Sevilla is playing for survival in the Champions League with Lopetegui in the trigger

Sevilla is playing a large part of its chances in the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund at the Sánchez Pizjuán, but rarely has a duel of such importance come so conditioned by what happens beyond the pitch. Julen Lopetegui is sentenced and will sit on the Andalusian bench for the last time, awaiting the arrival of Jorge Sampaoli, the one chosen to replace him in office and try to turn the wheel around the erratic trajectory of the Andalusian team so far.

This interim situation does not seem the most appropriate to face a match with no margin for error, exhausted by the goalless draw in Copenhagen after the rout against the powerful Manchester City in Nervión. With the English champion at cruising speed, the second place in the group seems to be a heads-up between Sevilla and Dortmund but the Germans arrive with three points to their credit, so a stumble in their own fiefdom would make the long-awaited pass almost impossible to the round of 16 and would leave the Andalusian team in the gutter of the Champions at the first change, as happened last season.

Losses in defense do not make the job any easier and leave the solid Sevilla of yesteryear turned into the vulnerable team that it is now. Marcao and Rekik will not be against Dortmund, while Acuña and Fernando are serious doubts due to their physical problems, so the options for Lopetegui in his last starting eleven as Sevilla coach are reduced. Meanwhile, in the ‘borussier’ team, which has just stumbled in the Bundesliga against Cologne and has not finished taking off in the German championship, there are also many casualties, with Hummels, Reus, Wolf, Dahoud, Reyna and Morey in the infirmary for different reasons.