The Sevilla Trio in more harmonious times.

When Sevilla hosted cellar-dweller Xerez on Tuesday evening, an aura of uneasiness surrounded the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán.  In the front of the Sevillistas‘ minds was the poor form of their team.  An extended run of indolent performances culminated on Saturday evening with a 2-0 debacle against Espanyol, where Sevilla would lose Jesús Navas for a month with an ankle injury.

Sevilla manager Manolo Jiménez refused to participate in a pity party for his team, rejecting notions that injuries are the main reason for their current slide.  When he spoke to the club’s website about the current situation, he remarked:

“We’ve gotten ourselves in this situation, and it’s us who has to drag the team out of it.  We must seek solutions and not make excuses.  If we now use the problems as excuses, we are not going to go anywhere… I fear nothing.  We will reach third place.”

Sound and logical words from the boss, but in this business, where results remain the only true capital, his team has not recently provided the wins necessary for a club with such high expectations.

When former Sevilla manager Juande Ramos resigned in October 2007 to fill the job opening at Tottenham Hotspur, Sevilla promoted Manolo Jiménez from its reserve team Sevilla Atlético with the hope that Jiménez would continue their upward ascent as a burgeoning Spanish and European force.

This ascension started under Joaquin Caparrós, when he led Sevilla to the Segunda División crown in 2001 and was promoted to the top flight.  With homegrown talents José Antonio Reyes, Sergio Ramos, Antonio Puerta, Antonio Barragán, etc. flooding the Sevilla cantera, there was no chance that Sevilla would struggle to remain in La Liga.  After an eighth-place finish and a tenth-place finish in their first two years back in La Liga, Sevilla finished the 2003-04 season in a landmark sixth-place, earning a ticket into a European competition, specifically the UEFA Cup, for the first time since 1995.

Sevilla president José María del Nido, however, refused to be caught up with his team’s triumphs.  With Real Madrid and Barcelona receiving the vast majority of the TV broadcasting money, del Nido knew he had to sell his most prized assets to infuse extra cash into the team and ensure future success domestically and internationally.  He sold José Antonio Reyes to Arsenal in the 2004 winter transfer window for €25 million, and in the 2005 summer transfer window, del Nido sold Sergio Ramos to Real Madrid for €27 million, then a record fee for a Spanish teenager.

To fill the absence of these wonderful talents, del Nido, along with sporting director Ramón “Monchi” Rodríguez, brought in players from around the world at relatively inexpensive prices.  These players included Dani Alves, Frédéric Kanouté, Christian Poulsen, Seydou Keita, and Júlio Baptista.  All of these players, except for Kanouté, who still plays for the club, were eventually sold at a much higher price tag than at the price for which they were bought, and the Sevilla boardroom continues to be fiscally responsible to this day.

Del Nido made another change that at the time seemed to be a bit of a gamble.  He replaced Caparrós before the 2005-06 season with Juande Ramos, an unremarkable manager whose last indentation on La Liga before del Nido bestowed the Sevilla job on him was leading Málaga to a ho-hum tenth place finish in the 2003-04 season.

In the next two and a half seasons, Ramos reached heights that this club never fulfilled in its history.  Two straight UEFA Cups, consecutive top five finishes, a UEFA Super Cup over Champions League winners Barcelona, a Copa del Rey, and their first berth in the UEFA Champions League when they finished third in the 2006-07 season.

Ramos’ team played with a relentless style that flourished in the final third while simultaneously kept firm in their defensive half.  Two new kids from the youth system began their journeys with the first team: Diego Capel and Jesús Navas.  Ramos never hesitated to employ his young talent, and knowing that at some point his veteran players would be sold, it was somewhat necessary to bleed in these youth players into the squad.

Leaving Sevilla to follow the money at Tottenham (although who would not be tempted with a four-year contract worth €9 million a year), in stepped Manuel Jiménez Jiménez, a Sevilla lifer.  He was Sevilla’s first-choice left back for nearly fourteen years from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s and after retirement as a player, he coached Sevilla Atlético for seven years, nurturing the Sevilla youth talent as they made their way into senior-team prominence, such as Carlos Marchena, Jesús Navas, etc.

With the keys to the car, Jiménez knew he had to impress immediately because his initial contract as the first-team manager was to expire at the end of the season.  Topping their Champions League group with five wins out of six and relegating Arsenal to second place in the group helped Jiménez’s cause.  Although Sevilla would lose to Fenerbahçe in the first knockout round on penalties and finish fifth in La Liga because Atlético Madrid held the head-to-head tiebreaker over them, del Nido was convinced that Manolo Jiménez was the right man, and he gave Jiménez a contract extension.

A third-place finish in the 2008-09 season, including one of the matches of the year when they defeated Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu 3-4 (a win, along with comments about Real Madrid having no shot to beat Barcelona in El Clásico the following week, that cost Real manager Bernd Schuster his job), gave Sevilla another chance to improve on their previous Champions League effort.

Through February 20 of this year, Sevilla achieved a place in the Copa del Rey final in May, their run capped off by dismissing title-holders FC Barcelona, first place in their Champions League group, handing Mallorca its first home loss in the league, and constancy in the top four of La Liga.  Everyone involved with the club sought even higher aspirations in this campaign.

Then the slide commenced.  A four-game winless streak in La Liga before the match with Xerez and a languorous effort in their second-leg defeat to CSKA Moskva that eliminated Los Rojiblancos in the first knockout round for the second time in three years threw the team into a black abyss.  Surely, a home match against Andalucian neighbors Xerez would become the perfect antidote to cure Sevilla of its current malaise.

Through 90+ minutes, Sevilla looked to be on their way to a much-needed win.  Although far from impressive, Frédéric Kanouté’s 62nd minute penalty seemed to be the decisive blow against a desperate Xerez squad that needed points wherever they could find them.

Marius Stankevicius gave away a cheap foul deep in the right flank, and although Fabián Orellana’s free kick was headed away into touch, the resulting throw-in by Sidi Keita led to a penalty box scramble, in which Xerez defender Leandro Gioda capitalized on the loose ball and slotted it past Andrés Palop.  1-1 final.  It was only Gioda’s second goal this season for Xerez, the other coming in Xerez’s only away win this season, a 2-4 victory over Málaga.

Gioda might just be the kiss of death for the opposition when he scores, but that was little consolation for Manolo Jiménez, who could feel and hear the unerring venom from the Sevillistas at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, whistling and chanting for Jiménez to be sacked.

Their wishes came true on Wednesday, when Manolo Jiménez became the eighth manager fired in La Liga this season.  In the press conference that confirmed Jiménez’s dismissal, sporting director Monchi commented:

“He (Jiménez) has done everything possible and impossible, and we only have words of appreciation for his work because he could not have been more professional.  It is time to rejuvenate the team.”

Sevilla’s first-choice replacement, Luis Aragonés, did not accept the job, apparently quibbling with del Nido and Monchi over the length of the contract.  Aragonés wanted the assurance of being contracted through the end of next season, but del Nido would only guarantee Aragonés through the end of this current campaign.

Michael Laudrup seems to be the second choice, although Sevilla has denied of any talks with the former Barcelona and Real Madrid midfielder and former Getafe coach.  Whatever decision the Sevilla brass makes, the incoming manager will know that the Sevilla job has reached the point, at least in the mind of José María del Nido, where a Champions League spot is necessary and progressing beyond the first knockout stage of the Champions League is paramount.

For Manolo Jiménez, his first stint as a manager in a top-flight division can be classified as a success.  No one questioned his passion for the game or his commitment to his players.  For those who grew up in the Sevilla academy under Jiménez, like Jesús Navas and Diego Capel, this decision will affect them both professionally and personally.  There is little doubt that he will manage again, possibly as soon as next season, but for a person that gave more than twenty-five years of his life to Sevilla, the hurt he feels at this moment will take time to heal.

Fueras de Juego

- Coming into this mid-week round, the top three teams had the top three defenses in terms of goals allowed, but who had the fourth-best defense?  The men from Pamplona.  Osasuna’s defensive line of César Azpilicueta at right-back, Nacho Monreal at left-back, and Miguel Flaño, Josetxo, and Sergio González as central defenders have propelled their team to a relatively comfortable gap above the relegation zone.  With the third-worst attack in La Liga, their defensive intensity is essential to their success, and Barcelona certainly knows what kind of defense Osasuna possesses.

In October, Osasuna held Barça to a single goal, and a Gerard Piqué own goal in stoppage gave José Antonio Camacho’s men a share of the points.  On Wednesday evening, credit is due to Osasuna’s defense more than the Blaugrana being off their game, and even though Barcelona would eventually win 2-0, Osasuna proved to be one of Barça’s fiercest competitors this season.  Any team that can hold Lionel Messi scoreless twice in one season should be commended.

- Racing Santander, who has the worst home record in the league, hosted Mallorca, who had only won twice out of twelve away matches, on Wednesday evening.  A 0-0 draw was inevitable, and that is exactly what happened.  A valuable point for Mallorca at this stage of the season, but this chasm of a disconnect between home and away form is astonishing.  Mallorca has earned a staggering thirty-six points while only gaining eleven points on the road, a point difference of twenty-five.  Only Villarreal has a similar gulf in La Liga, with the Yellow Submarine garnering thirty points at El Madrigal while attaining only seven points away from home, a difference of twenty-three points.

- Valencia distanced themselves from the pack with their 1-0 win over Málaga and now possess a six-point lead over Mallorca for third-place and an automatic berth into the group stage of next year’s Champions League.  As for the final Champions League spot and the two Europa League places, every team involved for those European invitations apparently wants to back into those invites rather than earning them.  No team ranked fourth through ninth won in Round 29, and these teams have been so mediocre that Atlético Madrid, the model of inconsistency this season, now sits in eighth place after they defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-0 on Thursday.

- Getafe manager Míchel provided the quote of the round about his own dismissal late in his team’s 2-4 pounding by Real Madrid:

“All I said was, ‘If you were from Madrid you’d have protested it.’  The linesman understood that I disrespected him, and I was sent off, but I have never spoken about referees or shown disrespect.”

George Orwell would be proud of Míchel for his valiant attempt at doublethink.

Jornada 28 is only the second mid-week round of the La Liga season, the first occurring well back in late September.  Three teams in particular are glad that they get to play so soon: FC Barcelona, Getafe, and Xerez.  Xerez?   Yes, that same Xerez club that threatened to become the team to secure the fewest points in one campaign since La Liga went to a thirty-eight match season.

They have earned points in three of their last four matches, including their first ever road victory in the top flight at Málaga and a 2-1 win at home against Tenerife on Saturday.  They travel the short 90 km trip north to Sevilla on Tuesday, and while Xerez would almost be certain to lose at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in normal times, these are not normal times.

Manolo Jiménez’s reign as manager of Sevilla remains in the air, the players have not responded in a constructive manner since they surrendered a two-goal advantage to Real Madrid earlier this month, and they have not won a match in any competition since they broke Mallorca’s 100% home record on February 20.  A turnaround against Xerez seems inevitable, but Néstor Gorosito’s men can actually sniff a chance to stave off relegation for the first time all year, and if their Andalusian neighbors are able to snatch any points, Jiménez may not make it to the end of the week.

For FC Barcelona, they would one of the last teams to welcome a mid-week round on the surface because if they can negotiate past Arsenal in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, they would endure a sixteen match stretch over the span of just fifty-six days.  All told, they would have a mid-week game along with a weekend match every week from March 14 to May 9.

Already a squad suffering with injuries in key positions, a full week of rest would appear to be on Barcelona’s wish list, but their building momentum has eerie parallels to last season, when they became the first Spanish team to win the treble.  While they will not defend their Copa del Rey championship, La Liga and the Champions League are well within reach, and with the scheduling in this round, Barcelona has the opportunity to put the pressure on Real Madrid, as Barcelona’s match against Osasuna is on Wednesday, and Real will have to wait until Thursday to respond to Barça’s performance.

As for Getafe, they need wins to creep into the European discussion, and they host the royalty of Madrid to their humble abode in the southern zone of the Madrid metropolitan area in the final match of the round on Thursday night.  Getafe’s impressive record against Real Madrid in the last five years, three wins and two draws in nine meetings, gives Los Azulones a shot of confidence against a Real Madrid side that has retained only one goal from the beginning of the season: conquering La Liga.

With Real Madrid’s eyes solely focused on winning the league, they cannot afford to drop any points with the pace that Barcelona set at the top of the table.  Los Blancos have caught up with the Blaugrana, but Getafe is Real’s thorn in their side, and Getafe manager Míchel will not miss an opportunity to impress Florentino Pérez and the Real boardroom should Manuel Pellegrini be relieved of his duties at the end of the season.  While former Real cantera product Roberto Soldado will not participate in this Madrid derby, other cantera products Adrián González, Miguel Torres, and Dani Parejo need no extra incentive to show up their former employers at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.

The times listed are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and include the pregame pleasantries, although sometimes the matches on the DirecTV La Liga specific channels may not go to match coverage until right before kickoff.

Mar. 23

Sporting Gijón vs. Deportivo La Coruña – 2:55 PM on ESPN Deportes/ESPN 360

Sevilla vs. Xerez – 4:55 PM on Gol TV

Mar. 24

Tenerife vs. Villarreal – 2:45 PM on DirecTV channel 456

Racing Santander vs. Mallorca – 2:45 PM on DirecTV channel 457

Almería vs. Real Zaragoza – 2:45 PM on DirecTV channel 458

FC Barcelona vs. Osasuna – 2:55 PM on ESPN Deportes/ESPN 360

Valencia vs. Málaga – 4:55 PM on ESPN Deportes/ESPN 360

Mar. 25

Getafe vs. Real Madrid – 2:55 PM on Gol TV

Atlético Madrid vs. Athletic Bilbao – 4:55 PM on Gol TV

Unfortunately, the Real Valladolid – Espanyol clash at the Estadio José Zorrilla will not be shown on US TV.

A forlorn Manolo Jiménez rues his side's inability to capture the moment against CSKA Moskva.

With the advantage of the away goal, Sevilla looked in prime position to advance to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League.  Unfortunately, Manolo Jiménez’s team played as though they were already in the next round.  A 0-0 score line would have sent Sevilla through, and even though Diego Perotti declared that they could not be confident in their advantage or rely on the fact that they were playing at home, there was little impetus from Los Nervionenses in their attack.

CSKA Moskva also played this cat-and-mouse game, knowing that they did not need to push forward and leave themselves open to a swift counter-attack.  When Tomáš Necid scored in the 39th minute from a seemingly harmless throw-in deep in the Sevilla half, Sevilla woke up from their slumber and immediately responded with a goal of their own two minutes later.

The CSKA defense allowed a long ball from an Andrés Palop free kick to bounce near the penalty area, and Jesús Navas capitalized on this good fortune by gathering the ball and squaring the ball to Diego Perotti, who coolly finished with aplomb from seven yards to equalize at 1-1.

Jiménez substituted Diego Capel to start the second half in favor of Frédéric Kanouté to have another out-and-out striker with Luís Fabiano, but play reverted to the opening thirty-eight minutes of the match.  Sevilla went into hibernation again, and it cost them in the 55th minute, when Palop palmed Keisuke Honda’s free kick into his own net.  Although Honda fiercely struck the ball, Palop got himself into perfect position to catch it or deflect it away.  Palop rightly decided to push the ball away instead of attempting to snatch it in the air, but he somehow managed to deflect it into his own goal in one of the worst blunders in this year’s Champions League.

Galvanization did not repeat itself after Sevilla fell behind a second time, and they timidly fell out of the competition 1-2 in the match and 2-3 on aggregate.  The ineffective performances ran rampant across the Sevilla squad.  Renato failed to muster any extended possession in midfield, Luís Fabiano became a ghost as he could not be seen through most of the match, and Andrés Palop made the mistake that forced Sevilla to score twice without conceding in the final thirty-five minutes.

It would be easy to say that without Palop’s error, the match would have gone into extra time, but with all of these “what if” scenarios, any single event in a football match is not mutually exclusive.  Assuming that the rest of the match would have gone as it ended up without CSKA’s second goal would be fallacious.  CSKA had the slight upper hand throughout the match, and they were the more likely team to score anyway, whether it occurred with a goalkeeping error or by CSKA’s own brilliant play.

Sevilla deserved to be knocked out of the Champions League, and they face a fight from multiple angles to qualify for the Champions League next year.  Deportivo La Coruña, Mallorca, and Athletic Bilbao are all within three points of Sevilla for the fourth Champions League spot, and while these teams do not possess the talent and the European experience like Sevilla, the Andalucians cannot take for granted that they will finish in the top four.  If they finish the La Liga season in the same nonchalant fashion and attitude as they played against CSKA, the Europa League beckons.

The "Best Player in the World" debate should be tabled for the time being.

Someone forgot to tell Stuttgart that there was a crucial Champions League match this evening.  As confident and daring as they were at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in the first leg, Die Roten were timid and meek at the Camp Nou.  Obviously needing at least one goal in order to have any legitimate chance of brushing the defending champions away, they only had two shots all night, and neither of those shots were on target.

The match, however, told more about Barcelona’s dominance than Stuttgart’s quiescence.  Pep Guardiola made the bold move of leaving Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the bench in favor of Thierry Henry, a man who has only scored three goals in La Liga and has found it difficult to break into the starting eleven.  His revealing performance in the second half against Valencia on Sunday gave Guardiola the confidence to employ him as the central striker against Stuttgart.

A thigh injury ruled Xavi Hernández out of the Stuttgart match, and with Seydou Keita not fully fit to start, Touré Yaya became the choice for Guardiola, although there was little alternative.  Mainly used as a defensive midfielder, he patrolled the left side of midfield as though he were a tricky winger.  Numerous counter-attacks saw him bomb down the left flank with astonishing ease, and he directly contributed to Pedro Rodríguez’s opening goal with an unselfish squared ball across the penalty area that he could have easily shot himself.  Another player that has been stuck on the substitutes’ bench for most of the year, Guardiola shows the ability to inspire even the most disgruntled of players.

Then there is that man again.  Without waxing poetic to the point of veneration, Lionel Messi continues to befuddle the opposition while involving his teammates in many of the attacks in which he is involved.  Lately, due to the inconsistencies of Ibrahimovic, Pedro, and Henry, Messi had to shoulder more of the scoring load, and he looks to take a crack at goal more often than at any other time in his career.

Messi always possessed the skill and the guile to be one of the best players in the world, but in the last couple of seasons and especially in the last few months, his clinical finishing ascended to world-class level.  When Messi scored the first goal in the 14th minute, the Stuttgart defense decided to back off him instead of closing down his space in fear that he would make one move and slice them in half.  With this clearing, Messi popped a top left corner laser that Jens Lehmann had no chance of saving, and the rout commenced.

On Barça’s second goal, Messi played the provider, as he floated a ball over the top of the Stuttgart defense to Touré Yaya, and he squared the ball to Pedro, who delivered it into the back of the net.  Messi would score another goal in tandem with Dani Alves later in the match, but the damage was done, and Barcelona marched on into the quarterfinals, where no one would want to draw them on Friday afternoon, when the matchups for the rest of the competition will be sorted out.

Bordeaux’s talisman Yoann Gourcuff already declared that his team would like to face anyone but Barcelona in the quarterfinals, and every other team left might have this same request.  Now that Olympique Lyonnais eliminated Real Madrid and CSKA Moskva bounced Sevilla from the Champions League, Barcelona represents the only Spanish team remaining in the competition, and they are peaking at the right time of the season.  They wrote this script last campaign, and they won the treble.  Why deviate now?

My nieces, in blue, combining to nullify the opposition attack.

Apologies to those who expected the usual Monday column that recaps the latest round in La Liga.  I did not watch a single La Liga match this past weekend because I attended my twin nieces’ soccer tournament.  Although classified as U-9, their team played in the U-10 group, and they won the championship, proudly accepting the winners’ medals with an everlasting gleam in their wondrous eyes.

The older U-10 team that my nieces’ team faced held a 2-1 lead with seconds remaining, but a late equalizer forced extra time.  After two scoreless periods in extra time, both of these teams would encounter the cruel ending that is penalty kicks for the first time in their lives.

My precocious nieces feel the nervousness when they perform penalties on FIFA 09, and now, they were selected to be two of the penalty takers in the shootout.  They invoked the power of prayer as a vehicle for their jangling nerves while they watched their teammates take their penalties and awaited their own.  They both made their penalties, but after each team took their five penalties, both teams were still tied.  The sixth penalty proved pivotal as my nieces’ team converted their penalty and the opposition missed theirs.  Even at such a young age, the famous Jim McKay line “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” felt appropriate because while my nieces’ team celebrated, their opposition could not hold back their tears.

The most telling difference between watching professionals in various European leagues and watching children in this U-10 tournament was the willingness of the children to adapt to their surroundings versus the paid football players.  A torrent of rain surged through the city hosting this tournament the night before the competition started, and when my nieces’ first match kicked off at 12:30 PM the next day, they trudged through a mushy pitch that bore little grass with which to begin because the last vestiges of winter still reigned even though spring temperatures had sprung up sporadically.

Bad bounces, balls halting to a complete stop while dribbling, and frequent slips that these children endured would discourage many professionals.  The chronic carping and lamenting of the surface would have been endless from the professionals, but the children continued to play their football as though the pitch compared to the old Wembley Stadium.

Covering professionals for a living can jade the most optimistic of journalists, but if they need a break from the constant petulance and complaining of grown men who earn millions of Euros, attend a match or competition involving young children.  They just want to play.  Although you get the occasional parent who goes overboard, the purity of the sport lies here in these children.

When the Racing de Santander board fired Juan Carlos Mandiá on November 9, the team had only won one game out of ten in La Liga, and they had lost the first leg in the Round of 32 of the Copa del Rey against UD Salamanca, a mid-table club in the Segunda División.  This job was Mandiá’s first in the top flight, as his previously managed teams, Logroñés, Hércules, and Real Madrid Castilla, were all in the lower divisions of Spanish football.  Mandiá looked overmatched by his managing brethren, and the players never looked to respond to their newest coach.

In the last fifty-five years, Racing de Santander has only finished in the top ten three times in La Liga.  Some of those years were spent in the lower divisions, so expectations were not necessarily sky high in Santander.  Two of those three top-ten places occurred in the last three years, including a surprising sixth and a UEFA Cup spot in the 2007-08 campaign, so when Racing was in 17th heading into the international break on November 9, the Cantabrians had enough of Juan Carlos Mandiá.  Racing chairman Francisco Pernía turned back to the future, as he bestowed the reins of his club to Miguel Ángel Portugal, who guided Los Verdiblancos to a respectable tenth place finish in the 2006-07 season.  The goal was simple for Portugal: avoid relegation.

Coming off the international break, Racing faced two difficult foes in succession: Real Madrid and Deportivo La Coruña, two teams flying high in the top five of the table.  Although Racing lost both of these matches, Portugal’s stamp had been sealed on the team in a short amount of time.  The defensive ineptitude that clearly marred Juan Carlos Mandiá’s reign at the club was all but abolished as both Real Madrid and Deportivo La Coruña fought hard for their 1-0 victories.  Even Depor’s manager, Miguel Ángel Lotina, felt as though his team was lucky to earn all three points against Racing.

If Portugal and Racing de Santander were not favored to garner any points against Real Madrid and Deportivo La Coruña, the three matches leading into the Christmas break were crucial for Racing’s fate in La Liga.  They played an Espanyol team who lost their last three matches, scoring zero while conceding seven.  Racing dismissed Los Periquitos with shocking ease, as homegrown wünderkind Sergio Canales scored his first two goals for the club in a 0-4 romp at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat.  Admittedly green, both figuratively and literally, this eighteen-year-old, who grew up within walking distance of El Sardinero, had been thrust upon the watching eyes of Spain by his stellar play.

Los Racinguistas brought their momentum back to their friendly confines in Santander, and with a match against 20th place Xerez, confidence was at a season high.  Apparently, someone forgot to tell Xerez that they were supposed to lie down at Racing’s expense, and with a quarter of an hour remaining, it was 2-2.  Even more amazing than the score itself was that Xerez had only scored once away from El Chapín all season, and they doubled this amount in sixty-nine minutes.  An Alexandre Geijo header in the 82nd minute, however, foiled Xerez’s attempt at a third road point, and Racing Santander rose from the relegation places to a tenuous fifteenth in the table.

Racing would have done well to get a result at El Sardinero against Villarreal to end the 2009 calendar year, and while they forced Villarreal to play for some stretches of the match, Villarreal comfortably dismissed the Cantabrians 2-0 in a match concerning two in-form teams.  Despite the loss, six points out of nine going into the Christmas break gave Miguel Ángel Portugal and his men the impetus to continue with their decent play.

A hard-fought 2-0 win at home against lower table rivals Tenerife to start 2010 showed that Racing could string together a series of results.  Looking at the situation with a skeptical eye, they achieved their wins against teams in the bottom rungs of the ladder, and their one truly quality opponent in this stretch, Villarreal, ran them off the pitch.  Many, if not all, would have had little faith that they could stay with title contenders Sevilla at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán this past Saturday.

Sergio Canales received the backing of his manager, started in the trequartista position just behind the lone striker Xisco, and was flanked by Pedro Munitis on his right and Óscar Serrano on his left.  While Sevilla dominated possession and bossed the game in Racing’s own half of the field, the Cantabrians were the ones who capitalized on their chances in the first half.

Before Canales scored the opening goal in the 26th minute, he fired well wide on three separate occasions, and while he can be faulted for his errant boot, he worked himself into the right positions to take the opportunities at goal.  His positional sense rivals that of a world-class veteran, and at such a young age, this is truly remarkable.

The move started with Gonzalo Colsa, who played a diagonal ground ball from the midfield line to Pedro Munitis.  The wily Munitis then played a through ball that sliced the Sevilla back line and sent Canales free for a one on one with Andrés Palop.  At the vital moment, Canales decided to chip it over Sevilla goalkeeper and captain Andrés Palop, and that finesse shot was a wonderful finish.

As was their modus operandi throughout the match, Manolo Jiménez further enforced the attack, and Racing Santander’s second goal in the 38th minute further faded Sevilla’s increasingly slim hopes of a La Liga crown.  Racing shredded the defense again, and Canales’ cool composure revealed the precocious nature of his ability.  On the counter-attack, Munitis was fouled, but referee Manuel Mejuto González played the advantage, and Xisco’s cutting through-ball sent Canales on another free run.  Palop decided to rush off his line, but Canales saw this and went around him, then cut back again when a Sevilla defender nearly caught up with him, and shot at the open net for the implausible 0-2 lead for the visitors.

Racing Santander had to hold on for the entire second half, as Sevilla put severe pressure on the Racing midfield and defense.  Sevilla did get one goal back from Racing goalkeeper Fabio Coltorti’s minor error, but they held on just long enough to secure their biggest win of the season.  As for Sevilla, they continued their slump in La Liga; their momentum from their Copa del Rey first leg win over Barcelona at the Camp Nou did not carry over, as again, they did not defeat a team they should beat.

Is it the inspiration of the new manager, Miguel Ángel Portugal?  Is it the infusion of youthful exuberance with Sergio Canales featuring more in the starting eleven?  Is it the relatively poor play of their opponents during this streak?  As with most situations, there is always a combination of factors that contribute to success, but the defensive discipline instilled by the manager has been one of the major keys in Racing’s hot run.  They love to counter-attack, especially with Munitis, Canales, and Serrano’s speed, but in order to best use their abilities, the defense needs to stand firm.  Pablo Pinillos, the Racing captain and leader of the defensive line, has inspired a previously lifeless group, and their effort and spirit has led to more scoring chances.

The big European clubs are queuing up to snare Sergio Canales, but as most transfer news is merely distraction in January, Racing de Santander will only look forward, as the cliché goes, one game at a time.  Despite the recent euphoria in Santander, they are only five points above the relegation zone, and a momentary dip in form will see them back in the dogfight to stay in Spain’s top division.  They have to keep believing that they are fighting relegation throughout the rest of the season, even if they are in a nominally comfortable twelfth place as of this round.  They cannot afford to rest on their laurels, but a galvanizing Racing de Santander brings an exciting element to La Liga for those who tire of the Barcelona – Real Madrid melodrama.

Photo courtesy of Metro Centric.

While the press and the media focus most of their ink and font on the newly built Real Madrid and the continued brilliance of FC Barcelona, Sevilla carries on with their consistent good form.  On the surface, there is nothing too sexy that immediately grabs headlines, but arguably, Luís Fabiano is currently playing as the best forward in the world since the continuation of World Cup Qualifying at the beginning of June.  He tallied four goals in four Eliminatorias Sudamericanas for the Seleção, including a brace in a historic road victory against Argentina, five goals in the Confederations Cup to earn that tournament’s Golden Shoe, and three goals in four matches in all competitions for Sevilla this season.

Sevilla also made some shrewd acquisitions in the summer transfer window to bolster the squad.  They brought back Lolo from his loan spell at Málaga and bought Didier Zokora from Tottenham Hotspur for €10 million to reinforce the central midfield, they got Espanyol academy graduate Sergio Sánchez for €3 million to augment the defense, and they acquired Álvaro Negredo from Real Madrid for €14 million to deepen the pool of strikers.  Probably the best move Sevilla made in the close season was not an acquisition but the ability to keep Luís Fabiano from suitors such as AC Milan.  Now they are two deep in every position on the pitch and can cope with the demands of three competitions without compromising their ability to feature quality squads in each competition.

An inauspicious start to the La Liga initially raised questions about the viability of Sevilla this season.  Even though Frédéric Kanouté earned a red card at the end of the first half against Valencia, Valencia outplayed Sevilla for the entire match, save for a few pockets of brilliance sprinkled in between, and lost their first game of the season at the Mestalla 0-2.  A defeat by the hands of Valencia was by no means shameful, but Sevilla wanted to build on their third place showing from last season with a defining opening win in the biggest game of Jornada 1.  Manolo Jiménez did not allow his players to sulk after the setback, and his Sevilla side defeated Real Zaragoza and Osasuna in La Liga in an easy fashion and turned away a disciplined Unirea Urziceni outfit 2-0 in the Champions League.

In sixth position at the start of Round 4, Sevilla faced a fourth placed Mallorca squad that gained seven points in their first three matches, including an unlikely 1-1 draw at El Madrigal against Villarreal in torrential rain and a 4-0 flogging against promoted Tenerife.  Sevilla engendered a feeling of vast superiority as they made Mallorca look ordinary and unworthy to hold such a high position in the La Liga table.  Sevilla combined their penchant for neat, passing football with a more direct approach to play Mallorca off the field in the first half.

The first goal came after seventeen minutes, when Julien Escudé flicked a header from a corner in the direction of Sébastien Squillaci, and Squillaci outleaped Mallorca midfielder Bruno China to the header and scored from five yards away.  The second Sevilla goal arrived in the 25th minute, and this time, they displayed the fluid football for which they have been known.  Jesús Navas initiated the move with a run down the right wing, where he passed the ball to Luís Fabiano.  Continuing the run, Navas slashed inside toward the penalty area where Fabiano produced a cutting ball to Navas inside the box.  Taking two defenders with him, he resumed his dash toward the end line and supplied a telling ball across the six-yard box and over Mallorca goalkeeper Dudu Aouate’s head.  Diego Perotti headed the cross into the back of the net from a yard out, but there was a good possibility that Navas’ cross would have gone in anyway.

Mallorca would eventually become more comfortable and create some opportunities, most of them in the last ten minutes of the first half.  Aritz Aduriz’s header forced a good save by Sevilla goalkeeper Andrés Palop in the 38th minute, Sevilla defenders blocked shots by Pierre Webó and Aduriz in the 44th minute, and Palop batted away Fernando Varela’s near-post strafer in the 45th minute.

The second half consisted of more Sevilla pressure from every part of the pitch, whether it was an inch-perfect diagonal ball from just inside their own half to the right edge of penalty area by Negredo, a lung-busting run by left back Adriano down the left wing that forced substitute goalkeeper Germán Lux out of his area, or a couple of headers inside the area from Squillaci that tested Lux.  Alhassane Keita, a 74th minute substitution for Webó, was the only Mallorca player that constructed some positive moves toward goal, including a one on one with Palop that eventually fell apart because Keita looked for contact inside the box by oncoming defender Escudé rather than focusing on the shot.

A 2-0 full-time score flattered Mallorca, but nevertheless, Sevilla continued their good run of form heading into a crucial three games, which include a trip to San Mamés to go against resurgent Athletic Bilbao, a journey to Ibrox Stadium to face a robust Rangers side, and a home fixture against high-flying Real Madrid.  In the Sevilla season preview, the question was asked if Sevilla could break the Barcelona – Real Madrid duopoly and finish in the top two.  Barring injury, Sevilla should definitively finish in a Champions League spot.  If they continue to keep the discipline and shape in the back four, maintain the defense that gave up the second fewest goals in La Liga, and create numerous goal-scoring opportunities that was lacking in the previous season, do not be surprised to witness a split between Barcelona and Real Madrid at the end of the campaign.