Ivan Rakitic returned to Sevilla after six trophy-laden years at Barcelona intent on making his mark at the club that give him his big break in Spanish football.
Rakitic met his wife in the city and speaks excellent Spanish with a Sevillano accent. The Croatian was intent to prove that his return was sporting as well as sentimental.
It’s been difficult for him to maintain a high level of performance so far this season, but he showed a moment of class to give his team the lead against Valencia on Tuesday evening.
Sevilla 3-0 Valencia at half time in the Copa del Rey. One club – with a modern, ambitious and innovative sport structure – are a masterclass on how to run a football club. The other is a disaster-class on how to run a football club.
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) January 27, 2021
The pair were locking horns in the Copa del Rey, the winner set to go through to the quarter-finals, at the Sanchez-Pizjuan.
The Andalusians currently sit fourth in La Liga, and look a good bet to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Valencia, by comparison, are 14th, in a difficult moment in both an institutional and sporting sense.
Sevilla started well, scoring an early brace through Luuk de Jong, before Rakitic stepped up with a gorgeous chip, shared by Caught Offside, to make it 3-0. It was the kind of goal that underlined the old adage that form is temporary but class is permanent.