The syndrome of the 20 minutes of Sevilla

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"This team doesn't know how to run after the ball."

The phrase is from Jorge Sampaoli after analyzing the match of his debut, that of Sevilla against Athletic.

It sums up well the shortcomings of a team that is playing tonight in Dortmund, its few qualifying options for the knockout stages of the Champions League (9:00 p.m., Movistar LC).

This Sevilla, which is also languishing in the League, should win everything it has left (Dortmund, Copenhagen at home and City) and wait for a double puncture from Dortmund to achieve classification.

However, it is a debate that does not exist in the club, which would settle for securing third place and playing in the Europa League and, above all, starting to take off in the League, where it occupies relegation places.

One of the main reasons for this bad situation is the physical collapse of the team after about 20 minutes of play.

It is a factor that is already considered a syndrome.

In all the games of the League and the Champions League, Sevilla has been characterized by offering a good staging until falling resoundingly in the middle of the first half.

“We have a jaw made of glass”, acknowledged Lopetegui when analyzing the team's poor performances.

"I don't think it's a strictly physical problem, it's also a mental one," Sampaoli clarified at the conclusion of the clash with Athletic.

The Argentine was aware of what he was facing by taking on Sevilla at this time.

At the club he has been surprised by the good knowledge he had of the squad.

He made it clear to Monchi and his team that they had built a Seville far from his tastes.

"It's made to play at the foot and have the ball, as Lopetegui wanted", clarified the Argentine, in favor of developing intense pressure in all areas of the field, recovering the ball and heading the opposite goal.

With this group, Sampaoli knows that he cannot propose his football.

Sevilla, for example, is the second team that recovers the fewest balls in the Champions League (100).

Only ahead of Rangers (97).

The first revolution that the coach is undertaking to fight against this physical collapse is to touch the mental aspect.

In this sense, the recovery of Marcao, the Brazilian central defender signed by Monchi from Galatasaray to be one of the substitutes for Koundé and Diego Carlos, has been very significant.

The defender played against Athletic without a medical discharge.

Sampaoli convinced the Brazilian in training on Friday.

He told him about the need that the competition team had of him, that he had followed him at Galatasaray and that he was going to become an important footballer in the project.

Marcao played and Sevilla, at least, drew.

Sampaoli also made winger Montiel and midfielder Papu Gómez headlines.

They are both Argentines.

The two, especially the first, were in the most complete ostracism with Lopetegui.

In addition, the coach took out José Ángel and Salas, the two homegrown defenders that the Basque had been using regularly since the beginning of the League.

And he too, in an obvious message, he lined up five of the six signings made by Monchi this summer (Nianzou, Marcao, Telles, Isco and Dolberg).

Everyone except Januzaj.

Lopetegui only had Isco at the start.

In the list of footballers who did not play a minute against Athletic, the absences of Rakitic, Navas, the aforementioned Januzaj and Rafa Mir drew attention.

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