Sevilla vs Atletico Madrid
Sevilla and Atletico Madrid are gearing up for the 2023-24 campaign, with La Liga about to start next week. Right now, both of them are in the United States, and they will play their final Club Friendly this Saturday at Oracle Park, home of the MLB team, the San Francisco Giants.
The Club Friendly 2023 results between Sevilla and Atletico Madrid are mostly good. And yesterday, Jose Luis Mendilibar’s men just defeated Real Betis 1-0 in Akron Stadium, while Diego Simeone’s squad was held to a goalless draw by Real Sociedad in Estadio BBVA.
SBOTOP football fans can expect fireworks because the Club Friendly 2023 odds anticipate a close match between these two teams despite their discrepancy in the La Liga standings from the previous season.
Talking Points
Sevilla’s Morocco stars are wanted men
Two weeks ago, striker Youssef En-Nesyri didn’t travel with Sevilla to Germany because he was made available for transfer.
The reigning Europa League winners are in a difficult financial situation because they have a reported debt of around €90 million, and cashing in on En-Nesyri would’ve alleviated their predicament.
En-Nesyri had a productive campaign with Sevilla last term, recording 18 goals and one assist in 48 appearances. He also played a huge role in Morocco’s surprising run in the 2022 World Cup.
Fast forward to today: En-Nesyri is still with Los Palanganas, and he just scored the winning goal against Real Betis last night. He might stay and lead Los Palanganas’ frontline next season if they don’t sell him soon.
The 26-year-old won’t have a shortage of suitors, as West Ham United have pursued him multiple times, while Crystal Palace and Tottenham are also reportedly interested.
Following Sebastien Haller’s switch to Ajax in 2021, West Ham United offered £27 million with add-ons for En-Nesyri, but Sevilla rejected the proposal. The Hammers tried to offer Sevilla a loan swoop but were rejected once more.
Al-Ahli, on the other hand, have reportedly offered Sevilla €45 million for the Moroccan, which meets West Ham United’s valuation since reports claim that the La Liga club was seeking in the region of €40 million.
Another Moroccan who might be on the move for Sevilla is their goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, with clubs like Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, and PSG keeping tabs on him. Sevilla are asking for around €20 million for the 32-year-old shotstopper.
Sevilla are undergoing a rebuild, so regardless of what happens this weekend, they will enter the 2023-24 campaign on the back foot.
Depay’s up-and-down week
Atletico Madrid ended Manchester City’s preseason winning streak last week with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Yannick Carrasco and Memphis Depay. Depay had just played his first pre-season minutes.
With so much competition at his position last season, Depay is keen on impressing his head coach, Diego Simeone. He impressed with his goal against the Sky Blues, but against Real Sociedad yesterday, not so much.
During the 82nd minute, the Dutchman stepped up to take the penalty, but he comically fluffed his lines when his Panenka was saved easily by La Real goalkeeper Unai Marrero. Diego Simeone didn’t seem overly amused, although he wasn’t as furious as most might have expected – at least on record.
“I loved that it happened in a friendly match,” said Simeone. “That’s the best thing that happened to us.”
Panenkas aside, the No. 9 position is there for the taking for Depay since Simeone is keen on offloading the likes of Joao Felix and Alvaro Morata.
History
Atletico Madrid dominated Sevilla in La Liga last season, notching an aggregate tally of 8-1 in their last two meetings.
In October, Los Rojiblancos beat Los Palanganas 2-0 at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, as Marcos Llorente and Alvaro Morata had one goal apiece.
In the reverse fixture last March, Atletico Madrid hammered Sevilla with a 6-1 scoreline, as Memphis Depay and Alvaro Morata had a brace, while Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco also found the back of the net for Los Rojiblancos.
Youssef En-Nesyri’s goal prevented a clean sheet for Sevilla, but they were reduced to 10 men when Pape Gueye was sent off after 80 minutes.
Atletico Madrid have lost two of their last five matches against Sevilla in La Liga (W2, D1), having lost just one of their previous 20 matches against them in the competition (W9, D10).
In the 2022-23 campaign, Atletico Madrid finished third in the standings, just one point behind Real Madrid, while Sevilla were way behind at 12th, although they somehow managed to win their record seventh Europa League trophy.
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