Oliver Torres's alarm clock rings

”Oliver never complained about not playing.

He has proven to be a great companion, knowing how to wait for his moment ”.

This is how Óliver Torres (Navalmoral de la Mata, Cáceres; 1996) is defined in the dressing room of a Sevilla that seeks to overcome Barcelona in the classification (4.15pm, Movistar LaLiga).

The technicians of the Andalusian team maintain that the midfielder has responded perfectly to the so-called

.

The axiom corresponds to Julen Lopetegui.

“All the footballers in my squad must be vigilant and not stop working for when the alarm goes off and it's time to play.

Oliver's alarm went off, ”Lopetegui himself clarified a couple of weeks ago when the Extremaduran began to be a starter to the detriment of a footballer as consecrated as Ivan Rakitic.

Óliver, for the first time since he arrived at Sevilla, has linked five consecutive games as a starter (Cádiz, Eibar, Getafe, Huesca and Osasuna) and seems to have taken an obvious step forward.

These five games resulted in victories in which the Andalusian team did not receive a goal.

Against Dortmund, in the Champions League, Óliver came out in the second half and was one of the architects of the improvement of the Andalusian team's game, which made up the result until reaching the final 2-3.

In the first leg of the Cup semi-final, a great touch with the outside of the right foot enabled Rakitic to make it 2-0 against Barcelona.

In this series of games as a starter in LaLiga, he also gave the goal pass to Munir in the victory (1-0) against Huesca.

Óliver has already played a total of 32 matches in all competitions this year, with 17 starts as a starter.

"I feel very good footballingly and personally," said the player himself after Sevilla's last victory at his stadium against Huesca.

Oliver arrived at Sevilla in the summer of 2019 in exchange for 11 million euros to Porto.

An operation that was endorsed by Lopetegui, who coincided with the footballer in his time as coach in the Portuguese team.

“He came with the star vitola, but he did not settle in the ownership.

He lacked a bit of character ”, they add in the club.

Even so, last season he played a total of 37 games in all competitions, scoring six goals.

Another example of his humility is the closeness he has shown with the fans in his first year in Seville.

Óliver lived until this summer in an apartment block and it was frequent that the children of the neighborhood called his home.

The footballer received them at home and signed autographs and shirts for them.

His lowest moment in sports came with the dispute in August of the Europa League in the

of Germany.

Suso and a high-level Banega prevented him from playing a single minute in the games against Roma, Wolverhampton, Manchester United and Inter Milan.

Oliver responded by supporting from the locker room as a group.

He was one of the creators of the song “for the boat”, which ended up becoming a motto of the Sevilla footballers after each triumph.

From the first to the last against Inter Milan.

The man from Extremadura venerates Jesús Navas and forms an inseparable trio with Jordán and Sergi Gómez.

Outside of Sevilla, his great friend in football is Saúl, from Atlético de Madrid, one of his former teams.

Banega's departure has also led to Oliver's step forward this season.

He has freed himself from the burden of having to replace the Argentine.

He has gone from trying to get the ball from behind to driving it to the rival field.

Everything indicates that Lopetegui will give Óliver his sixth consecutive title against Barcelona.

An opponent that the midfielder still has not been able to win in LaLiga after five games played with Atlético de Madrid and Sevilla.

The balance is three draws and two defeats against the Catalan team.

Of course, with Sevilla he has two draws in a row plus the victory in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal.