.

Beyond the occasional display of speed by Doku and a soft shot from Terrier at the hands of Bono, the danger was fully Sevilla, especially through Ocampos, now displaced to the left side. Only the goal was missing, that black point of this Seville it works like a clock. De Jong nodded wide; Koundé tried it from afar, answered by a good intervention from Gomis; and Soppy took a ball under sticks when the goal was called from the local bench. The merits were already more than enough, such as being ahead on the scoreboard, but the break was reached with a equaled inexplicable zero according to what is seen on green. For something it is said that the goal is the most valued in football

A minute and a half took Sevilla after passing through the changing rooms to generate the first chance of danger. Ocampos crossed from the right side and Gomis with his fists took the ball from De Jong as he was about to finish with his head. A declaration of intent. The insistence was such that the goal had to end up falling and the prize finally came. It was in a center of Acuña, a rocket by the sevillista left wing throughout the game, that De Jong led the net with an inside shot.

The advantage did not calm the hunger of Sevilla. The Andalusian team continued to accumulate opportunities, to the point of completely unhinging Ocampos, who had them of all colors. Munir finished high. Jordan to the crossbar. A mathematical study of the game would surely offer a win as the most likely result, but football does not understand numbers. Until the end the Seville team had to suffer, at least on the scoreboard because in the game his superiority was undeniable, to achieve a victory that clears his way in the Champions League.