Sevilla will need something special to beat Super Cup favourites Man City
Sevilla have never shirked a final challenge in their history but even their most optimistic fan would admit facing Manchester City in the middle of a disruptive transfer window and after a massively underwhelming first game in La Liga is a little daunting.
The second half of their 22-23 season was nothing short of miraculous with no-nonsense coach Jose Luis Mendilibar replacing the over-complicated Jorge Sampaoli and transforming a relegation battle into a Europa League win.
But if they play as they did in their opening day 2-1 defeat against Valencia then City might be too much for them.
The transfer window is not helping. Goalkeeper Bono has not moved to Real Madrid to replace the injured Thibaut Courtois because they didn’t like the idea of him playing the African Cup of Nations next January.
But he could still move to Bayern Munich or to Saudi Arabia – his future is uncertain and Sevilla president Pepe Castro admitted: ‘I don’t know how long he will be at Sevilla.’
In the centre of defence both the Brazilian Marcao and the Frenchman Tanguy Nianzou are out injured. The pair were bought at the start of last season to replace Diego Carlos when he was sold to Aston Villa and Jules Kounde who had joined Barcelona. They started only 20 games between them because of injury and neither are fit for Wednesday’s game.
Bade Loic arrived last January and impressed alongside Nemanja Gudelj. But that did not stop the club trying to recruit alternatives this summer.
They brought in Federico Gattoni from San Lorenzo but the 24-year-old is playing his first football in Europe and, on as a sub against Valencia, his mistake led to their winner last Friday.
Free agent Sergio Ramos has been linked with a return to the club he made his senior
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