SEVILLA FC

Sevilla FC (3rd place in La Liga in 2007)

Stadium: Ramón Sánchez Pizjuan

Nicknames: Sevillistas, Rojiblancos

Interesting Fact: Sevilla is the current holder of four major trophies, the UEFA Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, the Copa Del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup

Haven’t had enough have we?

I’m sure I will be chastised for placing my beloved Sevilla in second place in La Liga next season. But honestly, why not? Much like Barcelona, Sevilla has lost two players in the off-season. Aitor Ocio went to Athletic Bilbao and Kepa Blanco left for Getafe. As of now, Dani Alves is still in the Rojo y Blanco, but he has expressed heavily his desire to move to Chelsea this season. Most are calling for the deal to be done soon, but I’m not so sure Sevilla will let him leave that easily.

That brings the point that we are returning the majority of our team from last season. That is the team that won the UEFA Cup for the second year in a row, finished third in La Liga AND won the Copa del Rey last season. That’s a double if you were counting at home, and not half bad. I should mention that we were in the La Liga hunt until the last moments, and had our chances at the top of the table during the season. If it wasn’t for our inability to win ‘easy’ games when it counted, we very well could have been champions of Spain.

FC Sevilla…Attack!

Sevilla wasn’t short of goalscorers last season, as the attacking corps are headed by former Premier League dud Fredi Kanouté, who finished with 21 goals in La Liga. Kanouté looks to win the Pichichi (highest Goal Scorer in Spain) this season. The other striker position will be filled by Luis Fabiano, or Ernesto Chevantón who were flip-flopped by Juande Ramos last season.

The Midfield will feature Jesus Navas and Poulson, who both shined last season. I hope that Diego Capel gets his chance this season for the ‘A’ team and we get to see who Sevilla have been grooming these past 3 years. Throw in the arrival of Khalid Boulahrouz on loan from Chelsea at a Defensive Midfielder position and Sevilla has a 6 player deep midfield that will be solid this season.

Andres Palop returns as keeper for Sevilla after having been impressive last season, even scoring a goal to keep Sevilla in the UEFA Cup.

Juande…don’t leave us

Rumors have had Sevilla skipper Juande Ramos moving to Tottenham this season, but Jose Maria del Nido has nicked that rumor stating that he will stay in Sevilla until at least July. Juande has been the leader in bringing Sevilla into it’s most successful years ever.

Survey Says

With a pre-season supercup win against Real Madrid on a 5-3 aggregate, Sevilla have looked even better than last season. The Sevillistas will continue to have success but cannot falter against lower clubs as they have in the past. They will finish at least third this season and will have a good run in the Champions League this season.