Real Madrid Don’t Know What to Expect from Sampaoli’s Sevilla, and nor Do We

“I don’t like any side to dominate mine on the pitch.” Speaking in Trondheim before Tuesday’s UEFA Super Cup match with Real Madrid, Sevilla manager Jorge Sampaoli was not slow in nailing his colours to the mast, as reported by UEFA.com’s Daniel Thacker. It was a reminder, if indeed one was needed, of the coach’s modus operandi. Attack, attack, attack, no matter who the opposition might be.

If that’s clear, though, then it’s all we can assume about Sevilla. Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane could be forgiven for not quite knowing what to expect because, frankly, nobody knows what to expect from a Sevilla side that has changed immeasurably since they booked their ticket to be here by beating Liverpool in the Europa League final three months ago.

Kevin Gameiro, their main goalscoring threat, has upped sticks for Atletico Madrid. Grzegorz Krychowiak, the power at the base of their midfield, joined Paris Saint-Germain. Ever Banega, who made it all tick at the front of the midfield, has signed for Inter (his departure had been written from the moment when he left the field in Basel, with the job all but done, wiping tears from his eyes).

The exit of that trio may have hurt (although there’s a theory that Sampaoli was quite happy to swap the excellent Krychowiak for more of a ball-playing midfielder), but Sevilla are used to it. Clearing the decks and subsequently repopulating is what they do. Losing their leader, however, was harder than expected.

The farewell press conference for Coke, the club captain and surprise two-goal hero of the Europa League final, wasn’t an easy watch. Coke, following his shock transfer to Schalke, was crying. Monchi, the sporting director, was sat next to him and was also crying. The master of market moves talked about having made a “mistake” in selling the player and how Sevilla were “losing the heart of our team,” per El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish).

It was confirmation, then, that this is a time of profound change at Nervion, though the headline is still Sampaoli’s appointment to replace now-Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery. The exit of Coke—whose ability to turn his hand to anything for the team was underlined when the right-back made a decisive contribution from midfield in his …

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