The lowdown on Sevilla FC
Barça and Sevilla meet on Sunday at 9.00pm CEST in a clash at Camp Nou between the teams currently third and second in LaLiga. Here's the lowdown on the team that the Catalans could move ahead of in the table with a win.
WHERE ARE THEY FROM?
The magnificent city of Seville is the capital of the most southernmost province on the European mainland, Andalusia. It is home to the world famous Alcázar palace, and very much typifies the ‘real’ Spain of flamenco, bullfighting and very hot temperatures.
HISTORY
FC Barcelona v Sevilla is a meeting of two of the oldest clubs in La Liga. Founded in 1899, Barça was for many years deemed to be the more senior of the two, but UEFA and FIFA have recently endorsed the claim that the Sevilla Football Club officially registered in 1905 was, for all effects and purposes, a continuation of the club of the same name set up by British expatriates in 1890.
Sevilla have only won La Liga once, and that was way back in 1946, and the last decade or so, with a record six UEFA Cups/Europa Leagues (2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020) has been their most successful period ever.
HEAD TO HEAD
Considering the Sevilla of recent years is one of the strongest ever, Barça have had some extraordinarily good results against them.
They have only lost three times to the Andalusians in their last 34 meetings across all competitions.
In La Liga, Barça have not lost at home to Sevilla for two decades, a run stretching all the way back to 2002, and they have avoided defeat at home or away in their last 12 encounters.
The stats do very little to favour Sevilla, but they have managed to draw with Barça in three of their last four league meetings.
Last ten meetings:
21/12/21 (LIGA) Sevilla 1 Barça 1
03/03/21 (C DEL REY) Barça 3 Sevilla 0
27/02/21 (LIGA) Sevilla 0 Barça 2
10/02/21 (C DEL REY) Sevilla 2 Barça 0
04/10/20 (LIGA) Barça 1 (Coutinho) Sevilla 1
19/06/20 (LIGA) Sevilla 0 Barça 0
06/10/19 (LIGA) Barça 4 (Suárez, Vidal, Dembélé, Messi) Sevilla 0
23/02/19 (LIGA) Sevilla 2 Barça 4 (Messi 3, Suárez)
30/01/19 (C DEL REY) Barça 6 Coutinho 2, Rakitic, S Roberto, Suárez, Messi) Sevilla 1
23/01/19 (C DEL REY) Sevilla 2 Barça 0
FORM GUIDE
Sevilla have been having a tremendous season, and second place would be their highest finish since 1957, while even third would be their best since 2009.
They’ve only lost two games all season, 1-0 to Granada and 2-1 to Real Madrid, and not at all since November. One of the main reasons for the gap that has opened between them and the top of the table has been the extraordinary number of seven draws that they have had in their last nine games.
Their Copa del Rey campaign came to an end following that infamous game with local rivals Betis that was suspended after a player was struck by an item thrown from the crowd.
Like Barça, they crashed out of the Champions League stage, finishing below Lille and Red Bull Salzburg. Demoted to the Europa League, they saw off Dinamo Zagreb in the playoff but were unable to go get past West Ham in the round of 16.
THE PLAYERS
Most capped internationals
Ivan Rakitić (Croatia, 106), Tecatito Corona (Mexico, 69), Thomas Delaney (Denmark, 66), Jesús Navas (Spain, 46), Nemanja Gudelj (Serbia, 46), Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco, 45), Ludwig Augustinsson (Sweden, 43), Marcos Acuña (Argentina, 41),Yassine Bounou (Morocco, 40), Anthony Martial (France, 30), Erik Lamela (Argentina, 25), Marko Dmitrović (Serbia, 18), Gonzalo Montiel (Argentina, 15)
Barça connections
Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitić (pictured above) requires no introduction after making 200 appearances and winning a wealth of trophies at Barça. After six seasons at Camp Nou, he returned to his former club.
Striker Rafa Mir spent two seasons at La Masia as a youngster, but it was at Valencia where he turned pro and at Huesca where he made his name before joining Sevilla in 2021.
Spanish/Moroccan striker Munir El Haddadi (pictured below) was a Barça B graduate who played 22 games for the senior team before he swapped blaugrana for all-white in 2019 following spells on loan to Valencia and Alavés.
Top scorers 2021/22 (All competitions)
Rafa Mir (8), Lucas Ocampos (5)
THE BOSS
Julen Lopetegui was a goalkeeper at Barça from 1994 to 1997, but only made five official appearances. After several years working with Spanish international youth teams, he became national manager in 2016 before being dismissed in the build-up to the 2018 World Cup after announcing he was taking the Real Madrid job.
Following Barça’s 5-1 win over Madrid, he was removed from his position, and began his new role at Sevilla in 2019, winning the Europa League in his first season in charge.
