If Sevilla are to become Spain‘s champions for the first time in 76 years, which is feasible, then aside from the obvious goal of registering more points than anyone else, their primary task is to end their status as weaklings in the group of “top four” LaLiga clubs.
Since Julen Lopetegui took over Sevilla have begun to resemble him and, in a sense, his father too.
Lopetegui’s father was a notorious Basque Country strong man. You know the old-school type: in his prime, Jose Antonio Lopetegui had a chest wide enough to play five-a-side football on, muscles on top of muscles, he could lift 100 kilos 22 times in 60 seconds; there’s even a cracking picture of Julen and his behemoth dad in which Jose Antonio is holding each of his two daughters up in the air on the palm of his hands. (That part specifically never caught on as an Olympic event, but after BMX, surfing and skateboarding made the grade in Tokyo, there’s no real reason to suspect that “Daughter Clean and Jerk Free Lift” might not one day.
Sevilla resemble Jose Antonio to the extent that when most teams now run into them, they bounce off worse for the experience. Los Rojiblancos are stern, muscular, stubborn and they don’t like you getting in their way. They resemble Jose Antonio’s boy, Julen, because they are meticulous, relentless and intense: they’re hard to fend off, and quick to bounce back if you do catch them out.
Where Sevilla are puny, perpetually disappointing versions of themselves, however, is against Madrid, Barcelona and Atleti.
Since Lopetegui took over in summer 2019, teaming up with Sevilla’s guru-like Director of Football (and like-minded football obsessive) Monchi, Los Rojiblancos have played the big three a grand total of 14 times. The record would make you green at the gills: Two wins, five draws, seven defeats. In LaLiga, out of a possible 36 points, Lopetegui’s lads have taken…. eight.
It gets worse. In LaLiga, across 1,100 minutes against Madrid, Barcelona and Atleti, Sevilla have scored eight times. In the Copa del Rey, their 2-0 semifinal first-leg win at home against Barca was overturned by a three-goal humiliation at Camp Nou.
Was it a lack of talent? No. A lack of preparation? Forget it — Lopetegui’s one of those managers (like Pep Guardiola, Rafa Benitez and Unai Emery) who believe that if he works hard enough on detail then one day, he’ll be able to predict and pre-programme every single second of a match. Lack of guts? Who can really tell?
This record is so miserable, but there are tiny rays of light. Atleti are reigning champions, and it’s against them that Lopetegui’s dark-horses have fared best, notching two draws and a win. Sevilla’s last two home matches against the rest of the big four — Atleti in the league and Barcelona in the Cup — brought two victories, both without a goal conceded.
As a topic, this is red-hot important for the red-and-whites. It’s the difference between them staying also-rans and being champions.
Last season, Lucas Ocampos, Papu Gomez, Jesus Navas, Youssef En-Nesyri & Co. drew and lost to Barcelona, lost and drew with Madrid and went win/lose with Atleti for a haul of five points. It’s not at all unreasonable to have demanded that they go draw/win against Barcelona, draw/win against Atleti and draw/draw against Madrid. To do that, they’d have only needed to score three more in this elite mini-league and concede four fewer. That would have yielded seven extra points, it would have decreased Atleti’s end of season total by three… and Sevilla would have been Spanish champions by one clear point.
A genuinely heady thought.
Sevilla were due to play host to Barcelona this Saturday night, due to begin the simple-sounding task of scoring a similar number of points against LaLiga’s “other” teams and taking seven more than they did against the ‘big three’ last season. Yet nothing in Spanish football is ever quite that simple.
When we watched that farce in Sao Paolo this past Sunday, where not only did the right hand not know what the left hand was doing across Brazilian sport and politics, but the left foot was kicking itself in the backside and the right foot was enthusiastically testing the edge of the precipice before someone removed the blindfold, we were watching the fate of Saturday’s Sevilla vs. Barcelona match.
The South American federation, which made a monumental mess of the Copa America this summer, were almost causing a boycott from Brazil‘s players and since saw fit to order their international teams to play three World Cup qualifying matches in eight days specifically so that the players — the real attraction — can’t get back in time for their club matches, thereby squashing that brilliant match at the Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan. It was partly because three key Sevilla players (Acuna, Papu Gomez and Gonzalo Montiel) wouldn’t be back in time for the contest (nor would Barcelona’s Araujo) that LaLiga wanted the match postponed.
Rather incredibly, until you consider that almost no-one in power cares a hoot whether we are about to squeeze the creative and physical juices out of our wonderful football players until they wither, the Spanish Federation wanted the game to go ahead. The dispute went to a Spanish Government committee and, hallelujah, some duty of care about the clubs and the players won the argument: both Sevilla vs. Barcelona and Villarreal vs. Alaves (for the same reason) were postponed.
Just in case anyone thought that the matches might simply be held back a day and played Sunday, don’t forget that Sevilla and Villarreal have hugely important — and financially lucrative — Champions League matches to play on Tuesday. They should never be asked to play hugely significant LaLiga contests late on Sunday night and then, 48 hours later, compete against the cream of Europe.
Doctors, physios and the players’ union all conclude (in one of the few subjects where there’s unity and harmony of voice) that the minimum (I repeat minimum) recuperation time for elite footballers is 72 hours between matches. Again, this being Spain, at the time of writing there was still an opportunity for the Spanish FA to appeal the decision. If they do, I’ll despair of how even a bitter, non-stop feud between the League and the FA can reach the depths of ignoring player welfare completely.
Anyway, a few important issues spill out of the match postponement.
Sevilla haven’t been playing with much of a spark yet this season, and it’s feasible to argue that, purely in terms of how likely they are to get a win over a Messi-less Barcelona, postponement might be a boon. I know that they’d have played the match without their three Argentinians if they’d been ordered to, but let’s look at the possible re-schedule dates.
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Julien Laurens questions why Barcelona look set to improve a direct rival with nothing in return for Antoine Griezmann.
It’s feasible that a special midweek slate of fixtures, for Sevilla, Barcelona, Villarreal and Alaves, could be scheduled for the midweek after Spain play their UEFA Nations League semifinal against Italy in Milan. That would mean around October 13-14, and purely from Sevilla’s point of view, let’s weigh that up.
Right now, off the back of international matches when key players often come back drained or “not in the zone,” they were about to face Barcelona, RB Salzburg in the Champions League, Real Sociedad away and then Valencia at home. Strip Barca out of that and the little “racha” (run) of matches looks a little more digestible. On those October dates, Sevilla would be enjoying a run of Granada away, Barcelona at home, Celta away, Lille away and Levante at home — much, much more appetising overall.
I wonder whether fate just gave Sevilla a little nudge in the ribs. After all, the meetings between Sevilla and Barcelona do have some historic antecedents. Back in 2003, an argument over releasing international players (at the time, Dutch footballers from Barca) led to President Joan Laporta scheduling the match at 12:05 a.m. on Sept. 3 just to stick two fingers up at everyone: the League, UEFA, FIFA, you name it. In the end, Ronaldinho thrashed in his first goal for Barcelona, the late Jose Antonio Reyes scored for Sevilla and honours were shared.
They were also shared on the last day of the 1945-46 season. On March 31, after a season when LaLiga only consisted of 26 matches, Sevilla drew 1-1 with Barcelona to conserve their single-point lead and become Spanish champions, the last time they claimed the title. In that title-winning season, Sevilla drew and lost to Barcelona, won and drew against Atleti, and drew and won against Madrid, taking seven points out of a possible 12.
The evidence is there. If Lopetegui can transform his under-performers into strongmen against the “big three” this season, there’s every reason to think Sevilla will be champions. And messy though it’s been, they might just have been given a wee helping hand by the embarrassment4 that is international football.
Sanders, 57, said he has been walking at least a mile around campus following Colorado’s practices, which began last week. He was away from the team for the late spring and early summer following the surgery in May. Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urological oncology at University of Colorado Cancer Center, said July 30 that Sanders, who lost about 25 pounds during his recovery, is “cured of cancer.”
“I’m healthy, I’m vibrant, I’m my old self,” Sanders said. “I’m loving life right now. I’m trying my best to live to the fullest, considering what transpired.”
Sanders credited Colorado’s assistant coaches and support staff for overseeing the program during his absence. The Pro Football Hall of Famer enters his third season as Buffaloes coach this fall.
“They’ve given me tremendous comfort,” Sanders said. “I never had to call 100 times and check on the house, because I felt like the house is going to be OK. That’s why you try your best to hire correct, so you don’t have to check on the house night and day. They did a good job, especially strength and conditioning.”
Colorado improved from four to nine wins in Sanders’ second season, but the team loses Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, the No. 2 pick in April’s NFL draft, as well as record-setting quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the son of Deion Sanders. The Buffaloes have an influx of new players, including quarterbacks Kaidon Salter and Julian “Ju Ju” Lewis, who are competing for the starting job, as well as new staff members such as Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, who is coaching the Buffaloes’ running backs.
Despite the changes and his own health challenges, Deion Sanders expects Colorado to continue ascending. The Buffaloes open the season Aug. 29 when they host Georgia Tech.
“The next phase is we’re going to win differently, but we’re going to win,” Sanders said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be the Hail Mary’s at the end of the game, but it’s going to be hell during the game, because we want to be physical and we want to run the heck out of the football.”
Sanders said it will feel “a little weird, a little strange” to not be coaching Shedeur when the quarterback starts his first NFL preseason game for the Cleveland Browns on Friday night at Carolina. Deion Sanders said he and Shedeur had spoken several times Friday morning. Despite being projected as a top quarterback in the draft, Shedeur Sanders fell to the fifth round.
“A lot of people are approaching it like a preseason game, he’s approaching like a game, and that’s how he’s always approached everything, to prepare and approach it like this is it,” Deion Sanders said. “He’s thankful and appreciative of the opportunity. He don’t get covered in, you know, all the rhetoric in the media.
“Some of the stuff is just ignorant. Some of it is really adolescent, he far surpasses that, and I can’t wait to see him play.”
College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.
LSU starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier aggravated the patellar tendinitis he has been dealing with in his knee but will not miss any significant time, coach Brian Kelly said Friday.
Kelly dropped in ahead of a news conference Friday with offensive coordinator Joe Sloan to tell reporters that Nussmeier did not suffer a severe knee injury or even a new one. According to Kelly, Nussmeier has chronic tendinitis in his knee and “probably just planted the wrong way” during Wednesday’s practice.
“It’s not torn, there’s no fraying, there’s none of that,” Kelly said. “This is preexisting. … There’s nothing to really see on film with it, but it pissed it off. He aggravated it a little bit, but he’s good to go.”
Kelly said Nussmeier’s injury ranks 1.5 out of 10 in terms of severity. Asked whether it’s the right or left knee, Kelly said he didn’t know, adding, “It’s not a serious injury. Guys are dealing with tendinitis virtually every day in life.”
Three departing members of the Mountain West Conference are suing the league, alleging it improperly withheld millions of dollars and misled them about a plan to accelerate Grand Canyon’s membership.
Boise State, Colorado State and Utah State filed an updated lawsuit in the District Court of Denver arguing the conference and Commissioner Gloria Nevarez willfully disregarded the league’s bylaws by “intentionally and fraudulently” depriving the schools of their membership rights.
The three schools, which are all headed to the Pac-12 after the 2025-26 school year, are seeking damages for millions of dollars of alleged harm caused by the Mountain West, including the withholding of money earned by Boise State for playing in last year’s College Football Playoff.
“We are disappointed that the Mountain West continues to improperly retaliate against the departing members and their student athletes,” Steve Olson, partner and litigation department co-chair for the O’Melveny law firm, said in a statement. “We will seek all appropriate relief from the court to protect our clients’ rights and interests.”
The Mountain West declined further comment outside of a statement released last week. The conference has said the departing schools were involved in adopting the exit fees and sought to enforce those against San Diego State when it tried to leave the conference two years ago.
“We remain confident in our legal position, which we will vigorously defend,” the statement said.
The three outgoing schools argue the Mountain West’s exit fees, which could range from $19 million to $38 million, are unlawful and not enforceable. The lawsuit also claims the Mountain West concealed a plan to move up Grand Canyon University’s membership a year to 2025-26 without informing the departing schools.
The Mountain West is also seeking $55 million in “poaching fees” from the Pac-12 for the loss of five schools, including San Diego State and Fresno State starting in 2026. The two sides are headed back to court after mediation that expired last month failed to reach a resolution.