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Why Emre Can vs. Ever Banega Will Be Key Liverpool vs. Sevilla Battle
- Updated: May 17, 2016
The biggest game of the season for both Liverpool and Sevilla comes on Wednesday night, as the two sides take to FC Basel’s St. Jakob-Park for the UEFA Europa League final, with the tactical clash finely balanced for managers Jurgen Klopp and Unai Emery.
With a place in the UEFA Champions League group stage up for grabs for the victor, both sides will see this as a must-win fixture, having failed to guarantee a place in European competition for 2016/17.
Klopp and Emery are two of Europe’s finest managerial minds, both renowned for their studious tactical approach—the Liverpool manager brought analyst Peter Krawietz with him when he arrived on Merseyside, while Emery hands a USB drive to each player to prepare for each game, explaining their specific roles.
Both sides are relatively free of injury heading into Wednesday’s clash, with the Reds now missing only centre-back Joe Gomez, while Mamadou Sakho is unavailable through suspension, and Sevilla are without Michael Krohn-Dehli, Jose Antonio Reyes, Benoit Tremoulinas and Marco Andreolli.
This sets the tactical matchup as an intriguing one, with key battles to take place across the park—from Nathaniel Clyne’s efforts to stymie Yevhen Konoplyanka, to Timothee Kolodziejczak’s battle to deal with the movement and pressing ability of Daniel Sturridge and Roberto Firmino.
But the standout battle is poised to come in Emre Can’s attempts to dominate Sevilla’s key playmaker: their No. 19, Ever Banega.
Can has enjoyed a remarkable rise in the Liverpool midfield under Klopp, as he explained in interview with the Telegraph’s Sam Wallace in the build-up to the Reds’ trip to Basel.
“I learned a lot from [Klopp] and I am very happy at Liverpool. I feel very comfortable. I play that position I want to play. I feel at home in that position,” he said. “I know that I can improve a lot more and I try to improve everything. I think I made a step forward since the manager came.”
His “home” is in a surging, box-to-box role at the …
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