All is not well in Andalucia. The most successful side from the region is very close to crisis if not in a full-scale examination of their work.
After seven matchdays in La Liga and two in the Champions League, Sevilla have won just once and been defeated five times. They sit just one point above the relegation zone in Spain and they are bottom of their group in Europe.
Amid virile chants of “Pepe Castro resign” during their 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid at the weekend, the President is under heavy pressure. So is manager Julen Lopetegui, who many seem to think will be sacked before the end of the week.
Ahead of Sevilla’s Champions League tie with Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, Lopetegui was asked about how motivated he was for the match. The Basque manager hung his head and paused before telling Mundo Deportivo that he would be giving it his all, despite the speculation.
“Out of respect for my principle responsibility, I am not going to give any opinion about what has happened in the last months. I prefer to remain within the responsibilities that I have as a manager of a great club like Sevilla and that which is facing a match with the maximum amount of my energy. It’s what I have done for 169 matches and it is what I will do in the 170th.”
Clearly, Lopetegui also has feelings about the management above him from Castro and Sporting Director Monchi.
“They don’t gift you 170 matches for nothing in a team of the demands of Sevilla. Evidently, you also have to win to make that number of matches and I am not going to change my discourse nor my attitude to my main responsibility.”
“I should be at the level of the circumstances and the demands of this club and above all, at the level of the support, that deserves the best of all those who are a part of this club and for my part, I am going to give the best of myself.”
